ON LOVE; PART MCCCXLV
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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 ended the last essay with some thoughts on the way that the church and its various doctrines have created a wall if you will between a ‘believer’ and the Truth. This wall IS called a tomb in the words with which we ended and there IS a Truth here that IS NOT seen nor accepted by the doctrinal thinker who believes that his doctrines ARE that Truth. Most ALL have accepted the ideas into which they ARE indoctrinated and see themselves as ‘saved’ through the rites and the rituals or the confessions and the affirmations that have been interpreted from the words of the apostles as the new covenant. This IS a covenant that IS based in the ideas of men, ideas that free a man from the seemingly arduous tasks of a positive reaction to the Master’s rhetorical questions that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). The positive reaction here IS of course to keep His words which IS to come to the Light and the Truth that IS agape and to turn aside from the self proclaimed ideas of ‘salvation‘ that ARE based in one’s choice of doctrine. While any particular church may teach that their view of doctrine IS right as they ofttimes condemn the teaching of others, there IS NO scriptural basis for most ALL of their claims as most ALL confuse their doctrinal precepts with those of the Lord. Some may offer the Apostle Paul’s words that say “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” but they DO so in that same sense of confusion which transposes their doctrinal interpretations of scripture for the Truth of what IS actually said. Picking and choosing those ideas that ARE conducive to the carnal and mundane lives of men, they ignore the most basic instructions offered by the Master upon whom their religion IS based and, perhaps, the most striking points ARE our trifecta which we repeat 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).
These three points that ARE our trifecta of spiritual reality show us the Way to the reality of some of those spiritual Truths that most ALL doctrinal thinkers claim that they have. First IS the real Truth that comes to the man who keeps His words and the idea here could NOT be more clearly stated. While the doctrines of men claim to have that Truth and many who follow those doctrines believe that they ARE disciples, they fail in the reality of keeping His words which IS the gateway to that Truth. To satisfy their own psyche the churches have developed a system of belief where they ascribe an atoning quality to Jesus’ death to their ‘salvation‘, a quality by which ALL their sins ARE forgiven, both past and present which for some IS further extended into the future. Much of this IS based in the ideas gleaned from Paul’s words on confession and affirmation which many have extended into the idea of being “born again“. In other parts of the church the idea of forgiveness IS founded in confession to an intermediary that can absolve one of sin for a price which today IS most often some series of prayers along with one’s following in the rites and rituals that ARE prescribed. Both approaches ARE void of the One Truth that Jesus shows us, the one qualifying idea that one should “continue in my word“, which idea IS more rightly rendered as “abide in my word” which IS to live in them. While millions upon millions of persons have believed and DO believe that it IS by their doctrines that they ARE ‘saved‘, the world of men continues to be fraught with hatreds and prejudices, with wars and constant conflicts, and we should note that these have often been perpetrated or allowed by the doctrinal thinkers, teachers and leaders of the church. There IS of course NO Truth in such attitudes that pit man against man in a vast array of perceived differences from skin color to religion to political opinions and so on. One’s view of such differences IS greatly influenced by the nurturing and the indoctrination that everyman endures as a part of Life and the effect of one’s ‘fixed’ perspective on other people IS easily seen yet today. There IS NO Truth in these views, in any views that DO NOT see ALL men equally according to the Way of the Lord with whom “there is no respect of persons” (Colossians 3:25). This equal view of men IS NOT a part of the doctrinal views of most and IS NOT sufficiently taught in the church which IS yet split along racial and socioeconomic lines as well as into sects and denominations that each vie for supremacy. The equal view according to Truth IS shown us throughout the gospels and summarized for us by the Apostle James who tells us clearly that “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). Add to this the ideas of parts of the church that see calamity, that see wars and conflicts, as necessary to the fulfillment of what they may see as prophecy and we can see a ever greater departure from the singular Truth of agape which, in the final analysis, IS the ONLY Truth necessary; ALL else IS built upon this idea of Love. Again, we must look at the ideas of Truth and Love from the perspective that Paul shows us saying that “therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10) while understanding that the words of the Master ARE explanatory of the law, expansions of its Truths, and ARE therefore included in Paul’s sayings.
