ON LOVE; PART MCCXXXIII
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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).
We ended the last essay with some thoughts on the most basic reality of True religion: that the whole idea behind ALL True religions IS the spiritual advancement of those who ask, seek and knock after the Truth. Despite this fundamental Truth, most religions ARE more concerned about the carnal man than the spiritual and while some DO teach that it IS in overcoming the carnal that the spiritual will flourish, most others teach ONLY that one should live according to doctrines which see ONLY the carnal man and his abundant Life in this world. To this view IS added the doctrinal ideas of salvation and atonement through which the Christian gains assurance that he will ‘go’ to heaven which IS become the most central point of faith and believing.
Few teach that the Way to spiritual advancement IS found in overcoming the carnal nature which IS the gospel story of Jesus’ disciples who follow the Path set by the Master, His example and His words, and take the part of True disciples who “have forsaken all, and followed thee” (Matthew 19:27). This IS according to the Master’s own rules of discipleship which most clearly tell us that “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple“. John Gill, in his commentary on this verse from his Exposition of the Bible notes the True idea of this verse and the preceding idea where Jesus tells us that one must ‘hate‘ “his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also” (Luke 14:33, 26) but then couches men’s obedience to this by saying that this IS to be done: when called to it .
This idea of when called to it IS a common Christian view of discipleship which allows for the Christian to claim to be His disciple without forsaking anything, without Loving less his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also” and without even Truly striving to keep His words. These ARE the Master’s rules of discipleship which He also tells “a certain ruler” who inquires of Jesus saying “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?“. Jesus’ reply IS that the man should keep the commandments and then, as this ruler states that he has done so “from my youth up“, the Master adds that “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me” (Luke 18:18, 20, 22). Here we should see that this ruler’s idea of “to inherit eternal life” IS tied to discipleship and that this IS NOT merely an example made by the Master.
The deeper aspects of this exchange between “a certain ruler” and the Master becomes faded however because of the continuing conversation which we read as “when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said,How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God“. This encounter IS reported by ALL three synoptic gospel writers with minor variations and ALL three include Jesus’ words to His disciples, His answer to Peter’s comment saying “Lo, we have left all, and followed thee” (Luke 18:23-25, 27), which Matthew reports as his saying “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee” (Matthew 19:27).
Our point here IS that the Truth of being His disciple requires that a man forsake ALL and while this IS a difficult idea to accept from one’s carnal perspective, it IS indeed a part of the True freedom that IS found in overcoming the vanity of Life in this world….the illusion and the glamour that keeps men attached to the things of the world rather than the things of God. To Truly be His disciple requires that one forsake ALL that IS NOT the things of God and while men may play with this idea and these words to suit their situations, the Truth IS clearly stated by Jesus. And we should understand here that this IS NOT merely about material possessions; men DO need the wherewithal to live and the basic material needs for living ARE available as the Master teaches us. Jesus and His disciples had “forsaken all” yet they still have raiment, sufficient food, and shelter and in this we should try to see the more basic ideas of forsaking in the thoughts and the attitudes of a man.
In His response to the Apostle Peter’s comment the Master answers with a list of those things that the disciple has forsaken; we read Jesus’ answer according to Luke as “Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting” (Luke 18:29-30). The Apostle Mark offers a more specific view of the Master’s words telling us that He says to Peter “Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).
Mark adds here the idea of persecutions and we should understand here although there IS NO promise of an hundred wives the whole idea still CAN NOT be taken literally; the idea here IS that whatsoever one may forsake for the Kingdom of God IS but a shadow of the reward and the carnal thoughts, attitudes and things that one IS leaving behind will NOT be missed. And we should note here that the brethren, sisters, father, mother, wife, and children ARE NOT Truly forsaken as men understand this idea, they ARE still one’s close relations, but ARE seen in the grand scheme of agape according to the reality that one should have NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9). This IS the Truth of the disciple and in this idea of “the world to come” we should see the eternal realization of Truth that IS the providence of the disciple. Jesus shows us yet another view of discipleship, another that IS ignored by most ALL of those who see themselves as disciples; this we find in the first part of our trifecta which we repeat here again saying:
- “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).
The disciple then IS NOT merely a learner, a student or a follower of the Master but rather a committed Soul who sees the Truth of Jesus’ words and keeps them and, in so DOING, overcomes the vanity in which he has lived….he escapes if you will “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). It IS in the force that this word disciple carries in the words of the Master that we should try to see how few there ARE and how special being one IS and here again we should try to see the wall, the barrier that IS erected in these words. It IS ONLY in the fullness of discipleship, the fullness of the man who Truly keeps His words and Loves, that we find “disciples indeed“; up to this point of Truth there IS the aspirant to discipleship….the man who IS Truly striving toward a True realization of what it Truly means to have “forsaken all“. It IS to this end that we should read the words of the apostles and here these words from Paul who shows the man who Truly strives the “more excellent way“; we read again the apostle’s words on Love:
“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).
