ON LOVE; PART MCCXXXII
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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).
The last essay began with some thoughts on Easter, on the death and resurrection of the Master as His most profound expression of agape, which became a journey through the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Beginning in the twelfth chapter of John’s Gospel and ending in the seventeenth much of the dialogue IS centered around preparing His apostles for this momentous event and from the apostle’s framing of this dialogue we can see rather clearly that they DO NOT Truly understand what IS about to happen nor SO they see some of the deeper spiritual ideas that He has been imparting to them. In their world God has ever been seen in His Transcendent nature and while the Master IS trying to show them the deeper Truth of God Immanent, they DO NOT readily comprehend this novel idea and, unfortunately, most DO NOT comprehend this yet today.
However, at the same time, the general theme of an Immanent God IS bandied about by the doctrinal church under the various theologies and doctrines that teach that in the Life of the ‘believer‘ Christ comes to ‘live’ in a man; this IS sometimes painted as that it IS the Holy Spirit while still others see this as God Himself. In ALL cases the general idea IS that these ARE present in the ‘believer‘ to help direct the course of his Life in such a way that one should ask God always and look to receive an answer which IS presumed to NOT come from the carnal mind. This IS a view of God Immanent which IS tied to the basic Christian ideas of ‘salvation‘, of ‘believing‘ and of ‘faith‘, ideas which refuse to see the equality of ALL men….that refuse to understand that this God Within IS the Spirit of man working through his manifest Soul. Such doctrinal ideas also refuse to see the actual criteria for such a Presence of God, that this IS NOT the result of doctrinal ‘salvation‘ but rather the result of keeping His words as we read again in our trifecta that tells us:
- “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).
It IS Jesus’ words from the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel that most clearly show us the Presence of God and the Way that one can have this in His Life; and while this should correct the doctrinal view of such Presence, it remains for men to understand that this coming into one’s Life, this Presence, IS one’s realization of this based upon one’s revelation of the Truth. We should try to understand here that this IS ALL an intentional mystery that IS NOT the privy of the carnal mind which CAN NOT Truly grasp such ideas as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) and those that show us that men have “this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 1:7). The doctrines of men continue to believe that these things ARE the privilege of the man who will conform doctrinally to his own church’s view of salvation rather than the Truth that the Spirit of man IS ever One with God but IS at the same time bound by the vanity of Life which IS his own “bondage of corruption“
It IS this vanity, this mataiotes, which Vincent shows us saying that this condition of humanity IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 and it IS upon understanding this that the Truth can then be glimpsed. It IS in understanding that everyman IS afflicted with this vanity by his very presence in this Earth and that his years of nurturing and indoctrination that compound this separation and ofttimes leave a man believing that the objects of his indoctrination into Life ARE the Truth, that we can begin to glimpse the greater Truth. We should try to see also that it IS in realizing this basic unity of everyman that the Truth of agape can begin to be understood and we should try to see as well that the religious doctrines of men, in ALL their illusion and glamour, DO NOT serve to endorse and promote the Truth but rather the further separation of men from that Truth under the guise of salvation.
We should try to understand that in order to overcome such ideas into which one IS nurtured and indoctrinated, in order to overcome the affliction of vanity, a man must have access to the Truth and it IS here that we should rely upon the Master’s words which tell us: “I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:9-13).
There ARE many points here that should be noted, points that doctrines DO NOT generally show us but which ARE important parts of one’s overall understanding of this message. First there ARE the ideas of ask, seek and knock which ARE used together here and in the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel as well; together these show the force that must be applied by the man who IS Truly pursuing the Lord and His Truth. These ideas ARE more than prayer; these ideas ARE one’s diligent striving toward the Truth and the simple message here IS that if one should Truly strive that one will achieve. This idea IS of course meant as a spiritual note and we should understand here that there IS NO failure as “every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened“; we should try to see here that in ALL places where the Master shows men to ask that His reference IS always spiritual.
The Apostle James shows us this idea saying that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). We should see here the reality of diligently striving which James shows us saying that one should “ask in faith, nothing wavering“; in this we should try to understand pistis as KNOWING rather than the doctrinal idea of faith and if we can apply this to Jesus’ assurance that everyone who DOES ask with such pistis will receive, we can then understand the greater point. James gives us his words in regard to Wisdom which he explains for us in spiritual terms later in his epistle.
We should see similar force in the Master’s phrasing on asking, seeking and knocking as we see in James’ saying “ask in faith, nothing wavering” and understand that this sense of diligent striving should be understood in English terms as: to exert oneself vigorously; try hard; to make strenuous efforts toward any goal 1, as strive IS defined. The second point in Jesus words IS His use of the Greek word poneros which IS rendered as evil and IS applied to fathers….even those who would “give good gifts unto your children“. The common understanding of poneros as this IS rendered into: evil (51x), wicked (10x), wicked one (6x), evil things (2x), miscellaneous (7x) according to the lexicon DOES NOT work in this use of the idea of poneros by the Master. Fathers ARE NOT evil as this idea is understood but if we can see this idea of poneros in the vanity that afflicts ALL men, we can then better understand His point which IS on the worldly focus of men who have NOT yet found the wherewithal to ask, to seek and to knock.