Second IS the idea of being able to “enter into the kingdom of heaven“, an idea that IS grossly misunderstood and misrepresented by too much of the church. By stitching together totally unrelated scriptures regarding such ideas as “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43) and the Master’s words saying “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2), the church has created a ‘place’ called heaven where ‘believers‘ go after the death of the body here in this Earth. In the nearly 2000 years since the origination of such ideas, NO one has been able to ‘prove’ the existence of such a ‘place’ save for a reported few isolated dreamlike experiences which have little in common. What happens when people die IS a great mystery for ALL who have NOT found some measure of Truth and it IS in the comfort of the church’s created ideas of heaven that many find a resolution to their fears through this illusive sense of hope. Nonetheless, the various religious ideas on heaven ARE but the fabrications of men who likely feared the unknown and we should understand here that such fears need NOT be outward and visible. Paul seems to address such things as the fabrications of men into which we cast their ideas of heaven in his Epistle to Timothy where we read that “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:2-4). We must understand here that Paul’s telling Timothy to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season” DOES NOT refer to the created Christian doctrines of men which come many years later; Paul refers to the words of the Master, it IS His words that he IS bringing to the world. Paul instructs Timothy to be ephistemi which IS rendered here as instant and which Strong’s defines for us in terms of standing saying that ephistemi means: to stand upon, i.e. be present (in various applications, friendly or otherwise, usually literal)9a. Paul’s instruction IS then better understood as that Timothy should stand upon the word both when convenient, “in season“, and when inconvenient, “out of season“. This IS a very important point which the apostle continues to expound in showing Timothy that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers” and this IS exactly what happened to the church where there was NO one able to stop the progression. We should understand here that the doctrinal ideas on heaven ARE but a small part of the overall problem but it IS, at the same time, a primary motivation for many who follow in their particular doctrine’s sense of hope. While the Jew’s believed that the Kingdom of heaven should come to them, the Master gives them a likely unexpected answer; we read “when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). These words were NOT understood at the time nor ARE they understood today as the doctrines of men have implanted their own ideas into Jesus’ words as they see in this idea of the Kingdom Within their own fabricated message that the Kingdom IS among you or in the midst. John Gill tells us that in these verses the Kingdom IS: in the elect of God among the Jews, in their hearts; it being of a spiritual nature, and lying in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost 8 but we should understand here that Jesus IS NOT speaking to the elect of God among the Jews, He IS speaking generally and to the Pharisees’ question. Mr. Gill continues, after a lengthy dissertation, to say: Though the words may be rendered, the kingdom of God is among you; and the meaning be, that the king Messiah was already come, and was among them, and his kingdom was already set up, of which the miracles of Christ were a full proof….8. Vincent gives us a different picture of this idea saying that the idea of within IS: Better, in the midst of. Meyer acutely remarks that “you refers to the Pharisees, in whose hearts nothing certainly found a place less than did the ethical kingdom of God.” Moreover, Jesus is not speaking of the inwardness of the kingdom, but of its presence. “The whole language of the kingdom of heaven being within men, rather than men being within the kingdom, is modern” (Trench, after Meyer) 4. There IS little agreement between these commentaries and if we were to look at the many references of Christ being in a man as IS stated in the third part of our trifecta, we could likely see that Christ abiding in a man and in His Kingdom can easily put the Kingdom Within. It IS the difficulty of this idea of the Kingdom Within that has spawned the doctrinal ideas that contradict it and here IS another example of them that “will not endure sound doctrine“.
We should try to see and to understand that to “enter into the kingdom of heaven” need NOT be the kind of entry that we think of in this Earth. We should see this idea of eiserchomai metaphorically as in the Master’s previous idea that men should “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13). Similarly we should see the idea the disciples should “enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:41) and the Master’s words to the rich young ruler saying “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). Seeing then that this entering IS NOT according to the ways of the world, we should be able to look past the doctrinal ideas of heaven as a place after death and understand it as here and now and within. The point made in this second part of our trifecta IS in Jesus showing us just how to enter in, which idea we most always conflate with our realization….our realization of the Truth, the Kingdom and the Presence of God. Here again we should see that these ideas, while different, ARE synonymous, that to realize the one IS to realize them ALL. We should understand as well that the Way to each of these IS the same; here, regarding the “Kingdom of heaven“, the Way to enter IS by DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven” which IS by keeping His words. Incorporated into these words IS the idea that the Father IS in the Kingdom and, again, when we apply the idea of abiding from the third part of the trifecta, we can see the greater Truth. The Master DOES go on to show that the idea of feigning to keep His words DOES NOT result in one’s ability to “enter into the kingdom of heaven” but results rather in the His saying “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23); an idea that IS placed upon the ‘heathen’ by the followers of doctrines that themselves fulfill the apostle’s warning that “they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables“. While this may seem a harsh assessment of the doctrinal way of most ALL of the church that believes that in their calling Lord, Lord they have ‘salvation‘, this IS ONLY intended to point out the church’s error from the beginning as they sought the more convenient path. For 2000 years the easier way to ‘salvation‘ has been taught by those who have taken authority over the spiritual lives of the masses and this IS of course contrary to the Master’s words as well as Paul’s caution that they should “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables“. There IS a large difference between the intended idea of doctrine and the meaning assigned by men. The doctrines of men, their dogma if you will, IS ever contrary to the Truth which IS agape and which IS founded in Jesus’ words from our trifecta that tell us to keep His words and here, in this second part, to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
