ON LOVE; PART MCCCXLIII
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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).
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We began the last essay with some thoughts on the relationship between Jehovah and Moses and the prophets as we compared this to the relationship between the Christ and the man Jesus. Both relationships ARE shown to humanity in ways that bring the spiritual ideas of the Godhead into contact with the human family and both show the singular intent of Life itself in the teaching that men should keep the words of the Lord. We ended the essay with some thoughts on the writings of the Apostle Paul, from our selection from Romans specifically, that ARE intended to show us the same reality as he writes to men who ARE well into the process of Repentance, that change of focus from the carnal to the spiritual. It IS both unfortunate and the likely outcome that men would misinterpret Paul’s words much in the same way that the Jews misinterpreted the words of Moses. Paul’s words ARE deemed to apply to the doctrinal Christian by the doctrinal Christian who believes that in the simplicity of rites and rituals and of affirmations and confessions, that the blessings found in the Apostle’s words ARE theirs without any of the True effort that it takes to “mortify the deeds of the body“, to cite but one of the example of the responsibility of men. The Christian relies instead upon the doctrinal pronouncements of atonement, that in the Master’s death ALL sin debt IS paid and that there IS NO need to DO anything but live one’s Life in this world. This IS contrary to the Truth of Love that IS the singular spiritual objective of everyman in this world. The Jews, in their time of defining their doctrinal approach to the Lord, made like mistakes as they interpreted the True commandments in the same manner as they interpreted the ancillary ideas concerning moral behavior as they put the ideas of the sabbath, circumcision, dietary laws, observance of holy days and sacrifice above the most basic Truths of the Ten Commandments. In the Ten Commandments ARE the instructions for True Life, for the expression of Love and Truth in this world apart from the tendency of men to see themselves as men as they perform the rote duties of the law. It IS this tendency by the Jews, and likely ALL men, to seek the easier way; Jesus speaks against this as He ‘condemns’ their understanding of the Truth that results ONLY in attending to the outside appearance of their lives rather than the inner Truth that they should be seeking. It IS this Truth that IS shown them in the True understanding of the Ten Commandments which Jesus summarizes for the Christian in the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule.
The first of the Ten Commandments, defining the relationship between God and man, IS repeated in Moses writings several times and with a clarity that CAN NOT be mistaken. Yet the Jews continued to drift off into their failure to see the Truth of focus upon the things of God over a much easier focus upon the things of men. The True intent IS never hidden from view but IS constantly misinterpreted into carnal ideas that have never resulted in sufficient focus upon the Truth. Jesus summary of this most important ideal IS also clearly stated in words that CAN NOT be seen as refering to anything else but the fullness of the focus of a man upon the things of God with “all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“. As the Jews ignored the intent of their versions of this Truth so have the Christians and both while declaring themselves in accord with them. The first of the commandments IS clearly showing us the reality of the focus of a man and the most basic failure in men’s understanding of this precept IS that they ‘believe’ that they can so Love the Lord while conducting their lives as men in this world. We should try to see here that the very basis of sin as this should be understood lies in the way that men focus upon themselves, on their desires as men in this world, rather than upon the Truth of God and the corporate good of ALL men in accord with the second of Jesus’ Great Commandments saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. For the Jews the idea of such undivided attention to the Truth of God was an alien concept as it IS for much of the world yet today but, if we look at this in Christian terms, there IS a much easier way to understand the goal and see its effect in this world. The Apostle Paul shows us the gateway to a Truly sinless Life and while it IS a difficult thing to accomplish, this IS ONLY because the enemy IS one’s own ego that has been born into vanity and then nurtured and indoctrinated into the difficulty. The apostle tells us in his same epistle from which we take our current selection that:
“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth 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 love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love 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. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:7:12).