In the end we should understand that one CAN NOT Truly be a disciple of the Master without fully understanding these words on agape from Paul. Both the importance and the meaning of agape ARE covered in these words which ARE downplayed in the doctrines of men by their converting the spiritual ideas into carnal ones. From the perspective of importance there IS an undeniable clarity to his words that tell us that whatsoever one may believe to be True insofar as ‘spiritual’ power IS NOT in the absence of one’s expression of agape in this world. True spiritual Power ONLY comes in Love….in agape as this IS shown us by the Master and NOT in the carnal ideas of Love that have masqueraded as agape in the minds of men. Men in Paul’s day as well as today believe that they have such spiritual ‘gifts’ as the apostle mentions above without ever noting the clear reality that he presents to us in the idea that without agape “I am nothing“, that without agape “it profiteth me nothing” and that without agape whatsoever I may say in the presumed “tongues of men and of angels” IS but noise….”as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal“.
While it IS difficult to say with any certainty what an ability to “speak with the tongues of men and of angels” Truly means, there IS much division in the church today regarding this; that this IS speaking in other languages or that this IS speaking in an indiscernible language of the Spirit IS a matter of denominational division. Here, in Paul’s idea of “tongues of men and of angels“, we should likely add the words of Truth that would come from the man whose focus IS upon the things of God, words, like Paul’s, that ARE the product of the Inner man, expressed through the flesh in this world. Such words would be and ARE but noise when they ARE NOT founded in agape which gives to everyman the fullness of the trifecta and some measure of that to the man who Truly strives. Paul says many things about this idea of speaking in tongues, an idea that begins in the Book of Acts at the time of Pentecost, but NO where is this idea Truly explained, hence the doctrinal division on this matter which some proclaim as necessary for salvation.
In the reality that ALL spiritual things, ALL grace if you will, comes to the man who will keep His Words, we should be able to understand that speaking in “tongues of men and of angels” IS simply relating that grace, “the truth” which “shall make you free” as the MASTER promises, through one’s expression to the world. In this simplicity the reality of this idea of speaking in tongues IS easily resolved as one would express the Truth which IS but gibberish to listener who DOES NOT have some measure of this same Truth upon which to rely. Similarly for the man who “have not agape” to speak as he were speaking some Truth, his words would be but “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal”….noise to the ear of one who seeks the Truth.
Reducing this idea to personal levels we should be able to see that whatsoever we say that IS according to the Spirit, according to the Great Truth of Love that IS the Master’s message, IS but noise to the man whose Truth IS bound the his doctrinal ideas that dilute and change the Master’s intent. At the same time, if whatsoever we say IS NOT governed by that sense of agape that the Master teaches, it IS but noise to any who DO have some measure of Truth that hear our words. Comparing this to the doctrinal ideas of some parts of the church where one utters unintelligible words that ARE deemed to come from the Spirit and which ARE generally uttered in prayer creates quite a contrast; this IS also in stark contrast to the ideas of other parts of the church that deny that such “tongues of men and of angels” exist today or that such speaking IS ONLY found in men’s ability to speak or understand things said in a real language which IS NOT their own.
Much of the interdenominational problem here can be easily resolved by understanding that the occurrences on Pentecost and Paul’s ideas on such speaking need NOT be related….that these ARE two separate phenomenon. At Pentecost it IS quite clear that the hearer IS able to understand the words of the speakers “in our own tongue” and Luke expands upon this idea as we read his words saying: “how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:8-11). This IS the reality for the hearer but the idea IS confounded by Luke’s earlier saying that “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
But IS this confounding sense of speaking “with other tongues” a reality? Can we see that this idea IS perhaps offered from the perspective of the hearer who would think that he IS being spoken to in his own language through which he IS understanding the words? If we can look at the magnitude of the different languages that Luke lists here, we can perhaps imagine the utter confusion if these Galatians were ALL speaking in different languages and at the same time. Who then could hear what? If however we can look at this as that these ARE ALL speaking “the wonderful works of God“, the Truth “as the Spirit gave them utterance” we could perhaps gain a better insight into the what Luke IS telling us. And perhaps there IS a message here that has gone unseen for 2000 years, a message of Truth that shows us that Truth has NO bounds….it IS the same in every language.
This same idea can be applied to the Apostle Peter’s encounter with the household of Cornelius where we read “that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (Acts 10:45-46). Here we should try to see the same ideas as on Pentecost; there IS NO difference between the idea that “on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost” here and that “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” at the day of Pentecost. Considering these both as the same idea of the realization of the Holy Ghost, we should try next to see that these need NOT be related to Paul’s words on the idea of speaking in the “tongues of men and of angels“. What Paul IS showing us, while quite differently structured, has naught to DO with understanding others speech in one’s own language nor with being able to speak in a language that one has NOT learned although this latter idea may NOT be what Luke IS saying as we discussed above.
The Greek word glossa IS defined as the actual tongue as the organ of speech and in terms of language but it IS also used in regard to what IS said and here perhaps we can relate this to Jesus’ words on what IS said where He chooses the idea of the mouth rather than the tongue; the Master says “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). It IS in this light that we should try to see Paul’s words and understand that what IS said in plain language can be baffling to the man who DOES NOT have a basis for what IS being said. While this IS easier to see in his words on the “tongues of men and of angels” than in his other ideas on tongues, we should try see that in every case where the apostle’s idea IS related to the “unknown tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:2), this same idea of Truth can be applied.