The third point to be seen in these words from the Master according to Luke IS the use of the Holy Spirit which differs from Matthew’s version where Jesus uses the Greek word agathos which means simply good and IS rendered as “good things“. If we again go to James we can again find some additional insight into this idea of “good things“; the apostle tells us that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). If we can see this from a spiritual perspective, that ONLY spiritual things come from God, we can then see that these “good things” and the Holy Spirit ARE intended as synonymous terms. While most translations render this in terms of “good gifts” and “good things“, we should note that ONLY the word agathos IS in Matthew’s text and since both apostles ARE referencing the same idea from Jesus, we should be able to conflate this idea of good with the Holy Spirit, both of which ARE God; both ARE then an expression of His goodness….”there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:18).
We should note one other thing in regard to the Holy Spirit: Luke tells us that the Master’s words ARE that one must ask, seek and knock for His Spirit in their lives while Matthew sees this as His goodness. The Apostle John later tells us that Jesus offers this same Presence in the last part of our trifecta but DOES NOT call it such and a bit further in this same dialogue which we discussed in the last essay, the Master calls the Spirit the parakletos which IS rendered as comforter. Earlier the apostle gives us what has become a parenthetical statement that has caused confusion for doctrinal thinkers as he says “this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). This implies that the Holy Spirit IS NOT available before Jesus death and resurrection which idea IS at odds with the Master’s own words.
There IS much confusion regarding the Holy Spirit and here in John’s words Vincent shows us yet more as he says: The best texts omit ἅγιον, holy, and the definite article is not in the text, so that the strict rendering is simply spirit. Literally, spirit was not yet 4. Using the literal idea detracts from the presumed meaning of the saying and offers some additional confusion which DOES NOT suit the doctrinal presumptions. The whole matter of the Holy Spirit as as Aspect of the Godhead has ever been a theological issue which has resulted in the several views of the Trinity which IS God. Again we have a spiritual idea that IS being answered by men in carnal terms thus creating the finite idea of three persons which ARE seen by most doctrines as separate and distinct and operating autonomously.
Our point here IS that to overcome the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, of Life in this world that one must ask, seek and knock, diligently strive if you will, after the Truth that doctrines keep hidden in their theories of salvation that ARE NOT based in the simple Truths of Jesus words. Most doctrinally oriented men DO NOT KNOW the most simple Truth of God Immanent, they DO NOT KNOW that the great Truth that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) holds the KEY to understanding both the diversity and the individual plights of humankind and that this same sense IS offered to men in the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule which both show that there should be NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9) among men. It IS God Immanent as the Spirit of everyman that IS equal under and in God and it IS the vanity to which that Spirit IS subjected as a manifest Soul in this world that defines ALL else.
While this idea of God Immanent IS introduced to us by the Master 2000 years ago, it has been relatively ignored by the early church’s view of divinity which, in their sense of Jesus’ divine nature, separated men from God despite Jesus own admonitions that men should strive to be as God. We can see this IS Jesus words saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) which admonition IS offered in the context that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) as He tells us of the nature of the Father who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). In the Earthly things that can be seen as being at the hand of God, ALL men ARE treated equally, in ALL else it IS the happenstance of Life coupled with the not so happenstance place and time and abilities of one’s birth into the vanity of Life in this world that dictate that into which he will be nurtured and indoctrinated.
This IS yet another part of the great mystery that IS Life in this world and the journey by men through the vanity; it IS ONLY in the Truth that men ARE Truly made free from their own “bondage of corruption“, a freedom that must be strived after by the man whose sights ARE Truly on the “glorious liberty of the children of God“. It IS in this freedom, this “glorious liberty“, that one can understand the Truth of “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20, 21, 23). It IS in the words of our trifecta that one finds this freedom; it IS in DOING as the Master instructs that one can overcome the ways of the world and this ALL begins as Jesus begins His teaching which we read in His words saying “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
This Repentance IS the conscious decision of a man, a decision prompted by the Inner man, the Soul, to change the focus of his Life off of those things in which he IS nurtured and indoctrinated and onto the the things of God….spiritual things. It IS True Repentance that sets a man upon the Path to Truth and it IS True Repentance that changed the lives of Jesus’ disciples 2000 years ago and, while they had the Master’s direct role for their prompting, we have His words and the prompting of our own Soul, our own anointing, that KNOWS the Truth of His words (1 John 2:20, 27).
Jesus death and resurrection DID NOT change His message as we can easily see in His charge to His apostles that sends them to make disciples of ALL people by “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you“(Matthew 28:20). This IS Jesus’ closing remark to those who were closest to Him and there IS naught in this message that detracts from the overall theme of His ‘ministry’, a theme that IS captured in His clearly stated but difficult to understand words saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“. These words ARE the defining ideas of agape as this IS to be expressed by men and both of these sayings most clearly show that there should be NO “respect to persons” among men in that expression. This brings us back again to the words of the Apostle Paul that show us the importance of agape in the lives of men as well as his defining ideas; we read again:
“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way“. 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).
