ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXXVII
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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 state of humanity versus its objective which IS to focus en masse the Love and the Truth, the natural state of the Souls of men, through their lives in this world. It IS here that ALL that afflicts the human family can be overcome and, to be sure, ALL that afflicts the human family IS founded in selfishness. Individually and corporately it IS selfishness that separates and divides men; this IS True on virtually every level of human existance. Selfishness colors our interrelationships with others as individual men, as religious groups ranging from denominations and sects to entire religions, as races, as cultures, and as communities. Selfishness colors our views and our behaviors which ARE learned in our nurturing and continual indoctrination; views and behaviors that separate us from others on a seemingly infinite array of differences. It IS selfishness that creates our prejudices and our hatreds as we see others as different and ofttimes inferior to ourselves and to those that we may hold dear. And it IS selfishness that IS at the root of our vanity; it IS selfishness that feeds our illusion and glamour. And it IS selfishness that IS the singular human trait preventing us from even getting a glimpse of the reality of Life which must eventually be seen through the Universal ideas of One World, One Humanity and One God. In these ideas of Oneness lies the Truth of agape and should we look closely and without preconceived prejudices we will see this Oneness at the heart of every world religion; it IS this sense of Oneness that IS central to the teaching of the Christ and of ALL teachers of Truth.
Overcoming ALL division sparked by selfishness IS the role of agape but to see this we must understand just what agape Truly IS and, of course, what it IS NOT. The Apostle Paul tells us that without Love, without agape, men ARE nothing. Should we understand this in Jesus’ terms we can then perhaps understand the relationship between Jesus and His being the Christ, the anointed of God, who carried the essence of the Godhead, agape, into this world of men 2000 years ago. Jesus tells us “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Should we see these words and so many others in terms of the Christ instead of the man Jesus we can then perhaps hold a great KEY to understanding the deeper meanings encased in His parabolic words. The church however has concentrated its entire system of belief on their doctrinal views that DO NOT see the Christ as the aspect of God that He Truly IS but rather as a surname for the Master calling Him Jesus Christ instead of Jesus the Christ as it IS written in the New Testament gospels. Vincent explains this disconnect saying that the Greek word christos IS: Properly an adjective, not a noun, and meaning anointed (Χρίω, to anoint). It is a translation of the Hebrew Messiah, the king and spiritual ruler from David’s race, promised under that name in the Old Testament….To us “Christ“ has become a proper name, and is therefore written without the definite article; but, in the body of the gospel narratives, since the identity of Jesus with the promised Messiah is still in question with the people, the article is habitually used, and the name should therefore be translated “the Christ”4. While the epistles seem to ONLY haphazardly include the definite article, and it IS hard to understand why, the gospels call Jesus as the Christ and the inference here IS that this IS Jesus the Messiah which IS technically correct. At the beginning of his gospel Matthew tells us this saying “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16). The point here IS that Christ IS NOT the surname that it has become in common usage but rather a title that designates Jesus as the anointed of God….as the Messiah. The Apostle Peter shows us this in the Book of Acts saying “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). In these words we should try to see and to understand the reality of being anointed, that the significance here IS that “God was with him” and it IS this same sense of anointing that IS the objective of ALL Souls that ARE born into this Earth. We should see this same idea in Jesus words from John’s Gospel above; as God was with Jesus so God can be with everyman who will abide in Him as the branch abides in the vine….they ARE One. When God IS with us He abides in us as He did in Jesus thus anointing us as He DID the Master and in this we should be able to see that it IS without the anointing that we can NOT DO anything. We must be careful here to understand that the idea that “without me ye can do nothing” IS citing spiritual endeavor and NOT worldly endeavor; we can DO naught spiritually without that anointing which IS our realization of ourselves as the unction by which “ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). It IS this idea of abiding that IS of importance to ALL who would follow the Master and we should understand that it IS this unction, which IS our very Soul, that IS our individual anointing, literally. Unction IS rendered from from the Greek word chrisma which means anointing and it IS that must become the realization of men.
