ON LOVE; PART MCCXLII
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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 began the last essay with some additional ideas on the Truth of the Greek word soteria which IS rendered as salvation by the King James translators and in terms of being saved and as deliverance by others. ALL feed the doctrinal view of this word which IS scarcely used by the Master himself. In our discussion we DID NOT note the alternate form of this word, soterion, an adjective that IS used in a similar context as Zacharias‘ words that we also discussed. Soterion, also rendered as salvation, IS used by Simeon of whom we read that “the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:25:26). Simeon, upon seeing and holding the Christ Child in the temple says “mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke 2:30) and while Thayer’s defining ideas ARE along doctrinal lines, Strong’s simply defines this word as: defender 9a.
While it IS difficult to discern the True meaning of the idea of salvation apart from the prevailing doctrinal ideas which ever lean toward ideas of: the Messianic deliverance and the doctrinal precept that: Man cannot save himself nor his fellow. God only can save him 4 as Vincent shows us in his largely doctrinal comments. It IS upon this idea that so much of doctrinal Christianity has been founded and we should understand here that much of this idea of salvation looks past the most practical set of instructions that ARE the greater Truth of being rescued (soteria) and delivered (soterion) by those instructions. The doctrinal approach to the Lord has, from the time of Moses, sought to find the wherewithal to be delivered from the vanity of Life in this world without DOING; without answering to the Master’s rhetorical question “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
Looking at these words along with the root word soter which IS rendered as Saviour, we should be able to see the more basic ideas that ARE intended as they ARE related to everyman’s journey “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). We should try to see the Master as the Deliverer and understand that what it IS that He has delivered IS the Way to that freedom, a freedom which comes in KNOWING the Truth. When we can understand that it IS by this Way that men can be rescued from themselves as carnal creatures in this world, we can then begin to see deeper into the role of everyman in his own rescue….his own escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). It IS this that the doctrines of men call as impossible through such ideas as: man cannot save himself….God only can save him.
After a more generic definition of the English word salvation, Webster’s 1828 dictionary tells us: Appropriately in theology, the redemption of man from the bondage of sin and liability to eternal death, and the conferring on him everlasting happiness. This is the great salvation 1. In this IS the lure of religion, the lure of the promise of everlasting happiness divorced from any need for the man to DO ought but follow the doctrinal approach outlined by his own particular denomination or sect. Be it conforming to the doctrinal rules of confession and the ‘sacraments’ or the nebulous ideas of faith and believing, most ALL doctrinal approaches DO free a man. Not from “from the bondage of corruption” however but from the need to conform to the Master’s clearly spoken words which ARE so aptly considered in Jesus’ question to ALL men asking “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?“.
Doctrines however DO NOT and will NOT concede the meaning of this rhetorical question and this despite the way that the Master frames this for us by His Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, a parable which needs NO interpretation and, in fact, according to the definition of a parable IS NOT one at all. In Luke’s Gospel it IS right after His rhetorical question that He says: “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:47-49).
The subject here IS keeping His words and NOT any thing else; it IS NOT about Trusting Jesus, it IS NOT about standing on His name….it IS ONLY about keeping His words. It IS the man who “cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them” that IS likened to the Wise builder and ALL others ARE the those foolish builders who “do not the things which I say” or, at a minimum, strive toward that goal. The Apostle Matthew expands upon this idea in the closing of the Sermon on the Mount; here Jesus explains the depth of His rhetorical question and inserts for us the better understanding of the Wise and the fool; we read:
“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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:21-27).
