ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXXXVIII
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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 Apostle Paul’s words from our selection from his First Epistle to the Corinthians. In his dissertation on agape Paul says that “Charity Agape never faileth” and while agape IS rendered here as charity, the True meaning of agape should always be Love as this IS taught us by the Master and NOT as the idea IS commonly understood. We should understand here that the idea of charity, when based on the meaning of this word when the King James Bible was translated, IS different from today’s modern usage as can be seen in the prologue to our essays above. In fact, the Webster’s 1828 definitions of charity ARE closer to the meaning of agape Love than ARE the past or current definitions of Love. We should try to see here that regardless of the rendering of agape the True meaning of the word IS found in neither of the English words; the True meaning can ONLY be understood through understanding its usage by the Master and His apostles. At the same time, we must understand the word spiritually and NOT carnally as it IS understood in the churches and through the doctrines of men. That there IS NO singular defining idea for agape IS True; the word refers us to concepts and ideas that ARE ONLY discerned by the man who can look past his carnal understanding and see the intent of such sayings that ARE given to us as the Great Commandments which ARE also a part of our prologue above. The words “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” from both the Old and the New Testaments ARE NOT intended to reflect any ideas of the carnal understanding of Love; these words ARE intended to show the universal approach that we must have to ALL, to everyman, regardless of apparent differences of any kind. In this regard the very idea agape should cause us to see a word that DOES NOT translate into the common understanding of either Love or charity but stands alone in its biblical import. Agape should be treated as other words that ARE either untranslatable or which most translators chose NOT to render into English words. Words such as mammon and satan ARE transliterations of the Greek and even the Greek word christos IS NOT translated but IS most always simply stated as Christ, often as a proper name, rather than as its meaning of anointed.
In our selection Paul tries to give us some spiritual understanding of the concept of agape but since his words ARE seen in terms of Love and charity, the apostle’s attempt to give us the spiritual Truth of agape has been foiled; the ideas given us by Paul ARE treated by most ALL in terms of our carnal understanding of Love. When we can see the apostle’s saying that “Charity Agape never faileth” against the accepted Truth that “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8, 16), the spiritual importance of the idea should be clearer. Unfortunately this IS NOT the case and the whole concept of agape offered us in the Great Commandments IS become rather moot and this mostly from the perspective that the whole of the idea IS totally misunderstood in the carnally oriented minds of men. We should try to see here that most ALL men, in and out of the church, ARE limited to the carnal concepts of scripture; few have the necessary realizations of Truth that come in Repentance and Transformation as few have taken this Path to the Truth. And worse, few in the church will even entertain the ideas that it IS through Repentance and Transformation that they ARE Truly saved. Paul tells us in this same epistle from which we take our selection that “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God“. While many millions of Christians believe that they have “the spirit which is of God“, they fail to understand that this Spirit, this Presence of the Lord, comes NOT to a man based in doctrinal precepts but according to the words of the Lord saying “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” (John 14:23). The point here IS that most ALL Christians, despite believing himself to have “the spirit which is of God“, IS but applying carnal ideas to his Life as “the deep things of God” of which he has NO True realization. Without True realizations of Truth which also come in keeping His words men remain carnally focused regardless of their religious aspirations and it IS such that Paul shows us as the “natural man” 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 2:9-10, 12, 14). We should note here that such things as we say in our essays, ideas reflecting the words of the Master and His apostles, ARE considered foolishness by the doctrinally oriented man who has lost the ability to spiritually discern the Truth; lost this to his allegiance to those doctrinal precepts into which he has been indoctrinated. It IS according to his indoctrination that he processes the words of scripture, ever missing the spiritual import and “the deep things of God” much of which ARE incorporated into our selection which we repeat saying:
