ON LOVE; PART MCCXXV
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
In the last essay we discussed our view of the Great Commission, Jesus’ words that ARE intended to tell His disciples to make other disciples of men by immersing them in the Truth of God which IS DONE in teaching them “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20), which IS essentially to teach men to keep His words. This idea has long been the theme of our blog posts and it IS in this idea of keeping His words that we find the Truth of Love as the expression of everyman who Truly seeks the Lord.
We should try to understand that the Master’s intent in giving the Great Commission to His disciples has NOT yet been realized as the church that has taken His name has diluted and distorted His words to such a point that the very idea of the disciple IS missed as bands of men go out into ‘the nations‘ without first understanding the most basic Truths of Love, the most basic Truths of agape which, as the Apostle John tells us, IS God. In essence then there ARE millions of men out in ‘the nations‘ whose expression IS NOT Love as this idea IS intended but who, at the same time ARE DOING their work in an attitude of Love which, in this world, most always falls along carnal lines.
Our point here IS that to teach men to keep His words as this IS prescribed by the Master, one must first keep His words; to teach men to Love, to express agape, men must first understand what agape IS and express it themselves. In place of this prescription for the making of disciples the churches teach their own individual doctrinal approach to the Lord and here we find that the same divisions that have plagued the church will plague the prostylite churches to which such doctrines ARE taught. While our point here may seem judgemental and harsh, it IS nonetheless True; the Catholics in their divisions teach ONLY their view of Catholicism, the Protestants in ALL their divisions teach ONLY their individual division be it based in Calvinism, or Lutheranism, or Anabaptism or the newer ideas founded in the prosperity gospel so called. Here we should not forget the missions of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons and other divisions of the One Christian Truth.
We should try to see here that while the religious world has been accustomed to these divisions they ARE nonetheless divisions which create the same type of antagonistic views in the new prostylite churches as they DO in our more accustomed world where many of the various divisions speak derisively about each other even calling out others as cults….a very derisive term in religion. The most basic problem IS that each believes that they have the Truth which, if they Truly DID, would eliminate the very divisions which denominational separations have created. And the problem extends into the new prostylite churches where the people take up and believe what they ARE told by others whom they see as persons of authority or as persons disseminating ‘Truth’ given by others who have such authority.
We should try to see how that it IS ONLY the disciple who can make disciples and it IS ONLY the disciple who Truly understands the most basic Truth that IS the prescribed teaching of others; that they should teach “them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you“. There IS much Truth in this idea; how can one teach another that which he DOES NOT understand and DOES NOT strive to DO. Here then IS a KEY word: strive. It IS as one strives that the Truth comes to him by measure and should one teach what he KNOWS through his striving, perhaps we can see how that one need NOT be the fully developed disciple to teach. We should remember here that the True disciple DOES as the Master admonishes…. he DOES “continue in my word” as we read in the first part of our trifecta.
There IS a word that we have NOT used in some time that may help us to understand just who it IS that should be able to teach others and that word IS aspirant. To be an aspirant to discipleship DOES by some measure make one a disciple and here we can perhaps equate the ideas of aspiring with striving. The aspirant IS defined as: One who aspires, breathes after, or seeks with eagerness 1 while to strive IS defined as: To make efforts; to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard 1. Based in these defining ideas from Webster’s 1828 Dictionary we should see two sides of a coin; the one side IS aspiring which IS the psychic side of seeking to DO. On the other side iS the striving which IS, according to this definition, the DOING. Can we see the point here? Can we see how that the aspiriant to discipleship can secure a measure of Truth which he can then impart?
To be clear here we must keep in mind that the whatsoever that one may impart IS that same whatsoever that the Master speaks of; it IS “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” and NOT some doctrinal substitution. Here we should understand that to make disciples according to these words IS to teach others what the Master says about discipleship, beginning with the the words from our trifecta saying “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” and ending with Jesus’ final words on discipleship according to Luke where we read, from a negative perspective, that “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).
These latter words ARE NOT likely His final words in view of time but they ARE rather final in their intent; whosoever wants to Truly be His disciple must KNOW that this IS the cost and here we should remember that these final words come after His Parable of Counting the Cost which IS called by some a parable of The Cost of Being a Disciple. Included in the doctrinal view of this parable ARE the Master’s actual words on discipleship and this should NOT be so as these ideas ARE NOT parabolic but rather statements of fact. Perhaps this IS why His words ARE NOT seen by most as criteria for True discipleship but, to again be clear, the clarity of His words should be deafening albeit restrictive from the perspective of what men choose to see. The Master says in full that:
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-33).