This however IS NOT our subject; our subject IS the Truth and the Love that IS the expression of the tongue, an expression that IS ONLY understood by those who see the importance that the Master and His apostles place upon such expression. Paul’s point IS as we cite above where we reduce the idea to personal levels. The Truth IS NOT seen by those who DO NOT seek, ask and knock after it….it IS but noise and in the words spoken by a man the same IS True….if a man has NOT some measure of that Truth, his words ARE but noise. We should understand here that to have some measure of Truth IS to express some measure of agape and hence the apostle’s saying that without agape “I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal“. Applying this to both the speaker and the hearer can give us greater insight.
If we can see here that the presumed ‘gift‘ of speaking in tongues IS but noise without one’s expression of agape, we can then see that NO matter what one may presume this ‘gift‘ to be IS meaningless according to Paul’s words. And so the same with the other presumed ‘gifts‘ which the apostle lists; ‘gifts‘ which should perhaps be seen as a second list that IS NOT necessarily related to speaking with the “tongues of men and of angels“. This second group includes the personal ideas of prophecy, KNOWING the Truth of the mysteries and having ALL KNOWLEDGE and “all faith, so that I could remove mountains“. We should try also to see the interrelatedness of these four ideas, that ALL ARE that sense of KNOWING that the Master speaks of in relation to His True disciples….His “disciples indeed“.
We should note that the added words in this part, “the gift of“, ARE NOT in the Greek text and that this idea of ‘gift‘ IS a doctrinally motivated assertion; others render this in terms of “prophetic powers“. For too many the idea of prophecy IS limited to telling of future events but the depth of this word reveals much more. Thayer’s tells us that propheteia IS: discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God 9. While this may include the KNOWING of future events, the greater point IS that in prophecy one can reveal the mind of God as this IS the revelation and the realization of the man whose focus IS upon Him….the man who will, as Jesus tells us, “continue in my word“. Without this focus and without keeping His words the whole idea of prophecy IS psychic and leans more to the occult than to spiritual reality and here again we should remember that to “continue in my word” IS to express agape as the apostle shows us saying:
“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).
It IS in this understanding that Paul tells us that in having such power without agape “I am nothing” which IS less that being but noise; this we can see if we separate the ideas. Now we can take this idea of being nothing in several ways but the idea here should ever be seen in a spiritual context which IS the overall context of his epistles. We interject the psychic ideas as we presume that the idea of prophecy can and DOES exist without focus upon God as one of the many paranormal powers of the human mind. We should note here that much of the church DOES see prophecy as a ‘supernatural’ power and this idea IS, from a human perspective, synonymous with paranormal. As we have discussed in previous essays there ARE parts of the church which endeavor to train men in the ‘supernatural’ ability to ‘hear’ from God directly and we should understand here that without Love as the central focus of such training, without agape as the expression of the trainer and the trainee, Paul’s evaluation of “I am nothing” DOES rule spiritually.
Paul next tells us of the idea that to “understand all mysteries, and all knowledge” without Love has the same result….as that “I am nothing“. The Greek word rendered here as understand IS eido which has the meaning of: to see (literally or figuratively); by implication, (in the perfect tense only) to know 9a according to Strong’s. Thayers offers us a similar understanding saying that eido IS: an obsolete form of the present tense, the place of which is supplied by ὁράω. The tenses coming from εἰδῶ and retained by usage form two families, of which one signifies to see, the other to know 9. Others render eido in terms of KNOWING which IS for us a greater reality than understanding; the one IS a spiritual idea as we find in Jesus’ words saying “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you freeI” as well as the most basic premise of faith which Paul extends his idea into saying “though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains“.
The other, understanding, IS a cognitive term and more related to the human mind than to the reality of the anointing of which the Apostle John tells us of saying “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). If we can see the idea here that should one presume to KNOW “all mysteries, and all knowledge” and yet be without agape, it IS but folly….that this man KNOWS nothing spiritually and IS therefore nothing spiritually. The idea of knowledge here IS from the Greek word gnosis which, without getting into terms of the stated case, should be seen in terms of KNOWING God and the things of God which IS of course the context in which Paul IS using this idea. The point here IS that these ideas ARE ALL related and ARE the reality of and the strength of KNOWING, that same KNOWING that we should see in the way that the Master uses this spiritual idea in regard to pistis and pisteuo.
In the various forms of the gospel writers showing us the Way to move the mountain and to plant the sycamine tree in the sea we have the deeper Truth of faith and of believing as these ARE shown to us by the Master in terms of the “faith as a grain of mustard seed” which, in the final analysis, can ONLY be to KNOW. Paul IS using this same idea as he completes his thought saying that while one may presume that he has “all faith, so that I could remove mountains“, that he has nothing without Love….he has NO thing without the expression of agape.
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
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
