Monthly Archives: June 2020

ON LOVE; PART MCCCXLVII

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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 repeating words that have a great significance in regard to the Path of the disciple: Repentance, Transformation, and Redemption leading us to Transfiguration. ALL of these words ARE used by the Master or His apostles in the New Testament but there IS little understanding of their significance; they ARE instead used with a doctrinal attitude that subverts their deeper meaning. The most widely used idea IS Repentance. This word from the Greek metanoia and the verb form metanoeo which IS rendered as Repent ARE most often used according to the common understanding, bypassing even the lexicon’s ideas regarding their use and meaning. The lexicon offers us both in terms of a change of mind before going off into doctrinal ideas such as: a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done ^2a. The key to Repentance IS that change of mind that IS referenced but this idea falls far short of the Master’s intent in telling us to Repent. Vincent helps us here by showing us that metanoia, Repent, should be understood as: A word compounded of the preposition μετά , after, with; and the verb νοέω , to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after ⁴. This idea of to think differently after, while being more clearly stated, DOES NOT yet offer us the depth intended in Jesus’ words such as “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). We should see Jesus’ message here, and that of the Baptist as well, in terms of our beginning regarding the next word in our list, Transformation; a change of heart and mind, one’s focus if you will, from the self to the things of God. Vincent goes on to tells us that metanoia: is therefore, primarily, an after-thought, different from the former thought; then, a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct. These latter ideas, however, have been imported into the word by scriptural usage, and do not lie in it etymologically nor by primary usage ⁴. Vincent IS showing us here how that the doctrinal ideas regarding Repentance have crept into and overcome the primary usage of the word. Going further, Vincent shows us that: Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice“⁴ and in this we should see the greater reality of the Master’s intent as He tells us that we should Repent. Vincent concludes his commentary of the word as it IS used in the Baptist’s and the Master’s words saying that: Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word. Paul distinguishes between sorrow (λύπη) and repentance (μετάνοια)and puts the one as the outcome of the other. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:10) ⁴. In Vincent’s words here we have a picture of the reality that should be affixed to this word in regard to the deeper ideas that ARE the Master’s intent. As Jesus tells us that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15) we should understand His words as saying that we need “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice“⁴; can we see the point here that has been so diluted in doctrinal messages and in the common understanding of the word. Repentance then IS the first step toward the Truth and toward that Transformation that puts one on the True Path to Life.

While Repentance IS the word with which the Master starts His ‘ministry’, the Greek word metamorphoō IS never used by Jesus; it IS used in the gospels to show the idea of Jesus’ Transfiguration and by Paul to show that change of mind away from the things of the world. Another word, metaschēmatizō, IS also rendered as Transformed but generally in a negative context; the meta part IS from the same root but the idea of positive Transformation ends there. We separate the idea of Transformation from that of Transfiguration, and we DO so with a purpose that IS evident in the very nature of its use. Paul tells us to “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2) and we should see here a Transformation of the mind or, better, of the guiding Light of the personality as expressed by the mind….a change of heart if you will. In Transfiguation we have a different dynamic that more closely matches the defining ideas for metamorphoō which Strong’s shows us as: to transform (literally or figuratively, “metamorphose”):—change, transfigure, transform ^9a and Thayer’s defines for us as: to change into another form….to transfigure, transform ⁹. While both of the rendered words DO reflect the defining ideas, the idea of to change into another form more closely relates to Transfiguration. If we can see however that the idea behind the Greek word IS NOT showing the literal rendered idea but rather a view of it from the perspective of what form was the beginning point, perhaps we can see the deeper meaning and the intent of the word. Vincent shows us this by defining the separate parts of the word
metamorphoō. The Apostle Matthew tells us that “after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:1-2). It IS in regard to this verse that Vincent says: He was transfigured (μετεμορφώθη); μετά , denoting change or transfer, and μορφή, form. This latter word denotes the form regarded as the distinctive nature and character of the object, and is distinguished from σχῆμα , the changeable, outward fashion: in a man, for instance, his gestures, clothes, words, acts. The μορφή partakes of the essence of a thing; the σχῆμα is an accident which may change, leaving the form unaffected. Compare Mark 16:12; Christ “appeared in another form ” (μορφή) and 1 Corinthians 7:31: “the fashion ( σχῆμα ) of the world passeth away” ⁴. The second word used here by Vincent IS used in Paul’s saying on Transformation that we cite above where it IS rendered in terms of conformity and in this verse we have both word ideas being used. Here Vincent says: Thus, Romans 12:2, “Be not conformed to this world,” is μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε ;i.e., be not fashioned according to the fleeting fashion of this world ⁴. We ARE still left here with both ideas, Transformation and Transfiguration, coming from the same Greek word with only a bit more understanding from Vincent’s saying that: the μορφή partakes of the essence of a thing along with his saying that the word: denotes the form regarded as the distinctive nature and character of the object. Here we should see that in Jesus’ Transfiguration, the object of change IS His whole Presence while in Paul’s words on Transformation the change IS NOT so complete as it ONLY effects the mind. Our point here IS that although a single Greek word IS used here, it IS referencing two different ideas according to the perception of the observer. In the Transfiguration the change IS apparent to those who view it and it IS a dynamic shift in appearance; of this Vincent tells us that: the visible change gets its real character and meaning from that which is essential in our Lord – his divine nature as he continues to compare the two Greek word ideas; he tells us that: σχῆμα, expressing merely a change in the aspect of Christ’s person and garments, would not express the deeper truth of the case ⁴. While Matthew tells us that Jesus “raiment was white as the light” we should see this Transfiguration through the more ‘divine‘ idea that “his face did shine as the sun” and if His face, also the rest of His person through his raiment. While Mark says ONLY that “his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them” (Mark 9:3), we should understand that it IS the same ‘divine‘ dynamic at play in that it IS NOT His raiment that IS changing but the very nature of the Master’s body IS shining through that raiment. It IS important to understand the difference between Transformation and Transfiguration in order to fully understand Paul’s point as he tells us that our Transformation must be first based in our Repentance which IS to so change one’s mind that we DO think differently after. Secondly, we should see that this Transformation IS the fulfillment of Repentance; Vincent has combined these ideas in his commentary on Repentance as he says that this combination IS “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice“⁴.