The point of ALL this IS that one CAN NOT be a disciple of the Lord while being attached to the things of this world and here the idea of things includes ALL that a man may focus upon….ALL that he may Love according to the common understanding of the word. In these words ARE family, friends and “his own life also” which idea can be seen in terms of lifestyle, career, ambitions, etc.. Also included ARE the things of this world as well as the desire for such things and if we should take ALL of these ideas into our understanding of focus we can likely see the point that the Master offers us saying “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21, Luke 12:34). We should be able to see that the totality of these words IS NOT the parable; the parable IS ONLY the center part where Jesus gives us examples of counting the cost before He tells us the finality of that cost.
In the end there IS a more universal message here that tells us that discipleship IS a choice but NOT a choice for everyman at any given time. At the same time, the message from the rest of His words IS that the very idea of discipleship should be the focus of everyman through striving to keep His words. Perhaps if we could understand that the Way of the disciple IS a Way that leads men to the fullness of one’s revelations and the realizations of our trifecta, and that such striving can bring one ever closer to that goal, we could then understand a most basic Truth of Life and begin to see that while it may be the goal, True discipleship IS NOT Way for everyman in this single Lifetime.
We must remember here the reality of vanity; which Paul shows us saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). In these words we have the reality of Life in this world which IS, from the perspective of the Soul, to be caught in: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 as Vincent tells us about the Greek word rendered as vanity. This state of illusion and glamour persists for most ALL men who DO NOT consciously choose to move past it and perhaps this IS the first choice one must make on the Way to discipleship.
While Paul’s words DO show us that the Souls of men “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“, there IS NO time certain. And while many believe that the first part here refers to the ‘fall of man’ there IS little commentary regarding the second part which, for us, points to an inevitable Truth that will NOT happen in this Lifetime for ALL creation….for ALL men. Regardless of how one comes to Repentance, regardless of what IS one’s motivation, it IS in one’s change of focus that the reality and the extent of one’s vanity IS seen and we should try to understand here that Repentance IS the starting point for ALL spiritual endeavor. Repentance IS the starting point for ALL revelations and realizations of Truth and the point from which everyman IS compelled to strive to keep His words and to Love.
In the perspective that it IS the Soul that IS in bondage we can better see the overall reality of Life here in this world. The Soul, the True man, IS born into this world and IS nurtured and indoctrinated into the ways of this world. In this two things ARE true; first that it IS the Soul that IS in: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. It IS the Soul that has lost its way as the personality IS NOT in his control but has taken on a Life of its own. The freedom from this, being delivered as this idea IS rendered, IS found in Repentance and the prerequisite that one have some motivation to change the focus of his Life. This motivation IS found in the most constant prompting of the Soul, a prompting that goes on in every Life but which IS drowned out by the clamor of daily living which IS most always along the lines of one’s nurturing, indoctrination, and whatsoever experience has been added to this molding of the man in this world.
The second thing IS that it IS the Soul that must wrest control away from the personality which has lived as it will according to what the Apostle Paul calls the “the works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19); here we must remember that the words that ARE in his list ARE NOT accurately rendered or interpreted, they purport the most gross aspects which the doctrines of men see rather that the equally sinful ideas that the Greek words also represent. The easy example here IS first that the word rendered as adultery IS NOT in most ALL Greek text nor in the majority of translations yet it forms the basis for the doctrinal view that makes most ALL of these “works of the flesh” sexual in nature. Additionally, a deeper look at all of these words, as we have done in previous essays, will reveal quite a different set of ideas, most of which ARE the more normal human activities.
To see this however one must look at the words against the reality of the Great Commandments and understand that “the works of the flesh” work differently in regard to each of the commandments. In regard to the second of the Great Commandments, that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“, one must look at how such “works of the flesh” as Paul lists for us go against this ideas. Our point here IS that the word ideas that ARE doctrinally seen as sexual deviations ARE NOT pointing ONLY to the deviation but rather to the sense of vanity that such actions reinforce and prolong. This IS especially clear when when we define such vanity as: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4.
From the perspective of the first of the Great Commandments we should be able to see that such ideas as a “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness” (Galatians 5:19), which ARE the beginning of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“, DO NOT apply to the sexual ideas that these ARE imagined to be. Adultery, which IS NOT found in most texts, and fornication should here be seen as being against the tenet of the commandment which says that “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“. In this view ALL things that enter into one’s mind that ARE NOT expressive of the idea of the commandment ARE adultery and ARE fornication.
Can we see the idea here? And can we see how that this changes a bit as from the perspective of the second of the Great Commandments, how that adultery and fornication ARE the tendency of men to look after themselves carnally and that this can include most any endeavor that DOES NOT consider everyman in its dynamic? Such ideas from the Greek words DO prolong and reinforce one’s sense of vanity and here, in the view of oneself and those close as being of the utmost importance, every expression which IS NOT an expression of agape IS adultery and IS fornication. We must be careful here to NOT see the Greek words ONLY in regard to the common ideas of adultery and fornication and this especially in the way that the apostles use these ideas. The Master and His apostles ARE seeking to bring men closer to the Lord and such things as moicheia, rendered as adultery, and porneia, rendered as fornication, DO NOT accomplish this in any regard.