“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 Paul’s saying that “Charity Agape never faileth” he paints a picture for us in two ways. First in his affirmation that the Godhead itself can never fail and this because “God is love agape“. It IS difficult for the finite human mind to process such an idea as that “God is love agape“; understanding this requires a measure of spiritual discernment which IS beyond the ken of the “natural man” and, to be sure, most ALL of us ARE such. We should understand as well that as the “natural man” it IS near impossible to fully comprehend the whole idea of agape from the perspective that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” as we have NO way of translating our ideas of Love into this Universal sense of agape. With this in mind IS is ever more difficult to understand the Master’s companion saying in His Great Commandments; how DO we “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” as we ARE commanded without KNOWING the deep implications shown us in this saying. In this sense of agape there IS room for NO other ideas of Love as we commit “all thy heart“, “all thy soul“, “all thy mind” and “all thy strength” to the Lord. Without spiritual discernment we CAN NOT KNOW that this full commitment of agape IS found in our ability to “love thy neighbour as thyself“. It IS this Love, this sense of agape, that “never faileth” and NOT the carnal ideas of Love held by men. The second picture IS more difficult to see; Paul tells us that “Charity Agape 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” and here we should see the same twofold approach as we find in the apostle’s telling us of the worthlessness of the essentially carnal ideas found in the churches in the absence of agape. While both prophecy and tongues pertain to the activities of men in the church which we should KNOW ARE worthless without our expression of agape, the idea of knowledge IS more universal and should be seen to apply to ALL that we believe to be True, ALL that we have been indoctrinated into. When we see Paul’s words here as speaking to the same ideas that we discussed in his earlier words on the worthlessness of such “spiritual gifts“, we can then likely see how that the idea of knowledge refers to the same carnal thoughts of men that cause them to “bestow all my goods to feed the poor” and “give my body to be burned” which ARE examples of virtuous giving and sacrifice. This knowledge then IS ALL that we believe to be the ‘duties’ of men, religious men to be sure, which will fail without the Power of agape which motivates and informs men’s Truly spiritual thoughts, attitudes and actions. Paul IS telling us that it IS ONLY the Love that motivates us that will endure and that ALL else that we see , ALL prophecy, ALL such religious ideas as tongues, and ALL virtuous carnal activities presumed to be the fruit our Love ARE worthless in the absence of our True expression of agape. We should understand here also that such fruit as these mentioned ARE but the functioning of our carnal approach to the Lord and that NOT ALL who express agape will partake in these ‘gifts‘.
While Paul teaches about these ideas, these “spiritual gifts“, they ARE NOT a part of the overall teaching of the Master; nor ARE they practiced and taught by His apostles. These ARE but ideas of the church in those days that ARE perhaps influenced by the rites and rituals of Judaism and carried forward by the experiences, the Truly occult experiences, of those present at what we call the Pentecost. Except for a brief mention by Paul who says “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14:18), there IS NO evidence of the apostles nor those who learned directly from them utilizing any of these “spiritual gifts” save for the Truth that they ARE ALL expressing agape as the Master teaches us this concept. And what ARE they taught by the Master? Simply the same ideas that they have brought forth to the masses in the gospels. While the apostles may have struggled at times to fulfill the reality of His words, their overall course was one of Love through which they DO keep the words of the Master who tells us: “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:27-31). Add to this that they have ALL “forsaken all, and followed thee” (Matthew 19:27) and perhaps we can gain a picture of what it takes to Live in agape as disciples of the Lord. Our point here IS that the apostles DO NOT teach the importance of the ideas that Paul writes about as he tries to ‘tame’ the church in their various areas of ‘spiritual’ endeavor; it IS this which he communicates in his epistles. While Paul mixes his ‘church’ instructions with the Truths of the Master’s teaching, it IS mostly his instructions that have taken hold in the church while such ideas as we find throughout his words regarding agape and keeping the Master’s commandments have little or NO effect. Paul tells us of the relationship between our expression of agape and our keeping the commandments of the Lord but his words on this pale in importance to the doctrinal Christian when compared with his singular statement that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Similarly his words saying “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) play a much lesser role, sometimes nearly nonexistent, in doctrinal Christianity than the ideas of affirmation and confession that have been extracted from his words, out of context to be sure, in his writings to the Romans. Even the ideas that the apostle has shown as part of his own dialogue ARE ignored by most when the subject is the Transformation of men’s lives from the carnal to the spiritual; few if any take to heart the idea that “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” (Romans 8:13). We should understand here that the church has, from the beginning, sought out ways to comfort themselves in their sense of doctrine while attributing to themselves either the idea that they DO “mortify the deeds of the body” simply by their doctrinal faith or that they have NO need to DO so based in the doctrinal ideas through which they believe that they ARE forever ‘saved’. Central to these errors IS the equally wrong belief that the words of Paul, the selected few accepted by the church, ARE the new covenant by which ‘salvation‘ comes and that this new covenant supersedes the words of the Master which ARE repeated for us by His apostles and by Paul himself. In this IS the past and current day Truth that the Master spoke to the Jews 2000 years ago saying “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7).