The third part of our trifecta deals with the Presence of God in the Life of a man here in this world and here again it IS the doctrines of men that teach that through rites and rituals and through affirmations and confessions that such Presence IS in the possession of the ‘believer‘. The Master clearly shows us how that the Presence of God can become the realization of a man but His words ARE subjugated to man’s interpretations and his doctrinal approach to the Lord. Much of the problem IS founded in the misunderstanding of the ideas of pistis and pisteuo and it IS this misunderstanding that has perhaps created the greatest obstacle to the Truth. We start again with the prevalent ideas of men who see in these words a simple assent to understanding the reality of the Master and of the Father which IS at best a very nebulous understanding. Today’s dictionary defines believe as: to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so* and in this we have the basic common understanding of the idea. But to Truly believe, to Truly have pisteuo, requires much more than a confidence that IS based only in itself, to Truly have pisteuo IS to KNOW. This sense of KNOWING IS the KEY to ALL spiritual reality and IS shown to us as the defining idea of pisteuo by Jesus who tells us such things as “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“. Can we even imagine that in the common nebulous understanding of believing that one could, based upon it, DO such “greater works” NO matter how such an idea IS defined? We often cite Vincent’s words regarding this idea of pisteuo which he offers us against the phrase pisteuo eis that IS rendered as to believe on or to believe in the Master. Vincent tells us that to believe into, as the word eis IS rightly rendered, IS: more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. It IS in this last idea that we find the crux of pisteuo eis and while Vincent paints his comments upon the combined words of believing in and believing on the Master, Jesus own words DO show us the broader use of this idea of keeping His words. We should understand here that to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life IS simply to keep His words and follow in His example. Both of these ideas ARE become alien in the church that has found the more convenient way. We should try to see how that keeping His words IS germane to ALL of the promises of scripture. Promises that the doctrinal thinker applies to himself without regard to the Master’s words; these have taken such ideas as “greater works” and one’s ability to move a mountain or plant a sycamine tree in the sea and has interpreted them most carnally. Most see these ideas as representing the ability of the ‘believer‘ to proselytize and ‘save‘ others or as reference to removing obstacles in the way of the ‘believer‘ in this world. Here we should understand that the motivation of the church and its doctrines IS founded in assembling the thoughts and ideas of scripture into precepts that ARE workable by the ‘believer‘ in this world. In so fashioning their doctrines they deem it right to place ‘metaphorical’ ideas into sayings that ARE clearly stated and taking literally many that ARE NOT intended to be so understood. Our trifecta, and especially this third part, IS an example to this doctrinal tendency; Jesus’ words here ARE abundantly clear yet they ARE NOT understood as the defining idea of pistis and pisteuo. At the same time much of the church will accept as literal ideas such obscure sayings as “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52) and “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) from Paul because they help resolve the fears of men regarding that great mystery of death.
While the third part of our trifecta DOES NOT mention faith nor believing, pistis nor pisteuo, these ideas ARE incorporated into the text through the idea that men should Love the Master and express that Love as one that “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“, as one that “will keep my words“. We should try to understand the indelible link between the idea of keeping His words and that KNOWING that IS represented by the kindred words pistis and pisteuo. According to Jesus’ words on “greater works“, such become the ability of men who believe on Him and it IS when we can see Vincent’s words over the nebulous doctrinal ideas that this makes sense, even in the mortal minds of men. When one comes to KNOW some measure of the reality of God and one’s relationship to Him, when one comes to realize that he IS NOT the carnal appearance with its mind and emotions, the door IS unlocked to ever greater realizations which ARE the reality of that KNOWING as a man in this world. This IS the most basic idea of True salvation; the most basic idea of realizing the Truth, the Kingdom and the Presence of God in one’s Life. The ideas of the church regarding the Presence of God in one’s Life through rites and rituals or through affirmations and confessions by which they believe that they ARE “born again” ARE as nebulous as the ideas of faith and believing that bring these into the minds of men who claim and proclaim conversations with the Lord regarding their carnal and mundane ideas in this world. Much of this reality IS apparent in the Old Testament where men, save for Moses and some of the prophets, claim that the Lord told them to DO this or that, to annihilate entire populations for example, when the reality of the message came through their own personality and according to the level of barbarism and superstition of the time. We should try to see that the line between what comes from the Lord, from one’s own God and Christ Within, and what comes from the carnal mind fueled by emotions, IS never clear. The reality of what may come however IS readily discernible for the man who will take the time to look from a Truly spiritual perspective. Jesus tells us that it IS “by their fruits ye shall know them“, and should we see this idea in a deeper way than it IS literally presented against, “false prophets” (Matthew 7:20, 16), we can then understand that the reference IS to any teacher and teaching, false and True, including those ‘divinely inspired’ ideas from one’s own psyche. Here we should try to see that we must measure every thought and ascertain its ‘divine’ Truth by its potential for fruit which itself must be seen in terms of the benefit to the self, physical or psychic, versus its benefit to KNOWING God and expressing His Love. This IS the black and white of it ALL and a modern day example can be found in such ideas as the Lord told me to DO this or that, even to building a church, which raises the ego of the DOER or the builder by any measure. The field IS Truly muddy and discernment IS Truly difficult and here we should look to Paul’s words that tell us to be always “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This we should measure with the apostle’s words from our selection saying “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” and the Apostle James’ words saying “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).