Viewing these ideas as sexual deviations or as spiritual stumbling blocks which keep one’s focus upon the carnal have largely the same effect that except doctrines DO NOT teach the stumbling blocks erected by the desires of men, their covetousness if you will, with nearly the same force that they apply to their ideas of sex. Doctrines DO NOT teach that ALL things that ARE contrary to the Great Commandments ARE sin and ARE equal to and perhaps even exceed the sinfulness of the sexual ideas. What IS worse, harboring thoughts that ARE against one’s brother through prejudice and hatred or having a sexual encounter with another? Both may be sin but from the perspective of the Soul the former IS much more destructive.
In history the church has NOT seen such things. By example, much of the American puritanical movement of the seventeenth century had a moral focus that was strict and which punished offenders, often severely and even unto death, but at the same time they allowed for slavery, moulding their scriptural interpretations to DO so and to promote slavery as biblical. We DO NOT pick on the Puritans here as ALL ‘New World’ religions expressed similar ideas regarding sex and slavery and such ideas DID NOT change in the church first but rather in the hearts of progressive looking people. As the churches railed against “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness” as sexual sins they NOT ONLY allowed for slavery to flourish but also for what many consider the genocide of the Native American population.
Seen through the prism of the Great Commandments the ideas of slavery and genocide ARE much more adultery, fornication, uncleanness and lasciviousness than ARE the sexual sins which ARE harmless by comparison. This focus of the church has NOT moved much yet today and we should understand that this reality afflicts most ALL religions in most ALL parts of the world. We should note here that the ideas of sex ARE the more simple ideas to hold out as examples of sin while the other ideas the stand sharply against the Great Commandments ARE ignored by many religious authorities who find shelter in misinterpreted, misunderstood and out of context scriptural references. And while so many still see ONLY the sexual ideas in the Greek and Hebrew words, the ideas ARE much more far reaching.
The Prophet Jeremiah shows us adultery saying “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce” (Jeremiah 3:8); in these words there IS NOT even a hint of sexual sin. There IS also NO idea of sex in the Apostle James words saying “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). If we look at the use of this word across the Old and the New Testaments we will find that in most ALL uses the word can be more clearly adapted to the Great Commandments than to the sexual sin.
We can look at the idea of porneia in a similar way; rather than the physical activity of sex as this idea IS commonly understood, we can look at the focus of the Life of a man. Again it IS the Great Commandment that tells us of our singular Love for God and in this we should see that ALL else IS fornication. In the Old Testament writings of the prophets the Hebrew word zanuwn IS rendered as whoredoms while its root word zanah IS rendered in similar terms and as fornication; in ALL the uses of these words the idea IS seldom sex but rather in regard to the way that Israel and Judah were looking toward things other than their God. The same idea can be applied to much of the way that porneia IS used in the New Testament yet doctrines most always see ONLY ideas of sex.
So why IS this so? Why DO the doctrines of men focus upon the ideas of sex rather than on the way that men ARE looking away from the Truth of God, stuck in their vanity which IS their “bondage of corruption“? Perhaps because it IS easier to blame the seemingly uncontrollable urges of the human body and personality than to actually see that it IS ALL else that that IS contrary to the Great Commandments that keeps men bound. It IS easier to blame the human frailties than to see that it IS ALL things that ARE focused on the self that ARE to blame; none want to see that it IS the reality of Jesus’ words that hold the KEY to Truth, a Truth that IS NOT found in the doctrinal ideas of sex. Without the sexual sins that ARE a part of the human experience, the world of men IS still lost and this because they DO NOT understand that the most basic spiritual idea of agape IS of paramount importance. It IS this that the Apostle Paul tries to show the religiously oriented man of his day as he tells us of the importance and the meaning of Love; repeating his words we read:
“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians )Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-3).
“Agape suffereth long, and is kind; agape envieth not; agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
The religiously oriented man of today DOES NOT see these Truths because he IS bound to his doctrinal approach to God, that same approach that punished sexual sin but allowed for slavery and genocide albeit with a more normal social and moral compass. Today large parts of the church will hold to the moral depravity of slavery but, at the same time, allow for the prejudice that fostered it and yet today large parts of the church will acknowledge the wrongs of genocide while promoting the social injustice that causes it and this especially in this new age where nationalism and protectionism diminish the value of many millions of people. We close today with Paul’s words on the reality of Love as the Way par excellence to Truly keep His words and we follow this with our trifecta which shows us the result:
“Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another: for he that agapao another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt agape thy neighbour as thyself. Agape worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore agape is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:8-11).
Our trifecta of spiritual reality:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
| Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Quote of the Day:
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