The first part of this incorporates the second part of our trifecta of spiritual reality and the Truth of the Way “into the kingdom of heaven“, a Way that IS diluted, changed and ignored by the doctrines of men. The reality of the Way has become a variety of things through the doctrinal view of being “born again” but if we look at these ideas together they DO tell us the same thing. Here Jesus tells us the Way and in His words saying to Nicodemus that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” and His follow up that tells us that “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5) we should be able to see that unless one “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” that “he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” and therefore CAN NOT “be born again“
While there IS ONLY a doctrinal association between this idea of being “born again” and the Apostle Paul’s words of confession and affirmation leading to ‘salvation‘ there IS a factual association in the Master’s words between being Truly “born again” and entering “the kingdom of heaven” and we should understand here that this association IS between keeping His words in DOING “the will of my Father” and being “born again“….entering the Kingdom IS the result of both. The equivalency here IS simple logic and while doctrines seek to deny that logic by their nebulous ideas of ‘salvation‘ through faith and believing, the Truth remains in Jesus’ words. The doctrinal hijacking of this idea of being “born again” has led many millions to see themselves in this Light while the Truth of being so IS ONLY accomplished in the equivalent idea of keeping His words; here we should NOT distinguish between the words of the Master and the Word of God offered to the world by Moses some 1500 years earlier.
When we can see and understand that men ARE delivered by these words, by living in accord with them, we can better understand the Truth implied in the gospels, a Truth through which the ideas of soter, soteria and soterion can be rightly discerned. While doctrinal ‘salvation‘ presumably frees men from the bondage of sin and liability to eternal death, the idea of deliverance sees so much more. It IS in keeping His words that men ARE “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21) and while the idea of delivered in this saying IS properly made free, the intent IS much the same. Again, it IS to ease the burden on themselves that men have created such doctrines that substitute the doctrinal ideas of ‘salvation‘ for the Truth by stitching together unrelated and out of context ideas from the writings of the apostles while ignoring others like that with which we closed the last essay.
The Apostle James words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) ARE succinct and blunt yet the doctrinal world still believes that it IS others that ARE deceived….others that DO NOT accept their sense of Truth. And so it IS with their ideas of ‘salvation‘; ideas which most ALL join with their doctrinal ideas on the Kingdom of God and of Heaven as one’s destination after the death of the man in this Earth. The greater reality of soteria and its kindred words, including the root word sozo which IS rendered as saved and which IS also rendered in terms of healing and being made whole, IS in relation to the here and now and NOT some nebulous future state which IS NOT specifically mentioned save for the drawn out conclusions of doctrines.
Much of the confusion centers around the idea of eternal Life which, by its very definition, IS NOT as doctrines portray this. Above, in Webster’s definition of salvation we see the promise of everlasting happiness which IS for most doctrinal followers the promise of eternal Life in heaven. The reality of the Greek word aionios however goes both to the past and to the future….it IS without beginning and without end and, while doctrines offer a choice of these meanings according to the supposed context, the reality IS found in the Truth of an eternal God and an eternal Christ. In the preamble to his gospel the Apostle John speaks of the beginning but we should NOT understand this as a starting point; this idea IS ONLY to allow for the finite minds of men to grasp eternity; in the opening the apostle DOES show us the reality of the Oneness of God and Christ.
This idea of God and Christ at the beginning can only be seen in the reality that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) existing before the creation of anything and when we can come to understand the Immanence of God in this creation as well as His Transcendence, we can then begin to sense our own sense of beginning….that we ever were and always will be as spiritual beings. Jesus, in the seventeenth chapter of John’s Gospel defines eternal Life and DOES so in such a way that one can see that such IS a realization of one’s own Truth; He says “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). These words ARE offered in the Master’s ‘prayer’ and if we can join this idea to Jesus words on KNOWING the Truth, we can perhaps glimpse the greater Truth. Vincent tells us this regarding this verse: Might know (γινώσκωσι); Might recognize or perceive. This is striking, that eternal life consists in knowledge, or rather the pursuit of knowledge, since the present tense marks a continuance, a progressive perception of God in Christ. That they might learn to know 4.
While doctrines show us the more carnal view of being ‘saved‘ by their theories on the words of Paul, the Master shows us the Truth, a Truth that IS simply stated in the parable above: keep His words and be the Wise man….Wise in the eyes of the Lord; or, DO NOT keep His words and be the fool….a fool in the eyes of the Lord. This IS simply stated as ARE so many of His words that ARE diluted, changed and ignored as men exchange their doctrines for the Truth; doctrines by which they believe that they have eternal Life and salvation much as the Pharisees and their ilk believed what they DID in Jesus’ day. It IS in the glamour and illusion of Life here in this Earth that the Pharisees hardened their hearts on their own thoughts, attitudes and ideas rather than to accept the clear simplicity of the Master words and the many miracles that He wrought.