While is seems difficult to be able to discern what IS Truly of the Lord and what IS of the personality, we should understand here that this latter source may be influenced by the Soul. We should try to see how that whatsoever comes from the Lord IS coming from one’s own Soul which IS the manifestation of God Within. We should try to see also that the Soul IS constantly prompting the man in the world to the Good, the Beautiful and the Truth things of God, a prompting that IS scarcely heard over the din of Life in this world. When however there IS a True sense of the prompting of the Soul, it comes in the form of ideas and thoughts through the same personality. The personality then filters such ideas according to its own nature combined with the social and cultural reality in which one lives. We should understand here that the filter IS always there and it IS in the ‘ability’ of a man to KNOW a measure of Truth that allows for spiritual thoughts and ideas to minimize the personalities effect upon that prompting of the Soul. One’s measure of Truth IS of course based in one’s ability to keep His words as ALL the parts of our trifecta show; it IS keeping His words that IS the source of Truth, the Kingdom and the Presence. Our point here IS that while many may claim that God told them this or that, one’s personal reality regarding these claims lies in discernment and discernment lies Paul’s words saying that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). And here lies the rub: the man in this world, the doctrinally oriented man to be sure, DOES NOT see himself as “the natural man” while the Truth of “the things of the Spirit of God” remain “foolishness unto him” and this because he denies the Truth of scripture that has been manipulated to be secondary to his established doctrinal beliefs. For our discussion here we need ONLY look at the precepts of our trifecta as “the things of the Spirit of God” which ARE become but foolishness; the doctrinal thinker will NOT accept that it IS in keeping His words that one finds the Truth, the Kingdom and His Presence because his doctrines tell him that he has such things through the inventions of his doctrine. This brings us again to our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans where we should be able to see that ALL that IS shown us in the difference between the flesh, to “mind the things of the flesh” and the Spirit, to be “after the Spirit the things of the Spirit“, IS covered in the reality of keeping His words. It IS ONLY in so DOING that one can have that sense of “life and peace“, can have “the Spirit of God dwell in you“; it IS ONLY in so DOING that this Life and the “Spirit of God….shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” as the prompting of that Spirit becomes the expression of the personality in this world. It IS in this way that we can “through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body” and begin to approach the expected result of being “delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. The idea of delivered here IS a doctrinal one while the idea of “made free” IS based in the defining ideas for eleutheroo which ARE: to make free, set at liberty 9 according to Thayer’s and to liberate 9a according to Strong’s. When we can see that it IS based in everyman’s ability to “mortify the deeds of the body” that he can be made free, we can then better understand the way this IS offered us by the Apostle Peter who frames this as our “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). Repeating our selection to put the above points in context 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 . 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).
Again it IS the three points that ARE our trifecta of spiritual reality that show us the Way to the reality of some of those spiritual Truths that most ALL doctrinal thinkers claim that they have. We should try to see how that Paul’s words that ARE our selection clarify and amplify the words of our trifecta and that it IS the actions of the man in this world that determine his ability to Truly discern ALL that IS being shown him in scripture. While the doctrines of men concern themselves with their various ideas of ‘salvation‘ and the establishing of Jesus as the divine and the ONLY Way to that ‘salvation‘, the most basic Truths remain unexplored against the distractions offered in eschatology and in the church’s fixation upon the carnal behaviors of men and their doctrinal versions of the Great Commission.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