These words have NOT been accepted as a self indictment of the Christian doctrinal approach to the Lord but ARE, as so many of the Master’s sayings, deemed to be spoken ONLY to the Jews 2000 years ago. While even common sense could show men that these words apply equally to the Jew and to the Christian, the glamour of the doctrinal thinker, his vanity based belief that his and ONLY his interpretations ARE right, compel him to stay his course; a course that frees him from most ALL personal responsibility, frees him from the reality of his Repentance and Transformation. Few see Paul’s words, accepted words from a carnal perspective, saying that “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And 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 12:1-2) as the reality of Repentance and Transformation. While the apostle teaches us this, his words ARE NOT taken to mean that men should Repent; most seek to skip this part and enter into some idea of Transformation which DOES NOT see the need to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service“. Most ONLY see the idea of NOT conforming to this world in the most simple terms of their predilection to their doctrinal norms regarding sex and the most gross human behaviors; few will entertain the idea that this conformance IS much more far reaching and goes to the way that men fail against the Great Commandments and their expression of agape Love. It IS in regard to this failure in Paul’s time as well as the predicted failure of men that Paul writes so extensively on agape and while it may seem that he did NOT anticipate the misinterpretation of the idea of agape as the common ideas of Love, the very nature of his teaching can show us that this was NOT True. Our selection IS a clear example of the idea that agape IS ill understood and, again, even if we DO apply his words carnally, the failure of the church still abounds in both its teaching and in its practice.
Much of this can be understood under the idea that “Charity Agape never faileth“. The Greek word rendered here as faileth IS NOT quite so simple and although the idea of failing gives us the depth of the apostle’s intent, it DOES NOT readily relate the idea to the enduring quality of agape. Vincent tell us that the Greek word ekpipto should be seen as: Falls off ( ἐκ ) like a leaf or flower, as James 1:11; 1 Peter 1:24. In classical Greek it was used of an actor who was hissed off the stage. But the correct reading is πίπτει falls in a little more general sense, as Luke 16:17. Love holds its place 4. In Vincent’s reference to Luke we read Jesus’ words saying “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail” (Luke 16:17); in this we can more readily see the import of this idea that “Charity Agape never faileth“. Our understanding should be that agape IS a fundamental reality of this created Universe and while it may have a variety of functions throughout, the major point IS that agape IS Universal Oneness and it IS in this Light that we should understand John’s words saying that “God is love agape“. Agape IS a Universal force that IS spiritually based and IS accessible to everyman; it IS men’s adoption of this force and his use of it in this world that makes them “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), partakers of the very nature of God. In our selection Paul IS showing us that those things that he referenced earlier, prophecy, tongues, and those carnal ideas covered by giving, by sacrifice and by knowledge, ARE NOT ONLY worthless in the absence of agape but also will fail as the workings of men. ONLY agape endures; ONLY agape holds its place, and, when we consider this as either a spiritual idea working with agape or a carnal idea working without agape, the reality IS the same. We should try to see that ALL things that operate in this Life in this world will fail, will cease and will “vanish away“; in the end we ARE spiritual beings temporarily caught in the vanity to which ALL ARE subjected by their birth into this world. In the end we must understand Jesus’ words saying “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63). In the end we must realize that as “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) and we ARE Spirit created “in the image of God” that ALL that IS of the flesh will fail, will cease and will “vanish away” and this both individually and corporately. It IS in the vanity of Life that men DO NOT see this reality, it IS in the vanity of Life that men see themselves as men and NOT as spiritual beings as they create clever ideas to cover over the Truth that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27) from the perspective of a man in this world.
The reality that “Charity Agape never faileth” coupled with the Universal Truth that “God is love agape” should show us the enduring quality of agape and allow us to see why the Master and His apostles spend so much of their teaching on this seemingly elusive concept. While Paul IS using his words to show the stark difference between agape and those carnal ideas that men deem important in the church, the words themselves, carry forth their own Truth. And while the apostle likely expected that his message would be taken to heart, it unfortunately was NOT and IS NOT yet today. His message on the very nature of agape and its importance relies heavily upon the Master’s words, words that ARE NOT held as the final Truth by most ALL of the church. Paul echoes the Master teachings on Love in such words as we have above from Galatians and in these similar words from his Epistle to the Romans where we read “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10). We should try to see here how that the idea that we should “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another” IS yet another example of our “your reasonable service” and we should note here that to express agape as this IS taught us by the Master IS ultimate reality of Paul’s saying that “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God“. It IS our expression of agape that IS both holy and “acceptable unto God“. As Paul continues in our selection the idea of agape seems to fade but this IS NOT the reality of the apostle’s words which continue in the theme of agape till the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next where he writes that we should “Follow after charity agape” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Paul tells us “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” and while these verses ARE in NO way cryptic, they DO rely upon a measure of discernment to be properly understood. The doctrinal understanding of these words and those that follow most often goes to the doctrinal ideas of accepting Christ and the idea that to be a Christian IS to be holy and to be a saint. Being a doctrinal Christian DOES NOT make one holy nor a saint and when we can understand that much of what IS written in these epistles IS directed at such persons, we can uncover the reason why the church teaches that it IS by their doctrinal approach that they become such. Both words, holy and saint, come from the same Greek word hagios and while we have discussed this in past essays, it IS important to understand that True hagios comes ONLY into the lives of those “that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). ALL other views on one’s own possession of this idea IS but a part of the nebulous framework of faith built by the churches. We should understand Paul’s point here in terms of the True meaning of pistis which IS rendered as faith and used in a nebulous way; the True meaning which IS that KNOWING that IS spoken about here by Paul who tells us that we may be KNOWING “in part” and this based in our own religious zeal. We should remember that KNOWING comes to us by measure and that whensoever one DOES Truly seek the Lord, some measure can be revealed; we must remember as well that whatsoever measure we may have IS filtered through a yet carnal personality and expressed to the world.
