ON LOVE; PART MCCLXX
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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 continued our discussion of the Apostle Paul’s calling out “another gospel“. Our ongoing point in so DOING is to show how that the doctrines of men, the thousands of variations of the One Truth, ARE what the apostle was warning us about and we should note here that it IS unlikely that he ever thought that his words would be those that helped turn men away from the One Truth. Paul calls this “another gospel: Which is not another” and in this we should see how that he IS noting that the variations that he IS seeing DO maintain a basic Christian view but, at the same time, change the dynamics of the True message of Love and Truth. Paul tells the Galatians “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).
The greater point in Paul’s words and in ours IS the perversion of “the gospel of Christ” which IS ever based in Jesus’ own words and not in the interpretations of men. Paul IS reacting to the influx of doctrinal approaches which from the beginning were intended to assuage the effect of religion on the lives of men. The effects of this have multiplied many times over the last 2000 years but we should understand that the greatest multiplication was in the early church where the creation of the Christian religion was of paramount importance. We should try to see how that the dilution and the changes to Jesus’ words ARE NOT so much to make the doctrines more appealing to the masses but rather to make them more doable for the progenitors as they debated the True meaning of Jesus’ words. Surely Jesus DID NOT mean that we should Love everyman was likely their refrain as they went through the Master’s words. Surely He IS NOT speaking to us when He says these harsh things to the Jews religious leaders became their doctrinal position. And such things as we read in His words as:
“Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful“
CAN NOT be among His commandments….these ARE NOT possible to DO.
While the idea of “another gospel” begins in Paul’s own time, it IS greatly exaggerated in the time of the early church when men would NOT accept the most basic Truths; the same Truths that were given to the Jews by Moses. The quid pro quo of the covenant which Jesus presents as “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) IS NO different than the way that Moses presented this same idea to the Jews saying “if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 29:1-2).
Both versions of this fundamental Truth have been ignored by men who have made themselves believe that they had found a better and an easier way to an illusory ‘salvation‘ in a heaven that they themselves created based upon carnal interpretations of scripture. There IS a great reality and a continuum of Life but this IS a spiritual enterprise that has naught to DO with the physical existance of man save for the way that it IS here in this Earth that everyman must prove himself to have overcome the physical world….to be able to stand with the Master and say “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). How IS this done? How DOES one accomplish this and how does this same accomplishment fall to others?
There ARE NO easy answers but we should remember that the Master Himself tells us that whatsoever He has DONE can be DONE by those who pisteuo eis Him and perhaps in this IS the first step in a long and likely arduous process. It IS unfortunate that this idea of pisteuo eis IS so simply translated into “believeth on” by men with the equally simple idea of mere conscious assent rather than the deep idea that to pisteuo eis means so much more. These ideas of pistis and pisteuo have long been topics in our blog posts and here we should note that if men Truly pisteuo eis the Master that they would actually be inclined to keep His words; in this idea of pisteuo eis there IS the reality that Christ IS God, that He IS Lord. Vincent shows us this idea saying that to pisteuo eis or believe into the Master IS: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4.
In saying this we must look back at Jesus’ own rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). This idea is expanded upon by the Apostle Matthew to show that a simple showing of religiosity which one may deem as spirituality IS of NO consequence if one’s motivation IS to attain His Kingdom; but this also DOES NOT give men pause to look at the fundamental Truths of the Master’s words as they have found “another gospel“. If we could see that the ideas that Jesus’ speaks of in those days were NOT normal Jewish reactions but ARE among those things that Christians deem important, perhaps we can see how that this message IS more to the projected Christian reaction to the Truth; Matthew tells us Jesus words as:
“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” (Matthew 7:21-23).
We should note here that these words ARE immediately preceded by Jesus’ saying that “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20) and immediately followed by the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders which IS everyman’s measure of the spiritual Life that he has built. The whole point IS however captured in Luke’s version of these ideas as the Master asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?“; this IS the most fundamental question that men should pose to themselves as they believe that they ARE ‘saved‘ and “born again” according to their doctrinal interpretations. It IS this question that should be posed against the doctrinal ideas of the church that believes that Jesus’ own words ARE subordinate to the words of the apostles and here especially the Apostle Paul.