While there IS a complexity in Paul’s words here there IS also a simplicity that IS summed up in the second of the Great Commandments and in the singular idea of agape rightly understood. Paul begins with an itemization of some of the precepts of the Ten Commandments and we should note that these ARE those that concern one’s relationship with his fellowman. This IS according to his theme that says “Render therefore to all their dues“, an idea that IS misrepresented by many translations as being what IS owed rather than what IS due as a more psychological idea. In the singular word due we can better see the idea that Paul IS presenting which IS to ‘respect‘ the stations of others and this whether one agrees with that station or NOT. Paul summarizes his words: tribute, custom, fear and honor under a banner of agape which we should see in terms of ‘respect‘ with an understanding that should these ideas be our own due we would expect to receive such. If we conflate this idea with the Golden Rule, we can perhaps gain a greater understanding of the underlying Truth of agape. This Golden Rule tells us that “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12) according to Matthew and “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31) according to Luke. This IS the proper gist of Paul’s words here which IS NOT a highlight of the doctrinal teaching of the church and this largely because the very idea IS lost to the vanity, to the “bondage of corruption” in which most ALL men live. We should try to see that Paul shows us a difference between owing and giving what IS due as he tells us “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another” and while this can be understood in the idea that in giving one his due there IS nothing owed, this view detracts from his ongoing point of agape. If we can see the apostle’s words in a combining way, that we should offer ALL men their due and owe naught but agape, we can then see the deeper message which IS simply that “he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law“. If we can see that the first idea, that we give ALL their due, IS Paul’s segue from his words about ‘respecting‘ authority from the perspective of submitting to it, to the topic of Love, of men’s expression of agape, we can then separate these ideas save for the reality of the strong affiliation between the ideas of respect and of Love. In the respect of those “higher powers“, those rulers (Romans 13:1, 3) under whom men must live, we should see the equal expression of agape as this IS intended and which James shows us IS to have NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9) whatsoever. We ARE using the idea of respect in two seemingly contradictory ways; in the former, having respect for those in authority and for the ‘station’ of everyman we have an expression of agape. In the latter we have the contrary idea that we should NOT prefer anyone above another but see ALL men equally in our expression of agape. In the New Testament there ARE two words that represent these two opposing ideas; epiblepo and prosopolempsia. The first IS rendered as respect only once and the implication in ALL its uses IS to have regard for which Strong’s shows saying that epiblepo IS: to gaze at (with favor, pity or partiality):—look upon, regard, have respect to 9a. It IS epiblepo that should be rendered to those in authority or of some station and here again we should see the idea of DOING so with uniformity. It IS this uniformity that corresponds to the second word which IS prosopolempsia which IS rendered as the phrase “respect of persons“. James uses a kindred word prosopolepteo which IS rendered as “respect to persons” and both are from prosopoleptes which IS rendered as “respecter of persons“. ALL ARE used in with the same idea, that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11); that “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin” (James 2:9) and in Peter’s words saying that “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). We should see from ALL this that the idea IS first that having NO “respect to persons” IS the very nature of God and second that this IS the intended nature of the man whose expression IS agape.
While these words, epiblepo and the combined ideas of prosopoleptes appear unrelated in the Greek, there IS a distinct relationship in the rendered ideas; while we should offer epiblepo, regard and respect, to authority and to the station of others, we should DO so according to prosopolempsia which demands a uniformity in our offer that DOES NOT place one above another. This IS based in the reality of agape which must see everyman the same and, from the perspective of the True man, the Soul, the unction and the Christ Within, everyman IS the same. Can we see the reality of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” in this idea? And can we see the True depth of “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” in the uniformity of True expressions of agape. While Paul IS writing to the Romans we should try to see how that he IS writing against the Jews practice of their mitzvah; here we can ONLY presume that these Romans KNOW of the ideas of the mitzvah as for Paul to write such ideas that ARE contrary to the Jews’ practices to those who DO NOT KNOW would serve NO purpose. Throughout, Paul’s argument IS against the following of the law, the mitzvah as the Jews’ interpretation of the law to be specific, as well as to justify the idea that such ‘legalistic’ views pale in comparison to the reality of Jesus’ teachings. We should note also that much of Paul’s writings IS heavy in regard to the Jews’ view of the law and their practice of their mitzvah and this regardless of the effect of that word at that time. This method of teaching and writing DOES NOT square well with the doctrinal ideas that Paul IS the teacher of the gentiles when that word, ethnos, IS considered as Strong’s tells us saying: specially, a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually, by implication, pagan) 9a. While there may be some references to the idea of gentiles as being non-Jewish, this IS nonsensical as the primary idea behind the word and, in the space of Paul’s teachings, the idea of people, of a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus; the human race 9 as Thayer’s shows us makes the apostle’s points much clearer. It IS easy to see, if one should Truly look, that much of the ideas that ARE contrary to the law ARE being addressed to Jews as it IS ONLY them that would understand the meaning. This IS especially True of Paul’s words that lead up to the apostle’s sayings that ARE doctrinally understood as the way to ‘salvation‘, his words on confession and affirmation. Leading into this IS Paul’s comparison of Moses and the law and righteousness against that righteousness that comes in pistis, in KNOWING some measure of the Truth, which is a concept that IS as yet alien to the doctrinal thinker who holds onto his nebulous ideas of faith. It IS this comparison that we find in the apostle’s words on agape that we ARE discussing here; a comparison that shows us that to express agape in this world IS to keep the law. ALL of Paul’s prior words, including those on confession and affirmation, lead to this point: that ALL of the precepts of the law and “any other commandment….is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law“.