In this IS the reality of doctrinal teachers who firmly believe that they have a larger measure than they Truly DO and interpret what they DO have into those doctrinal themes through which they have been indoctrinated. In this idea we have Paul’s next words which ARE that “we prophesy in part” and here again the idea of prophecy CAN NOT be limited to the ideas of prophecy found in the Old Testament but rather ALL that such ‘teachers’ DO express as Truth. Paul IS telling the reader who IS presumed to be leaning heavily toward the Truth that comes in keeping His words and IS showing him that the fullness of knowledge and of expressing that knowledge comes in our perfection which IS an idea that IS become alien to the church, likely because of its presumed impossibility. However, the whole idea of this perfection IS embodied in our trifecta, in Jesus’ words 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).
While Paul cautions us to NOT presume that we KNOW more than we DO saying such things as “I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith“, this message IS NOT rightly understood by the doctrinal thinker. Paul’s words here ARE a continuation of his words on Transformation which tell us to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” but this message also falls upon deaf ears because of the Christian presumption that they ARE Transformed through their doctrines. The apostles words saying that “God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” ARE NOT concerning that nebulous idea of faith understood in the doctrines of men, they ARE concerning that KNOWING that will come according to the first part of our trifecta. There IS a vast difference between knowing and KNOWING and we should try to understand that ALL worldly knowledge IS among those ideas that Paul tells us “shall vanish away“; we should also try to see here the knowledge and the prophecy and the tongues practiced by many in the church ARE but carnal representations of deeper Truths that spring from the Soul of the man who IS Truly Transforming. It IS in Transformation that we ARE dealt our ever growing “measure of faith” which IS ONLY Truly measured by our expression of agape in this world. Again, this goes to the Master words saying “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). Of course there IS little or NO agreement with these ideas in the doctrinal churches as it IS exceedingly difficult for men to see through their own indoctrination; we however rely here upon the Master’s words that tell us the value of keeping His words of which the primary idea IS agape as the apostles confirm and as we read in Paul’s words to the Galatians and the Romans above. It IS NOT Paul ONLY who shows us the value of agape as our way to keep Jesus’ words and commandments; James, Peter and John ALL speak of agape and its effect upon the man in this world who chooses to express it. We should remember here that it IS James that takes us deeper into a right understanding of agape as he tells us “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10). In these words we have a picture of the Truth of agape; a picture of how it IS applied to ALL regardless of any personal preferences or prejudices. Here in James’ words we should see the Master’s call to perfection which we can then relate to Paul’s words which ARE our main topic. Jesus tells us to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” and here we should understand that the context of His words IS as James shows us….that we have NO “respect to persons“. The Master’s revelation of this Truth comes in His words saying “if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” and we should KNOW here that Jesus IS relating this to the Ways of God saying first that it IS in our expression of agape that “ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:48, 46-47, 45).
It IS Jesus admonition that we should “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” yet most ALL of the church denies that this IS even possible. However, if we should even strive to be so, we can find our ever greater “measure of faith“, our ever greater measure of KNOWING both God and ourselves. It IS this that Paul IS showing us as he says “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“. Here we should be able to see and to understand the dynamics at play; here we should be able to separate the carnal ideas of what “we know in part” from the Truly spiritual idea of perfection as this IS an aspect of the very nature of the Lord. Can we see the message here? A message that must be seen through the context of the apostle’s words which ARE concerning agape and the idea that “Agape 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“, a failing, a cessation and a vanishing that ARE the result of our expression of agape. Can we see the way that Paul shows us that the ideas of perfection and of agape ARE synonymous much in the same way as the Master DOES? That the doctrinal churches DO NOT see the way to such perfection IS ONLY because they ARE seeing Life through the lens of doctrines which render moot much of the Truth of the Master’s words and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles including Paul’s words which ARE as clear and as to the point regarding what a man must DO for True salvation. We close with an excerpt from Paul’s words from his Epistle to the Ephesians; the apostle says: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness*, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:13-15).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