Of course the various doctrinal approaches have their own individual answer to this last question but we should understand here that these ARE the answers of men, answers from the minds of men that ARE yet “conformed to this world“. That such men have ever believed that they ARE NOT so conformed IS of NO consequence….this IS the deception of which we read in the Apostle James words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). And here IS the rub: when one IS deceived he CAN NOT see past his own deception but believes that what he sees IS Truth.
As we have discussed in previous posts, the Greek word paralogizomai that IS rendered in James’ words as deceiving has a Strong’s meaning of: to misreckon with the example given of delude:-beguile, deceive 9a. Here we must understand that James’ point IS that by NOT being “doers of the word” but rather “hearers only“, one IS mis-reckoning what he hears (from any and all spiritual sources as the context here IS spiritual)….he IS deluding himself and even beguiling himself which IS an idea generally attached to the ‘works’ of Satan. These ideas ARE NOT hidden in James’ words, they ARE rather clearly stated; the doctrinal thinker however DOES NOT apply this to himself….few if any see that it IS they that ARE deceived by substituting their doctrines for His words.
While this idea of substitution IS an added thought, it IS based in the way that the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT see the Master’s words as True commandments and this based in his doctrinal beliefs of salvation by the affirming and confessing ideas interpreted from Paul’s words or by the rites and the rituals of their own denomination. In this they may hear, or read the words of Jesus but these ARE of none effect because the man believes that his doctrines have saved him. Vincent shows us the idea of paralogizomai saying that: The deception referred to is, therefore, that into which one betrays himself by false reasoning – reasoning beside the truth 4. The key idea here IS that one betrays himself by false reasoning and here we should be able to see and to understand the most potent role of indoctrination.
While most of one’s nurturing and indoctrination occur in his formative years providing a basis for one’s thought and emotional processes, the idea of indoctrination DOES continue and usually along the same lines that were formed. However, the idea of indoctrination IS NOT limited to the formative years and the idea behind this word IS NOT singular. In the formative years one’s indoctrination IS a rather automatic process; after this however there IS a purpose. On the negative side one can be indoctrinated by forced submission but on the positive side such indoctrination IS voluntary as one submits himself to hearing and seeing those things to which he IS attracted, be they religious, political or social. It IS voluntary submission that results in the deception of which the Apostle James tells us and the reasons for such submission vary greatly.
We should try to see here another important point which IS that this deception afflicts most often those who DO KNOW some glimmer of the Truth, those who have been exposed to it, and in this we should see ALL men of religion, men who DO hear and read but ultimately ignore the Truth. We should try to see also that such deception IS dual in nature as it afflicts the general population. On the one hand we have the religious who believe that they have found the Truth in their doctrines; it IS these that have substituted their doctrinal approach for the Truth of His words. On the other hand we have the more secular man who may have heard the doctrinal approaches but who rejects them and perhaps the man who has tried the doctrinal way and then decided that this was NOT for him; this man IS also deceived but his deception IS based in the idea that he believes that the doctrines presented ARE the authoritative view of the Truth.
The first rejects the Truth that he DOES see and hear but has substituted his doctrinal approach for that Truth while the second sees the Truth though the lens of such doctrines and rejects it because it finds NO place in him. We should note here that the Path to the Truth IS an easier one for the latter as he IS NOT so indoctrinated as to be blinded to the expressed words of Jesus….he has ONLY rejected the substitution without Truly seeing the underlying Truth. The Master shows us the plight of the heavily indoctrinated man as He tells His disciples such things as “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2).
Most doctrinal thinkers see James’ words in a different way however. They have so fully substituted their doctrines for the Truth of Jesus words and the commandments of the Lord that they frame the whole idea as we read in this from the Message Bible where James’ words ARE rendered as “Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!“. Here the preaching of one’s doctrine IS substituted for the Truth rather that the actual words of the Master and the law which ARE James’ intent. While we apply James’ words to doctrine, to the way that men follow doctrine over the Truth, doctrines apply his words to themselves being the Truth and then men hearing such and NOT DOING. It IS this deception that IS sore hard to break.