Seeing the Unity and the Oneness that IS God enables us to also see that every individual Soul IS a part of that Oneness and, therefore, realization of the unction IS at the same time our realization of the Presence of God in our lives. That these things ARE NOT clearly explained but ARE left as parabolic ideas in Jesus’ words IS to force us as men to seek the Truth which IS ultimately revealed by our own Souls as the Presence of God in our lives. And while these parabolic ideas may be illusive to men the underlying ideas ARE almost universally clearly stated. We ARE clearly told how to have the Truth, the Presence of God and possession of His Kingdom and, should we DO as IS required, we can have full realization of His Presence as our own Souls take possession of our personality in this world. This IS our objective and this IS the Master’s clear teaching to us in 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).
We should remember here that our realization of the Truth, of His Presence and our possession of the Kingdom of God ARE purely spiritual accomplishments that bring into our lives the reality of those “spiritual gifts” that Paul speaks of in our selection from his First Epistle to the Corinthians. Here we should try to see that while these gifts come to men who have some measure of His Presence, His Truth and His Kingdom, that they ARE NOT Truly ours in the absence of our expression of agape. We should try to see here that it IS our expression of agape that IS the singular sign that we DO have such a measure which IS ever proportionate to our measure of success in keeping His words as the trifecta shows us. Our expression of agape IS the fruit by which we can be KNOWN as True prophets, as True bearers of Light. Again, Paul tells us this in our selection where we can easily see that ALL presumed “spiritual gifts” ARE worthless without this expression of agape and we should understand that to have agape IS to express it as we subdue that selfishness that we are subjected to in the vanity that IS Life in this world. Why such clear ideas ARE lacking in the doctrinal approach of men IS yet another function of that vanity which produces an general unwillingness to give up the self even in the slightest degree. It IS when we can understand that this IS a psychic problem of the carnal mind, that we can perhaps see our own Path away from being “conformed to this world“; perhaps then we can see the True Way that we can be “transformed by the renewing of your mind“. We should understand here that this Way IS shown us by the apostle as he tells us that we must “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:2, 1). It IS this presentation that overcomes the selfishness of Life in form and it IS this presentation that IS the reality of Jesus’ many words on forsaking the things of the self in this world. ALL of this revolves around the Master’s words but the connection Is seldom seen nor understood by the doctrinal thinker. Jesus tells us about our choices; our choice of seeking “treasures in heaven” or the seemingly easier “treasures upon earth” as He tells us “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also“. He tells us as well about our choice between “God and mammon” as He tells us also that “No man can serve two masters“. From the very tenor of His words we should be able to see both the implied impossibility as well as the idea that ALL men fall into one or the other and here we should note that in the absence of our expression of Love, of agape, that we DO most ALL fall into the latter as we continually choose mammon over God. Finally the Master tells us that to focus upon “treasures in heaven” and to have chosen God over mammon, we must per force heed His final words on such choices. He tells us that we should “Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:20, 19, 21, 25), a commandment that sets us apart from the world and “the corruption that is in the world through lust” which must ever be understood as ALL worldly desires. On the one side of the Master’s words IS the reality that most ALL men ARE “conformed to this world“; it IS ALL that most Truly KNOW. This conformity IS baked into our lives from the beginning, from our birth into the vanity, and then enhanced through our nurturing and indoctrination into the things of the world. And while ‘believers‘ may think that they ARE free from this conformity, the reality IS that until one can say with the Master that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) ALL ARE tainted by the corruption and the vanity. It IS in our Repentance, our True Repentance which IS our change of focus off of the things of the self and onto the things of God that allows for our being “transformed by the renewing of your mind“. It IS in True Repentance that we DO choose “treasures in heaven” over “treasures upon earth“; it IS in True Repentance that we DO choose God over mammon and begin to understand what it Truly means to “Take no thought for your life“. It IS this understanding then than IS fuels our Transformation and enables us to be among those who have “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).