While much of the church today sees a ‘different’ dispensation at work in the time after the resurrection of the Master, many have given this names such as the ‘dispensation of grace‘ and the ‘church dispensation’, we should note here that these ARE but the ideas of men. The changing ‘dispensations’ here in this Earth far surpass the religious ideas of Christianity; these ARE cosmic changes which affect the whole world, changes which ARE better viewed against the astrological calendar that the church calendar. Of course the doctrinal thinker will NOT agree with this assessment which IS based in the fact of the movement of planets, solar systems and galaxies through the vastness of this universe, the massiveness of which they ignore in terms of God.
In this establishment of a ‘dispensation of grace‘ or ‘church dispensation’, men have found the wherewithal to change their focus of religion from the law to their interpretations of the words of the Apostle Paul regarding grace; they see keeping the law as works and grace as a “free gift” while seeing at the same time the idea that Jesus own work IS completed at the cross. But this IS NOT Jesus words; words upon which the Truth of Christianity must be based, these ARE but the wranglings of men who, trying to justify their own lives, have established those doctrines through which they believe that they ARE ‘saved’. Jesus tells us that “verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).
There ARE some parts of the church that take these words from the Master as their licence to hold that the law and the works of the law ARE NO longer a part of ‘salvation‘. The DO so by claiming that Jesus, in His death and resurrection, fulfilled ALL and this based upon His words saying “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17). We should note here that there are two different Greek words that ARE rendered into this idea of fulfill but, more importantly, we should note the continuation of Jesus’ words that go on to show the importance of the law as He begins His long dissertation that IS the Sermon on the Mount. We should try to see that the Truth IS in the combination of the two ideas which He presents: “Till heaven and earth pass” and “till all be fulfilled“.
In the latter the intent IS better understood as Thayer’s presents the idea behind ginomai, a word that IS used nearly 700 times in the New Testament and which IS rendered in many different ways; Thayer’s says that ginomai, in this context, means: to become, equivalent to to come to pass, happen, of events 9. Others render the Master’s words in terms of being accomplished translating the idea as “till all things be accomplished” while the Common English Bible renders this as “I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality“. In this rendering we should see the True idea that the Master IS showing us, an idea that IS NOT denied in other renderings which ARE used by some in support of doctrines which claim that Jesus DID fulfill and accomplish ALL things. To this we should add the doctrinal idea that IS taken from Jesus’ words on the cross where He says “It is finished“; from these three simple words that ARE uttered as “he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30) whole theologies have been developed establishing doctrinal ideas that have become fundamental to many denominations and sects.
If we can see that the intent IS that it IS the law that must be fulfilled and take this idea into most ALL of His teachings we can then see that the accomplishment of the law IS that men will keep His words and DO this through the heart of the law which IS agape. While much of the doctrines of men have ever used the words of the Apostle Paul to tear down the idea that men should keep His words, there ARE yet those which proclaim that men should be obedient to the law. On either path however there IS NOT a clearly defined downside to NOT being “doers of the word” (James 1:22) as ALL ‘believers‘ ARE ‘saved‘ and destined to ‘go’ to heaven. Some teach greater rewards in heaven for the “good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21) according to the parable while others teach rewards here in this Life according to their several interpretations of the Abrahamic promises. One should probably assume that such rewards ARE in addition to grace and here again we find ONLY the nebulous ideas of doctrines.
The Master teaches none of this and the proper interpretation of the Parable of the Talents or Minas IS simply in regard to whatsoever one comes into this world with as his spiritual collateral and then how DOES he use that collateral. If we could see that this parable IS a continuation of the ideas of the Parable of the Faithful Servant, we could then perhaps see the point which ever comes down to focus. In the Parable of the Talents according to Matthew we read that the lord gave “to every man according to his several ability” (Matthew 25:15) and who then measured their result against their reward, a reward that IS most clearly seen in Paul’s words saying “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8).
Paul’s words show us the crux of the Master’s teaching which IS always offered to us in spiritual terms, always encouraging and admonishing men to take the spiritual Path over the caranl. For reasons that ARE their own however the doctrines of men expound much the opposite as they confuse the spiritual with the carnal while many promote carnal things and caranal abundance as the reward for obedience; NOT necessarily to Jesus’ words but rather to the interpretations of those doctrines. There IS one significant spiritual Truth written throughout the bible and that IS to DO the will of God….to keep His commandments. But this Truth IS NOT seen by most ALL who see themselves in the so called ‘dispensation of grace‘. These DO NOT understand that it IS this requirement to keep His words that IS the KEY to Truth and even more DO NOT understand the relationship between keeping His words and the expression of agape which Paul shows in us in our selection which we repeat again in closing:
“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).
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/
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- ** From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