This brings us back to Jesus’ rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?“; if we apply the Master’s idea here to James’ words, we can surely see the apostle’s point and while one may say that doctrines DID NOT exist in those days, the greater reality IS that there was and there IS the reality of Paul’s “another gospel“. The True gospel IS based in the Master’s words while what began as “another gospel” IS based in the machinations of men who could NOT see the viability of Life according to Jesus’ terms. Men who could NOT see the viability of the Great Commandments nor the Master’s many explanatory remarks concerning them.
It IS however the veracity of the Master’s words that should be understood as the ONLY gospel and if we diligently search through Paul’s words we can see that there IS a steady idea of clarification and amplification of Jesus’ words and NOT the establishment of doctrinal approaches which he himself calls “another gospel“. Among the errors of the doctrinal church IS the failure to see the words of the apostles as they ARE intended to be; too much emphasis IS put upon the idea that ALL such words recorded as scripture ARE the word of God. The idea of ‘inspired’ has been drawn to be the idea of God speaking through the writers and while this IS essentially True, the reality of the filter of the writer’s own personality IS missed. Each writer reflects his own personal view of the Truth as he accepts that Truth and presents it according to his own biases or lack thereof.
Much of their writings ARE addressed to a specific group and one that sees the Truth according to their own proclivities; convincing the Jews of the Truth of Christ requires that one use the Jews ideas of their own religion while convincing the gentile requires quite a different tact. In this we should try to see that although Paul proclaims himself to be the apostle to the gentiles, much of his writing IS directly related to the Jews’ understanding of the law, an understanding which the gentiles had little or NO part in. The point here IS that while much of what the apostle writes IS inspired by his own vision of Truth, it IS at the same time complicated by his overall view as a Pharisee who has come to see that Truth. Much of his writing IS notably designed to show the Jew the better Way of Christ and to dissuade them from their ritual practices and observations of the law.
This however was never intended to say that it IS ONLY in believing that one IS saved but rather that one should follow the Path of the Master and in place of the law that they should focus upon the singular Truth of Love which Paul presents to us in most every letter as the True focus of his teaching. While the apostle DOES go off into tangential ideas on the conduct and behavior of men, his essential message IS that one should keep the Master’s words and example over the doctrinal view of the law with its rites and rituals, its sacrifices and dietary attributes which were intended for the Jew of the past. It IS these that Paul shows us ARE supplanted by the teaching and the example of Jesus who outwardly decries the Jews’ practices. There IS NO clearer picture than Paul’s words to the Romans on Love and this in a letter that spends much time tearing down the Jews’ view of Truth; we read:
“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).
The intent of these words from Paul IS missed by the doctrinal thinker who believes that Paul has downplayed the effects of the law through his words in this very same epistle. The apostle’s point IS that to rely upon the law as one’s guide to the Truth IS become an ineffective way and this mostly because of the Jew’s doctrinal view of the law, a view where such things as the sabbath, circumcision, sacrifice and the dietary rules had taken on the bulk of the Jews’ observance of the law. Left behind ARE the greater Truths that the Ten Commandments point to in agape; first that “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” along with the explanatory saying that “the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18, 34) in regard to everyman and second that one KNOW God which we read as “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
To Truly observe these “weightier matters” (Matthew 23:23) of the law was ever the intent of and the essence of the law but this was covered over by the doctrines of the Jews and here we should see that Paul, as a former Pharisee, has become keenly aware that the Jews’ practice of the law was ineffective; it IS against this practice that the apostle writes and it IS against this same that the Master rails. Through Jesus lengthy list of woes spoken to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew’s Gospel a picture of the scribe and the Pharisee IS painted which IS NOT at ALL an accurate interpretation of these men. Yes the scribes and the Pharisees ARE guilty of ALL these things that the Master cites, things which, as religious, leaders they should NOT have DONE; but the Christian versions of these ARE NO better.