While the Christians from the beginning have made claim to the higher ground by believing and teaching that they have the True message of the gospel, they too have hardened their hearts against the simple Truths that Jesus presents. It IS the same glamour and illusion that afflicts the Christian world yet today as parts of the church relies upon the ceremony and the rites for ‘salvation‘ while other parts rely upon their affirmations and confessions of faith in the Lord Jesus whom they overtly choose to ignore. While there ARE undoubtedly some in the Christian world that DO NOT dilute, change and ignore Jesus commandments, these ARE difficult to find and ARE the small minority compared to the whole which has taken authority over the lives of the masses. But the Master’s words ARE clear and in the context of our trifecta we should ask as DOES the Prophet Isaiah saying “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). Here in the trifecta we have both the report and “the arm of the LORD“; we read again:
- “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).
Doctrinal thinkers DO NOT see that the Way IS in His words as they deny these precepts in favor of their own doctrinal ideas of ‘salvation‘; they DO NOT see that it IS their own vanity that “hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart“; it IS this vanity which Vincent defines for us saying: Here, therefore, the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. Can we understand this human dilemma? Can we see that individually and corporately men ARE blinded by their own glamour….by their own religion in most ALL its forms?
The reality of the report IS NOT merely words but the meaning of those words that ARE NOT believed; the Jews, the most religious and responsible, that DO hear the words of the prophets DO NOT heed them and ofttimes come to despise the source of the report. In this we should see Jesus words on the treatment of the prophets by those who had authority…. by the kings, the priests and the other religious leaders of the Jews. Of those most barbarous and superstitions times the Master says: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets” (Matthew 23:29-31).
Can we understand the point here? While the idea of the persecution of the church and the martyrdom of believers in the early church IS well KNOWN, the persecution of ‘heretics’ by the church IS NOT. Many there ARE through history that ARE killed because their beliefs ARE NOT in accord with the doctrines of the church, this IS akin to the fate of the prophets, and in the Christian era this continued into the NOT to distant past; the last reported case in our research was in 1781. In the days of the Jews and in the Christian era there was an allegiance between the religious and the government that allowed for these killings and perhaps much of the blame can be laid upon Moses declaration of laws that ARE contrary to the gist of the Great Commandments….contrary to the True laws covering the relationships between man and man and between man and God.
While we often speak of the difference between those laws that promote these relationships in contrast to the ceremonial and dietary laws, but there ARE also those edicts from Moses that inflict punishment upon the offender. These result in stoning for a variety of offences and if we could but understand that such carnal matters ARE carnal in nature we can likely see Moses’ dilemma as he seems forced to intermingles such ideas with the Truly spiritual ideas in his day and according to the most superstitions and barbarous times in which he lived. We must remember as well that Moses IS NOT only the ‘deliverer’ but he IS the founder of the Jew’s religion and while his impetus IS from God, it IS through his carnal personality and the times that this impetus flows.
In this view it IS NOT odd that the prophets ofttimes offered changes to Moses ideas and this can be seen in the way that the Master uses such ideas as the Great Commandments which, while NOT specifically spoken of by the prophets, ARE KNOWN as the cornerstone of the law by “a certain lawyer” (Luke 10:25) in Luke’s Gospel and by “one of the scribes” (Mark 12:28) in Mark’s. These ARE NOT random occurrences but ARE indicative of the reality that such ideas as ARE contained in these commandments ARE a part of the Jewish view of the Lord. While these ideas ARE NOT at the forefront of the Jew’s doctrinal teaching, they ARE KNOWN and much in the same way at they ARE KNOWN from the early church onward to today as the Great Commandments. Add to this Jesus’ more intentional reference as He tells the Pharisees “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” and then again He tells them “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7).