It IS this escape that allows us to Truly become “be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and we should understand here that to be a partaker one must express that “divine nature” which IS to express agape to ALL and in ALL that we DO. Any other interpretation of Peter’s words IS in error as he shows us the singular Way to Truth, to His Presence and to His Kingdom. And we could add here that ALL who proclaim to have the Presence of God in any of His Aspects who DOES NOT express His nature in their lives IS but another of those “false prophets” that we ARE warned about. When we can measure Jesus’ words on the “false prophets” against Paul’s words from our selection we can then perhaps see how that the apostle IS defining for us in clearer terms just who the “false prophets” can be. We can begin this with Paul’s words on speaking. If we can understand that to “speak with the tongues of men and of angels” IS to speak in what men may presume to be spiritual thoughts and ideas, we can perhaps see how that most ALL who DO so without a True expression of agape ARE as Paul tells us. They ARE as “as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal“, their words ARE but noise when seen in a Truly spiritual way. While there may be some spiritual value in the words of the priest or the pastor, they ARE generally founded in carnality; they ARE generally the words of men putting forth their doctrinal views and NOT the deeper Truths of the Master’s words. Again, “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20) according to Jesus words on treasure, on God versus mammon and on their ability to look past themselves as they embrace the Truth of agape. Their speech must be free from prejudices and hatreds and any thoughts or attitudes that tend to separate and divide as they pursue ONLY the precepts of the Master without any of the self-serving precepts of the various denominations and sects. This IS a high bar to be sure and here we should reflect upon Jesus words that readily admit the difficulty of our escape; the Master tells us that we must “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: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The difficulty of escape IS a product of the carnal mind that will not see that the choices to be made, the choice of “treasures in heaven” over the seemingly easier “treasures upon earth“, the choice of God over mammon, ARE the True way to enter in and this according to the first teaching of the Master who tell us to “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Paul goes on to discuss prophecy which we should try to see as ALL spiritual teaching or presumed spiritual teaching. As in the generality of speaking, the idea Paul US offering us IS that without agape such teaching IS nothing spiritually. Again while there may be some spiritual value in the teachings offered, they fail at embracing the fullness of the Master’s message as they revolve solely around the various doctrinal assertions of the various denominations and sects. True prophecy IS ONLY found in the teaching of the man who IS allowing the flow of Truth from his own Soul to be his word and here we should see that such teaching will reflect the Truth that the Master brought us 2000 years ago, the Truth that IS agape. Can we see here the error of the churches that promote their doctrines which ARE based in interpretations Paul’s words over the seemingly more difficult teachings of the Master? Can we insert here Paul’s words that show us that such teachers ARE as he himself would be; that without “being rooted and grounded in love agape” that “I am nothing“? Paul goes on to show us that even carnally based virtuous actions ARE for naught in the absence of agape and his ideas here should be seen as far more encompassing of human virtues than giving and even martyrdom. Repeating Paul’s words we read:
“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charityagape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have notcharityagape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have notcharityagape, it profiteth me nothing.CharityAgape suffereth long, and is kind;charityagape envieth not;charityagape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.CharityAgape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13).
In the last essays we began our discussion of Paul’s words that tell us what agape IS and what it IS not and, if we can see his words as defining ideas, we can then better understand the differences between agape and the common understanding of Love. We should again point out that the words rendered from the Greek DO NOT Truly represent the apostle’s intent and here the common refrain that ‘Love is patient, Love is kind’ and other versions of this idea can be our example. Neither patience nor kindness reflect the depth of meaning that should be understood from the Greek words makrothumeo and chresteuomai which ARE generally rendered as such. In place of the common idea of patience we should see makrothumeo as a long-protracted restraint of the soul from yielding to passion 4 as Vincent shows us; this brings us a Truly spiritual view of the word. Paul shows us this sense of patience as he tells us that we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). We must of course understand this sense of patience as an active one; Paul IS NOT simply waiting but IS rather like James’ husbandman who “waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it“. In this we should understand that the husbandman IS NOT idle but IS working to assure that he will have that fruit. Paul’s next word chresteuomai IS fundamental to the expression of agape as it motivates our sense of service and of spiritual usefulness. These ideas ARE based in the the defining ideas attached to the Greek word and we can see the deviation from the common understanding of kindness in Jesus portrayal of the Father saying that “he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35). We should remember here that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) and try to see Jesus words as His reflection on that nature of God. The greater point here IS that for God to be kind IS NOT that common understanding of kindness; it IS more a statement of His ‘service‘ which