The guilt of the scribe and the Pharisee IS found in his reliance upon his own doctrinal approach to the Lord, a sincere approach to be sure, which failed to see the reality of the “weightier matters” through what the Master calls their traditions. It IS their learned traditions, their indoctrination, that have translated the Truth of the Ten Commandments into their doctrines which take into account so much of the letter of the law and so little of the heart of the law which has ever been Love. And we should remember here that this heart of the law IS the Great Commandments which we see above in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and at the top of our essay in the words of the Master who says of them that “There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31).
And such IS our case: that yet today the doctrinal churches of the Jews and the Christians continue to look past the Truth of Love and into the rites and the rituals of doctrinal worship and symbolism. The marked reality of the failure of most ALL Judaeo Christian doctrinal teaching IS found in their failure to grasp the singular importance of Love which IS best understood from the Greek word agape which IS ever singular in meaning; both the Hebrew and the Greek ideas ARE most often confused with the English idea of Love and from there the idea of carnal Love in most every language.
But agape has naught to DO with the mental and emotional attraction and attachment that men have for others and for the things of this world, their treasure if you will. It is the conversion of this sense of treasure that IS a most important factor in the spiritual progression of one’s Life. Jesus shows us this clearly but His words ARE muted by the doctrinal ideas that this word thesauros means ONLY wealth and possessions while in Truth it IS whatsoever IS of importance to a man; whatsoever has his focus and his attention. Jesus tells us “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
We must understand here that the Master’s use of this idea of thesauros IS intended to show ALL that IS become important to a man and then ALL that he must forsake for the Kingdom of God. This latter idea comes from Jesus’ own words on the disciple, on who IS Truly the disciple, and we should understand also that the clarity of His words leaves NO room for debate. But debate men will as they mute His words, as they dilute and change His meaning to work in accord with the carnal vision that men have for themselves. Again Jesus tells us “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….So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33).
In these words IS the reality of discipleship and the Truth of salvation and when we understand these word along with His saying that “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), we can then see the simplicity and the complexity of the issue of treasure. If a man’s treasure, if his focus and attention, ARE on the things of the world, he IS NOT the disciple and if he IS NOT the disciple he has NO access to the Truth that can free him from the “corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). Can we see the point here? While the doctrinal thinker believes that his salvation lies in his doctrinal approach to the Lord, the greater reality IS that these ARE among the deceived if they ARE NOT in accord with the Master’s words; here we should try to understand the True role of discipleship.
Perhaps if we can see that one grows into a True disciple and that in the many stages or measures of discipleship before that point one IS privy to the equal measure of Truth, equal to his own sense of focus upon the things of God….equal to his striving toward the goal, we can better understand the ideas of the trifecta. To understand this however one must look past the indoctrinated ideas of heaven and hell; one must begin to realize his own place as a spiritual being living for a time in a body in this Earth. This IS a difficult change for most ALL doctrinal thinkers and one that IS accomplished ONLY in the the view of one’s own failure to Live according to the words of the Master and one’s own expression of agape as this IS intended….with NO “respect to persons“.
Again, James tells us that we ARE deceived if we think we have ‘salvation’ while NOT being “doers of the word” and if we can take this idea of deception into the Apostle Paul’s words, we can then perhaps begin to see our failure; we can perhaps see that it IS the doctrinal thinkers who ARE “Professing themselves to be wise“. This sense of wisdom IS the wisdom of the world and NOT the “the wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17) and that the church teaches that doctrinal wisdom IS Truth, this IS but a part of the deception. Paul continues to say that “they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves” (Romans 1:22-24).
While the doctrines of men choose to paint the non-Christian with these words there IS a greater Truth in the idea that this IS everyman….everyman who IS NOT focused upon the things of God and striving to live in accord with His words. To be sure His words ARE that we keep His words and have as our worldly expression the Truth of agape which IS the central point of the Master’s teaching. It IS this that we see so clearly in our trifecta which we repeat here again; Jesus 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).
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
- 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