The point here IS that the Jew’s DID KNOW, as DO the Christians, the role of Love, of agape, in the expression of religion and both have relegated it to the less important ideas of their respective religions; the Master DID call out the Jew’s on this but this too DID NOT deter the Christians from taking the same tact. Jesus, among His lengthy list of woes, says to the Jews: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23). In ALL these ideas the Master IS repeating the words of the law or the words of the prophets yet the Jews DO NOT see the Truth and neither DOES the fledgling Christian religion in those superstitious and barbarous times.
While most ALL Christians see the Pharisee in a negative light, there ARE Jews who see the Pharisees of Jesus’ day as righteous men and perhaps they ARE in their own view of the workings of the law. But Jesus points out the fallacy of their religious ways as He reminds them of the fate of the prophets that ARE ‘sent’ to guide them, a fate that also befalls the Master. Jesus reminds them of the words of the prophets as we note above; He often quotes them to the Pharisees and scribes and we should see that this IS never in a good way. Yet the Christians begin their religions where the Jews leave off without ever heeding the Master’s words to those Jews other than to allow them to increase their own glamour as many see the Jew as less than the Christian.
It IS to the Pharisee and the scribe that the Master speaks in regard to the hypocrisy of their own religious efforts and while His examples ARE just that, many put his words ONLY into that context rather than in the underlying message which IS clearly that they ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“. And NOT this ONLY as the Master takes them back to the words of the Prophet Isaiah, which they should surely KNOW, saying “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7-9). It IS this same fate that has befallen the Christian religion from the beginning when, through the establishment of their doctrines, they have diluted, changed and ignored the Master’s words of Truth.
The greater point in ALL that came to the Jews through Moses and ALL that came through Jesus to the world of men IS simply that if one can overcome the “bondage of corruption” that one can be Truly made free. While this IS NOT an appealing message to the masses of men whose lives ARE bound to their own sense of self first and then to their glamorous allegiance to the groups with which they affiliate themselves. It IS this sense of self and of affiliation that can be the greatest deterrence to one’s ‘desire’ to seek the greater Truth as men seek and find those ideas that satisfy their own ego and this sense can stretch from one’s own relative success to family, geographical area, nationality, political system and, of course, to religion. It IS glamour, that sense that one has the better idea regarding Life, that fuels their own bondage and here we should see that this glamour IS, along with the illusions that take over the mind, the reality of that vanity of which Paul speaks.
It IS into this state of illusion and glamour that the Christian denominations and sects, nay, ALL of the world’s doctrinal religions, bind men and it IS their sense of ‘salvation‘, their desire for eternal Life, and whatsoever ‘heavenly’ benefits come with this, that drives most everyman. This IS the lure of religion and it IS in their ability to comfort men, especially when in emotional distress, that enables those in ‘authority’ to instill their message into the minds of the masses. NO one wants to go to hell and it IS this idea that has fueled authoritative religious teachings from the beginning; it IS this idea and the ‘comfort’ that it may bring that has become an instant deterrent to one’s search for the Truth, a search which places a man relatively on his own rather than in association with others of like mind.
And while in the beginning it was one’s conduct, one’s ability to obey the words of the Lord as ‘interpreted’ by their doctrines, that drove men to live in accord with those doctrines, few ever see through the illusion and the glamour that they ARE NOT in accord with the Truth. In our more modern day however, while the fear of hell still prevails for many, the emphasis upon DOING has been replaced with an emphasis upon the doctrinal precepts of that ‘salvation‘ which IS promised to those whose nebulous faith IS sufficient. This IS the new sense of comfort for millions that find their place in those denominations and sects that so teach and this IS as much a deterrence to the seeking the Truth as there has ever been.
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” IS still the True spiritual question and this, along with the Master’s words that ask “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?“, can show men the state of their religion which IS in very few ways related to the Truth of the teaching of the ages which Paul summarizes for us in our selection from Romans 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).
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
- 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