IS willingly and Lovingly to offered to ALL humankind without any measure of “respect of persons“. To understand this we must understand that the Godhead has naught to DO with the individual dealings of men in this world. While there may be forces at play from the spiritual side of Life these ARE NOT a direct intervention by the Godhead but rather a more subtle meditative effort to impress the minds of those who may be aware of the greater Truths or somewhat so. The Godhead simply IS as has been defined for us esoterically; God IS the “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“**. We should try to understand that the personality that IS attributed to the Lord IS ONLY because there IS little ability for the finite minds of men, mostly carnally oriented to be sure, to comprehend and speak about the Infinite Absolute Reality that IS our God. Even this way of description IS difficult without using personal pronouns and this because language fails us. When we see this from the beginning of the Old Testament and try to understand that the descriptive text alludes to His personality because there IS NO other way of speaking about the Infinite Absolute Reality that IS our God and this IS especially True for the barbarous and superstitious world in that time. If we can tie to this the alternate ideas, the Greek Gods, the Roman Gods, Norse and even Hindu, we can perhaps see how that these ARE but treatments of the same Infinite Absolute Reality that IS our God….these ARE men’s efforts describe His effective working in the Universe which IS the best view of His material form. We should try here to see God from a different but nebulous perspective; we should try to see Him as the combined Souls of men, their spiritual being if you will, and NOT ONLY those which have lives in the Earth but ALL forms of Life across His vast Infinite Universe. In this we should try to understand that there ARE those spiritual beings that have come to KNOW the Truth. Some KNOW the ever deeper Truths of the Godhead and have become instrumental as the ‘motivating force’. And while the ‘Central Deity’ holds ALL things in its orbit, it IS the individual Sparks of the Divine flame, the brighter Sparks to be sure, that control ALL that IS attributed to the personality assigned to God. Chief among these from the human perspective IS the Christ, the One that was able to KNOW “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) when He was here in this Earth and who still takes His part in the fulfillment of the Plan of True salvation. We have often referred to the Master who IS the Christ as the teacher of angels and men alike and we should try to understand that as He promised, He has never left us.
Being the Christ, the anointed, IS a state of being which likely has many levels and we should try to see how that the Master IS at the highest level possible while still being attached, likely voluntarily, to this planet and its role in the Plan of God. Here we should try to understand that this Christlikeness, or if we can more boldly say Christhood, IS the ultimate goal of every Soul found within the Master’s orbit. We should try to see that there ARE those through the course of history that have stepped upon that Path, those who ARE among the “partakers of the divine nature” which Peter shows us IS within the purview of everyman who can DO as the apostles tell us. Peter tells us that it IS the man who has “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” while Paul shows us this as those who “through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). Both ARE showing us the same idea as that which the Master offers us in His words saying “Take no thought for your life” which He amplifies for us in His words on forsaking the things of this world. It IS the perceived difficulty in DOING these things that the church as grasped as they have formulated alternate doctrinal ideas that DO NOT, and for most men CAN NOT, serve the same purposes of allowing us to become “partakers of the divine nature” or, as Paul frames this, allows us to be among those that have “received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father“. We should remember here that this adoption IS NOT according to doctrinal ideas but IS the reality of being a partaker as Vincent shows us this Greek word saying that: the adopted son of God becomes, in a peculiar and intimate sense, one with the heavenly Father 4. The cost of this state of being IS real and IS clearly spoken of by the Master and His apostles; the cost IS first True Repentance. The Apostle John shows us the same ideas from a different perspective saying such things as: “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. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:3:6). There ARE several points of note here in these sayings; first we should understand that to be “partakers of the divine nature“, to be an adopted son of God IS to KNOW Him and while many may lay claim to each of these spiritual realities, this IS based solely in their doctrinal illusion and glamour. We should understand that each of these sayings from the apostles have the same effective meaning; men CAN NOT KNOW God without being “partakers of the divine nature” as in KNOWING God it IS His “divine nature” that one will KNOW. Similarly one CAN NOT be an adopted son of God, one CAN NOT be as one with the heavenly Father without sharing in His “divine nature“; and surely one CAN NOT be so without Truly KNOWING God. John goes on to tell us many similar things but most of his words that DO NOT directly pertain to men’s doctrinal views ARE simply ignored. The doctrinal thinker will hold dearly such ideas as “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15) because it fits well into his views. The same IS True with such ideas as “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) which IS for many a mantra of their religiosity. But the apostle’s words that tell us to keep His words and to express agape, while they may be repeated in the churches, ARE NOT seen as essential ideas. But these ARE essential ideas as John tells us saying “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” and we should note that this saying IS directly aligned with Jesus’ own words from our trifecta.