While this precept IS clearly stated by the Master in the Great Commandments and in His dialogue with Jewish leaders as the Way to True salvation, “eternal Life” (Matthew 19:16, Luke 10:25), and while the concept IS explained in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Golden Rule, this reality of agape goes largely ignored by the religious of the world. The Jews were offered this precept in the law, Leviticus 19:18, and while the idea IS NOT specifically included in the Ten Commandments, it IS the gist of much of the list. Add to this that Paul, the apostle upon whom the church relies for their doctrinal approach, tells us the importance of this precept of agape under such ideas as “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another” and the reality that “love is the fulfilling of the law“, and one should wonder why the importance of agape IS so sorely missing as THE guiding principal yet today. While men accept as their doctrine the out of context and misapplied idea that affirmation and confession ARE the Way through sayings like “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10) and “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8), they ignore such words from the apostle that CAN NOT be taken out of context or better clarified in any way. The clarity of such ideas as “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) IS perhaps confused with the out of context idea that salvation CAN NOT be “of yourselves: it is the gift of God“. Should we however view this from the perspective that this gift IS agape flowing through the Life of a man who can simply move his focus off of the self and whatsoever he may DO according to the mitzvah and onto the Truth of God which IS agape, we can then understand how ALL things ARE accomplished. For us the most basic failure in the church, in ALL religions to be sure, IS a failure to understand the concept of agape and this because the idea IS conflated with the common understanding of Love as an emotional response to others. Agape IS a deeply spiritual concept that exists as God, “God is agape” (1 John 4:8, 16) and it IS the foremost teaching of the Lord who shows us its Power by qualifying the idea in the Great Commandments. We should understand here that both of the Great Commandments ARE equally concerned with agape; the first from the perspective that whatsoever a man has to offer, he will offer to God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength but this concept IS largely impossible without any KNOWLEDGE of the Truth of God. For the Christian especially the view of God IS trapped in the superstitions of the Old Testament and in the personality affixed to the Lord. To understand that God IS that “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality which, antecedes all manifested conditioned Being. It is beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression“**, IS to understand that in this sense of being Boundless and Absolute God IS ALL and IS in ALL. Paul shows us this in regard to the Christ saying, from a human perspective, “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). We should understand that while much of the church teaches a Trinity that IS of ‘separate persons’ the greater reality IS that the Trinity represents different Aspects of the same God, the same “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality“. If we can see that the Christ IS the link if you will between the One Truth that IS God and His expression, we can then perhaps better understand the ultimate reality of the concept presented by Paul who shows us the mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). In this idea, which IS from a human perspective, the reality of Spirit, “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) relates to the man in this world through the Soul, the Christ Within, and it IS this relationship, the perfection of it, that IS the objective of everyman and the reality of Paul’s words from our selection saying “ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. We should understand here that contrary to the doctrinal idea that every ‘believer‘ IS included in this idea of adoption, the reality IS that this IS reserved, by measure, for those who have been able to “mortify the deeds of the body” as the apostle and True followers have DONE. This, as Paul shows us, IS the way to Life, and here we should try to see that the True Life that IS the subject here and of so many of the Master’s sayings. The adoption IS founded in one’s ability to KNOW himself as the Soul, the Christ Within, and express that expression of Spirit through his flesh, to express the Love, the agape, that IS God. We should stop and note here that ALL of Paul’s words from our selection lead up to this reality of “the adoption“; repeating our selection we read:
“they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in
hope, Becauseexpectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:5-23).
In understanding that the Lord God and Christ “is all, and in all” we should be able to see how that ALL that exists DOES so within God; this IS True on every level of existence. Here in this world we have the ‘proving ground’ for the “redemption of our body” which IS a spiritual concept that IS far beyond the ken of mortal men. A concept that we can ONLY touch upon saying that this Redemption IS akin to the Transfiguration of the Master which so enlivens every molecule of Life in His body that it will never be the same but will progress, as DOES every spec of God’s existence, in ways that we CAN NOT even speculate upon. For the Soul, this ALL represents a total control over the physical nature and IS the singular KEY to such ideas as Jesus shows us saying “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). In regard to the Trinity we should understand one additional point: while Christian theology tends to paint the third part of the trinity that IS man as the body, this IS NOT so. Man IS NOT Spirit, Soul and body as the body IS merely a vehicle for use by a Soul in any given Life in form. The third part of this trinity that IS man IS akin to the Holy Spirit; as the Holy Spirit of God IS His expression on this Earth corporately, the Holy Spirit of man IS his expression individually. In God we have the Spirit that IS God, “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24), manifest through the Christ which IS the corporate Soul of humanity and here we should try to see the Apostle John’s view of this from the prologue to His gospel where we read of the Christ that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). The rendering of Logos as word, while universally used, serves ONLY to dilute the reality behind the Greek word Logos which we capitalize here to show it divine importance. Perhaps the idea of Logos meant more to John when he used this idea but whatever was his intent has been lost in the common idea of a word, a spoken word, which IS become a highlight of much of Christianity. This IS based in the idea of “and God said” (Genesis 1:3) from the Book of Genesis. This idea of “God said” IS a testament to the Power of God and NOT to the literal idea that that our God spoke; similarly the idea of Logos should be understood as the Power of God to manifest which idea we see in John’s words saying “All things were made by him“. Vincent shows us the idea of logos as: Λόγος (logos) is from the root λεγ, appearing in λέγω (lego), the primitive meaning of which is to lay: then, to pick out, gather, pick up: hence to gather or put words together, and so, to speak. Hence λόγος is, first of all, a collecting or collection both of things in the mind, and of words by which they are expressed 4. If we can see this idea of expression as the reality of creating, we have an interpretation, leaning toward occult ideas, of the words that follow. It IS perhaps the idea of being occult that has formed the thinking that this must be simply “the Word” as things occult and esoteric DO NOT align with the doctrinal ideas of the church which has never been able to see past their own theology. Vincent continues to say that logos: therefore signifies both the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed, and the inward thought itself 4. We should be able to see that there IS a complexity to the idea of Logos that the rendering of it as word, as this IS understood, DOES NOT nearly approach. If we were to see “the Word” as the Christ, as His functional role in the Godhead, we could then see the whole idea more clearly and come closer to being able to glimpse of the reality of God and man.