Paul shows us this same combination but without defining the idea of metamorphoo save for the idea that in this Transformation we “may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. Here in the idea of prove we should see the greater point of discernment. This Greek word dokimazo IS a complex idea that IS rendered in this verse as prove, “have knowledge of“, “will know“, “may discern“, experience, approve and “be able to decide” with many rendering the idea into a personal one of KNOWING God’s Will for your Life. For us Paul’s point should be more broadly seen in regard to the overall “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” that can be revealed in Truly KNOWING God and the Truth that accompanies this. Our understanding of dokimazo as discernment IS based in the combined rendered ideas above and Jesus use of the word in His saying that “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?” (Luke 12:56). While NOT defining the idea of being Transformed, the apostle DOES show us the result and here we should try to see it in terms of KNOWING God which itself IS the great KEY to spiritual reality. Paul’s words then show us that it IS in the “the renewing of your mind” that we have Repentance and that it IS this that leads us to our Transformation through which we KNOW God and move ever closer to the reality that we “have received the Spirit of adoption” which Vincent shows us as: The Spirit of God, producing the condition of adoption ⁴. Here we should NOT forget the dynamic reality that this sense of adoption IS: that the adopted son of God becomes, in a peculiar and intimate sense, one with the heavenly Father” ⁴. It IS in this realization of Oneness with God, a Oneness that IS factually based in the True man, the Spirit manifest as Soul, that we ARE able to begin the process of our Redemption or, as Paul frames this “the redemption of our body“. It IS in our Transformation that we lay the foundation upon which the Soul becomes the expression of the body and in this idea of body we should see the fullness of the form and its attendant personality….its mind and its emotions. In Repentance then we have the changing, the renewing of your mind, which IS tantamount to the changing of one’s focus off of the self and the self in this world and onto the things of God. In the process of Transformation we have the reality of coming to KNOW God as we express through the mind the Nature and the Quality of the Soul which IS agape. Here we should see the Apostle John’s words saying “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4) while we understand that His commandment IS agape. OurTransformation then IS complete in Redemption just as our Repentance IS complete in our Transformation. We should note here that there IS NO departure from our common theme of keeping His words; we should try to see that in Repentance we have the impetus to DO so and that this IS accomplished when we ARE Transformed. We should try to see as well that both the Repentance and the Transformation ARE embedded in our trifecta as the cause and the effect; repeating the Master’s words we read:

• “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 should try to see and to understand that our KNOWING of the Truth, our attaining His Kingdom and having the True Presence of the Lord in one’s worldly Life ARE, ALL of them, components of the Transformation which IS started as we Repent, as we change our focus onto the things of God. None of this IS instant and none of this IS automatic as some church doctrines teach. ALL of this comes into one’s Life by measure and that measure IS determined by the Truth of our Repentance; the greater the change of our focus, the greater the measure of the rewards that mark our Transformation. We should see here that both Repentance and Transformation DO perforce work together, that a man IS Repenting up to that point where His Transformation IS complete, a completeness that IS ONLY noted by the full expression of agape which IS the fullness of keeping His words. In this we should see the stark difference between the reality of Repentance and Transformation and the doctrinal ideas that give the rewards to men based ONLY in rites and rituals and in affirmations and confessions. Repentance and Transformation ARE the work of the Soul, the work of the God Within, which begins when the carnal mind has exhausted ALL other means of satisfaction or when that mind comes to recognize that there IS a greater Truth than he had heretofore KNOWN. So long as a man believes that he has found the Truth in his doctrines or in his secular Life, he will NOT DO as the Master instructs saying “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you“. But we must KNOW what it IS that we ARE asking for. We DO NOT ask for carnal enrichment, we ask for “spiritual gifts” and this asking, this seeking and this knocking must be done by the carnal mind which, again, has exhausted ALL other means of satisfaction or when one’s mind comes to recognize that there IS a greater Truth than he has KNOWN. Moreover, these “spiritual gifts” ARE NOT the immediate receiving of those ideas enumerated by Paul, these “spiritual gifts” ARE the precursor to finding the Truth which Jesus shows us saying “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:9, 13). To understand this we must understand that the Lord whom we ask IS our own Soul, the True point of contact that everyman has with the Lord. And, in the idea of His giving “the Holy Spirit to them that ask him” we should see the idea of realization, of coming to KNOW the reality of the God Within which IS inseparable from the Holy Spirit and the Christ Within, ALL of which ARE the reality of the unction of which John says “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). While the church sees some automatic response from the Lord in giving men such things as Paul enumerates, they have lost the perspective of the apostle’s intent. Paul tells us that “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” and in this we should see that the source of these gifts IS the same God operating through the Souls of men which ARE ever part and parcel of the Lord. So long as the doctrinal thinker applies a sense of personality to God, he will NOT be able to comprehend this great Truth which IS among those “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11) to which the True disciple has access. We should understand that this access IS NOT accorded to men based upon some doctrinal formula but it IS earned according to the precepts of our trifecta, through the process of Repentance and Transformation. While there may seem to be many mysteries, ALL are resolved into a single idea of KNOWING God; it IS in Truly KNOWING that the Truth IS KNOWN. Paul tells us that the mysteries have been revealed to him and it IS through the same dynamic by which he had access that access IS granted to everyman. This dynamic IS of course keeping His words. The apostle offers us a discourse on the reality of the mysteries and how that it IS covered even in his words; this discourse IS the second chapter of Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians where we read that “we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory“. We should try to understand that the idea here IS that while the mysteries ARE revealed in words, they ARE NOT realized in the hearts of men whose focus IS NOT upon the things of God. This IS the reality of his closing idea that tells us 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” (2 Corinthians 7, 14). If we should conflate these words with those of the Master who tells us of disciples that “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables” (Mark 4:11), we can perhaps better see that the dividing line has naught to DO with the doctrinal assumptions of men. The dividing line IS between the disciple, who IS so according to Jesus definitions, and perhaps the True aspirant to discipleship; ALL who ARE NOT, which ARE ALL “them that are without“, ARE ALL them to whom the Master’s words and those of His apostles remain as parables according to our discussion on such in the last essay.

And this IS a great point of Truth regarding the doctrinal aspirations of men: the deeper into one’s doctrine a man will focus, the less likely that he will ever Truly find the reality of Repentance and Transformation. He will NOT find Repentance because he believes it IS unnecessary and he will NOT find Transformation because his doctrines tell him that he IS already Transformed. We should understand that the realty of spiritual discernment IS NOT ONLY that we can realize spiritual concepts but that we DO KNOW God and this of course according to John’s defining words that show everyman a liar if he “keepeth not his commandments“. While there IS NO ambiguity in these words, the doctrinal thinker still leans towards his ideas of ‘salvation‘ that ARE based in rites and rituals and in affirmations and confessions. Regarding the latter, he lays his claim upon his out of context interpretations of Paul’s words rather that the fullness of the Master’s message and the rightly discerned, “spiritually discerned” to be sure, words of His apostles. This brings us then to the next phase in the spiritual journey of the man who Repents and IS Transformed and here we remember that there IS the sense of measure at each stage; there IS NOT hard fixed line separating these ‘stages’ but rather a fluid movement from one to another. A man may be Repentant and Transforming while still having worldly attachments that prevent his further movement but, despite these, he may also be experiencing a measure of the next point of Redemption which IS phrased by Paul “the redemption of our body“. Repeating our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans 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, Because expectation 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).