Returning again to Paul’s words from our selection we come to his final ideas on the nature of agape; Paul tells us that agape “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things“. In these words we should try to see how that the beginning ideas ARE against the realty of men’s being “partakers of the divine nature“, against the reality of being an adopted son of God. They ARE NOT at ALL aligned with the idea of KNOWING Him which IS in the end KNOWING agape. IS our expression of agape unseemly? The defining idea here according to Strong’s and Thayer’s IS to act unbecomingly 9, 9a and while we can apply both ideas broadly to the carnal actions of men, from the spiritual perspective of agape the idea IS much more narrow. An unbecoming expression of agape IS NOT an expression of Love at all and this IS the apostle’s point which should reflect ALL that IS NOT that Universal Love for ALL that agape represents. The behavior of agape IS the behavior of the Master which IS NOT an emotional reaction but an expression of His virtue which can be understood through such ideas as “the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all” (Luke 6:19). We should note that the idea of touching Him IS NOT a necessary ingredient for healing but IS rather the mindset of the people. We read elsewhere that Jesus simply “healed them all” (Matthew 12:15); the need for touching IS missing here as it IS in the stories of Peter and Paul who can be seen as healing remotely. Such healing IS an expression of their agape and we should note here that while healing IS an act of agape offered universally to ALL who seek it, it IS but a sign of the effective use of agape in this world. The greater sign of our expression of agape IS its expression itself in ALL that we say and DO, an expressing that CAN NOT be unseemly. The rest of Paul’s words express much the same ideas; agape “seeketh not her own“, it IS NOT self-centered nor can it be if it IS Truly agape; agape seeks after naught that IS for the separated self in this world. The True scope of agape IS Universal and we should understand that the mindset of the man who Truly expresses agape IS that of forsaking ALL. The apostle goes on to tell us that agape “is not easily provoked“. The word easily here IS added by the translators; Vincent tell us that: Easily is superfluous, and gives a wrong coloring to the statement, which is absolute: is not provoked or exasperated 4. Most other translations DO NOT include the idea of easily as they lean toward being irritated, angered and like ideas. Provoked seems more toward Paul’s intent while the idea of exasperated leans too far toward carnal thoughts and behaviors. We must remember that agape IS a spiritual asset that becomes the realization of a man through Repentance and Transformation; in this realization the man who Truly Loves lets naught around him detract from his expression and in this we should try to see the deeper reality of meekness. Meekness is a human trait that IS ill understood and while common understanding leans toward weakness and fear, the reality from a spiritual perspective IS Universal strength and the ability to NOT DO as one may be capable. It IS in meekness that the Master went to the cross and we should KNOW that it was within His power to stop those events that took His mortal Life. We should try to see that meekness IS the Way of ALL True sons of God and that the idea here IS the reality that agape “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own“. The essence of this meekness, of this expression of agape that CAN NOT be provoked, IS found in such words from Jesus as “fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This IS a largely misunderstood saying and we should understand that the Soul CAN NOT be destroyed in the same sense as the body but rather can be destroyed as the Way to True salvation by an ardent focus of a man upon the self. Here we should try to see that Jesus point IS that we should fear those who by their words and actions can beguile a man and keep him away from his own spiritual Truth. Can we see the point here? Can we see the role here of “another gospel: Which is not another” (Galatians 1:6, 7)? Can we see the role here of those “false prophets” (Matthew 7:15)? And can we see the effect of those that Peter calls “wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest” (2 Peter 2:17)?
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 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
- ** A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A Bailey © 1951 by Lucis Trust
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