The Encyclopedia Britannica offers us a view of the Greek meaning of the word logos which dates back to at least to the 6th-century-BC philosopher Heracleitus; here we read: Logos, (Greek: “word,” “reason,” or “plan”) plural logoi, in Greek philosophy and theology, the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning. The concept defined by the term logos is found in Greek, Indian, Egyptian, and Persian philosophical and theological systems 3. This gives us a much clearer view of the divine idea that IS the Christ. They go on to say that: the Stoics….defined the logos as an active rational and spiritual principle that permeated all reality and here we should try to see the very nature of the corporate Soul of which each individual Soul IS part and parcel. They then show us a Christian view of this idea of logos saying that: it became particularly significant in Christian writings and doctrines to describe or define the role of Jesus Christ as the principle of God active in the creation and the continuous structuring of the cosmos and in revealing the divine plan of salvation to man. It thus underlies the basic Christian doctrine of the preexistence of Jesus 3. Here we should try to see how that the physical man Jesus IS conflated with the spiritual reality of the Logos and perhaps this IS one of the primary failures of the church a the singular reason why the spiritual concepts ARE neither understood nor allowed to be a part of their dialogue. It IS the Christ as an Aspect of God that preexists but this DOES NOT allow for the doctrinal assertion that has been formed in regard to the Genesis statement that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). The view that it IS Jesus in whose image men ARE created IS a mantra of much of the church which IS rendered illogical if the man Jesus and the Spirit Christ ARE disassociated. While there IS NO doctrinal basis for the preexistence of Jesus, there IS much in John’s Gospel that shows us their separateness and the Oneness in terms that ARE NOT understood by any but those who have garnered some measure of the Truth, those of whom Jesus says in our trifecta “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“. It IS this abiding that brings one a measure of Truth, the ability to KNOW God and to understand some measure of such things as the idea of the Logos. John relates this to us from the perspective of Love, of agape, saying “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:7:8). Here we should see a combination of the precepts of the trifecta and Paul’s reality that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. This idea IS furthered by John’s saying that “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
The greater point here IS that the Christ, the Soul if you will, IS the Aspect of the Godhead that touches the physical universe and that it IS the objective of this Aspect to Redeem the corruption that IS the operational proclivity of a physical existence that IS grounded in vanity. It IS this vanity that blinds a man and it IS the attendant illusion that causes him to see his carnal mind and emotions as himself. While the mind and emotions ARE ALL that a man has with which to identify himself, this carnal reality ceases by measure as one comes to understand and accept some to the spiritual Truths that ARE the NOT so hidden ideas of scripture, ideas that DO conflict with the doctrinal ideas into which one IS both nurtured and continually indoctrinated. This indoctrination IS as much a part of the vanity as any secular deviations that ARE called as sin but it IS clearly much harder to escape. Here we should remember the Apostle Peter’s words that we often repeat saying that “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). We should try to see that this IS the objective of every Christian and religious person as well as every secularly oriented person who never realizes that this IS the objective of his own Soul: to be among the “partakers of the divine nature“. We should try to see as well that it IS the individual Christ Aspect of everyman that IS ever such a partaker and to convey this Truth into the mind and the emotions of his flesh IS to follow the Lord of whom Paul writes “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). This IS the ultimate of partaking “of the divine nature” as a man in this world. We close with our trifecta which shows the Way to this ultimate realization:
- “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.
- 3 Encyclopedia Britannica; https://www.britannica.com/topic/logos
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible 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