In these words we should be able to see the fullness of the journey from Repentance to that sense of Redemption that IS based in the reality of “the adoption“. Paul’s words, while addressed to the man who IS on the Path to adoption, shows us the perils of remaining focused, even somewhat, upon the things of the self and of the world. The apostle takes great pains in explaining for us the difference between the man focused on the Truth and the man focused on the self, on the flesh which he shows us from the outset. The difference IS between Life and death and both of these ways have naught to DO with the Life and death of the physical body. We should understand, contrary to the doctrinal views, that the idea of flesh here IS the combination of the body, the mind and the emotions, ALL of which ARE what IS left behind, perhaps in stages, at the death of the man in this world. To understand this requires some measure of the Truth that comes according to the Master’s words….to those that will “continue in my word“. The personality, the combined reality of the human mind and emotions, IS NOT the Soul but IS rather that sense of heart that scripture refers to, that human essence that must Repent and IS Transformed. Again, these stages of our journey, while motivated by the prompting of the Soul, ARE yet the responsibility of the man in the world who seeks change. Here the ideas of doctrine that follow along their precept that one CAN NOT ‘save‘ himself fail because of their most basic idea of the self. The whole of the idea that man CAN NOT ‘save‘ himself IS rooted in his failure to KNOW himself as the Soul. Similarly the idea that man IS NOT divine IS rooted in this same failure. When we can understand the deeper reality that “God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27) as we discussed in the last essay, we can then see that the image of God can be and IS divine. Peter recognized this as he tells us that a man “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” can become “partakers of the divine nature” and here we should see this idea of becoming and Peter’s words “might be” (2 Peter 1:4) in terms of that same realization of Truth that IS the product, by measure, of one’s work of Repentance and Transformation. It IS by this work that one IS Truly saved and, as we have said, this IS the responsibility of the man in the world who seeks change. While there ARE many sayings in the bible upon which the church leans in their idea that man IS NOT divine, ALL of them show us ONLY the outer man, the personality….the un-Redeemed personality. It IS the Inner Man, the Spirit manifest as Soul, which IS that divine part which exists in the “image of God“. It IS this divinity that Jesus shows us in our trifecta and we must remember here that He IS speaking to disciples regarding spiritual ideas that they DO NOT yet comprehend; He must perforce say such things in a tone that can be somewhat understood as He tells them that “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“. The reality here for the man that “will keep my words” IS his realization the the Inner Man, of the Soul and the unction that IS ever One with God but remains unknown to the un-Repentant man who has never looked toward him. We should be able to see here the reality of Transformation as Paul frames this for us saying “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” which IS the Way, par excellence, to KNOW God. This then IS the message from our selection in a single line: “if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“. In this idea, the Spirit, through the working of the Soul, transforms the mind so that the self and the things of the self become of NO importance; the man IS NO longer under the “bondage of corruption“, no longer under the influence of “the corruption that is in the world through lust“; he stands free in the Truth and IS Transformed.

We should understand that this IS NO hard fast occurrence but rather a steady evolution of Life as the Soul slowly overcomes the flesh through this “renewing of your mind” this change in heart that starts with one’s Repentance. We should remember that Paul’s words from our selection show us both sides of the reality of a man who has chosen to step onto the Path; in his words we see the failures of “they that are after the flesh” that they “do mind the things of the flesh“. While this IS True of ALL who live “after the flesh“, the apostles words ARE NOT written to the outsider but to those who will read his words. Whether called to Paul’s writings by religion and doctrine or by the prompting of one’s own Soul, the understanding should be the same. The man that continues living “after the flesh“, the man whose Life yet revolves around the mundane and the carnal, DOES continually “mind the things of the flesh” and to this man the apostle says “to be carnally minded is death“. Now the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT believe that he IS “carnally minded” but this belief IS based solely in his doctrines. Paul shows us the reality saying that “if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” and while many may say that Christ IS in them, the evidence of this comes from the Master’s own words above that tell us how that “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“….and that this abiding IS for the man that “will keep my words“. It IS the man who Repents and IS being Transformed that IS among those who ARE Truly led, as men in this world, “by the Spirit of God“; led by the Inner Man, the Soul. The Apostle tells us that “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” and it IS to these that Paul tells us of the adoption so that we can understand that True “sons of God” ARE finding that Union through which the God Within and the heart without ARE One expression of Truth. It IS this that Mr. Merivale, through Vincent’s commentary, shows us saying of the adoption that: that the adopted son of God becomes, in a peculiar and intimate sense, one with the heavenly Father” ⁴.

We have so far covered the ideas of Repentance and Transformation in some detail and in the next post we will continue on into the resulting ideas of Redemption and Transfiguration. To understand this we must come to see that the body IS NOT the man, the flesh IS NOT the man, the mind IS NOT the man. These ARE but the singular tool that the divine man, the Soul, has the use in his experience on this Earth, an experience that has a singular objective which Jesus frames for us saying “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). It IS this that Paul shows us as the reality of the adoption, the Union of God and man, as he tells us of his and our “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. We should try to understand here that Man IS NOT Spirit, Soul and body and that 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. It IS this expression of the divine man, through “the redemption of our body“, that can show us the reality of the Apostle Mark’s words saying “After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country” (Mark 16:12).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

• ^2a New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
• ³ Encyclopedia Britannica; https://www.britannica.com/topic/logos
• 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
• ¹² Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)

Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.

Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher