ON LOVE; PART MCDXII
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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 a brief summary of our ideas regarding the Apostle Paul’s words in the first and second parts of his list of “the works of the flesh“. We should note that in Paul’s writing there ARE NO actual parts; there IS ONLY a consecutive string of Greek words that were later broken up into bible verses. The point of this whole series of essays IS to show that the carnal interpretations of Paul’s Greek words ARE NOT the apostle’s intent in writing to the Galatians who, according to the opening of his epistle, were already beyond the gross carnal human instincts. It IS the doctrinal church that has made ALL of Paul’s ideas into a list of carnal sins, most of which ARE rendered in terms of sex and sexual deviations. Our premise IS that the Galatians to whom Paul writes ARE those who were apparently in accord with “the gospel of Christ” and that their ‘Christian’ standing was disrupted by those “that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ“. It IS these “false prophets“, false teachers if you will, that ARE them “that trouble you” and we should try to see that their motivation IS NOT ONLY to bring them back to traditional Judaism but to bring them to an easier way to approach God. Jesus Himself predicted this as He warns his disciples and others who could hear His words that they should “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Here perhaps we should try to see that that in the idea of “sheep’s clothing” lies the idea of the seemingly easier way that they offer and, in the idea of “ravening wolves” we have the idea that it IS these that DO “pervert the gospel of Christ“. And this IS NOT Jesus’ ONLY warning; He also warns them near the end of His ministry that “there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before” (Matthew 24:24-25).
In recent posts through which we discussed the Apostle John’s words from the fourth chapter of his epistle we found that the apostle had a similar warning that the reader, the man who has changed his focus onto the things of God, should “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world“. It IS these “false prophets” that John later equates with antichrist saying that “this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 John 4:1, 3). It IS these warnings and cautions that we should see in Paul’s words that begin his Epistle to the Galatians as he says “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-8). In equating these ideas of “false prophets“, antichrists, and those “that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ” we can perhaps gain a bolder view of the way that Christianity has developed into that factious and divisive array of denominations and sects, an array that IS first and foremost contrary to the deeper meanings of Paul’s words that we ARE studying. This factionalizing and dividing of the teachings of the One Christ that Paul teaches begins with the Master’s warnings and, as history shows us, never ends. Can we see that the answer to Paul’s question to the Corinthians which asks “Is Christ divided?” IS unfortunately yes.
While the Master warns us against “false prophets“, and we must see this word prophets broadly as ALL that purport to KNOW something Truly spiritual and teaches such, those who follow such never seem to see the falsity. This IS based on the assumed authority of such prophets and teachers, an air of authority that causes others to believe in and on whatsoever IS taught to them. In Paul’s day this phenomenon and the ideas taught had to be authoritative enough to change the minds of men and here we should concentrate upon the men of Galatia who had been called “into the grace of Christ“, men that we should assume, based on Paul’s addressing them, had Repented and had begun their Transformation. Since that time religion and churches have become highly organized and exceedingly authoritative as the men that speak for a particular church, denomination or sect have come to be seen as ‘men of God’ and this despite the reality that for far too many there IS NO True fruit issuing forth from their lives; there IS ONLY adherence to doctrines. While the church disparages the ways of the Pharisees in Jesus time, they have also aligned their own way with a sense of selfishness and a strict adherence to rules. Most DO NOT see that the Pharisee and the Sadducee, unlike the “false prophets” of Paul’s day that offered “another gospel“, were True believers in the religion that they had created and were adamant in their stance that they were the ‘chosen’ people of God and DID His Will. This stance IS NOT a reflection of ‘another mitzvah’ offered against their mitzvah but IS rather the product of their traditions and their own doctrinal ideas that were taught from a very young age. This nurturing and indoctrination was nearly universal as the rule of law for the Jew was his doctrine, his mitzvah if you will. It IS Jesus that destroys their stance through His words and while most Jews DID remain Jews this IS because the Master, as Prophet and Teacher, could not dissuade them with His own reality which was to them “another gospel“. They DID NOT believe that the Master was who He claimed to be and while His claim has been largely distorted by the church for 2000 years, He was able to move some away from their traditions and onto the greater Truths of His words in a time where there was NOT yet such distortion. The Master’s position, His view of the Jews and their religion, IS clearly found in His words to them saying “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7-9).
It IS unfortunate that by the same stance and logic of the Pharisees, the Christians have from the beginning seen these words as applying ONLY to the Jews both in Isaiah’s day and in Jesus’ time. Most ALL fail to see themselves in these timeless words that call out “another gospel” as the basis of worship, vain worship to be sure. It IS against the rebirth of this stance by the Jews, to follow their own doctrines rather than the Truth of God’s Word, in the new Christian era that Paul writes . His words however have become but hollow carnal ideas rather than the warning that the whole idea IS that such ARE “the works of the flesh“. The Christian world has never seen that their interpretations of Paul’s words ARE the same doctrinal stance, built upon the same doctrinal errors, that Jesus shows the Jews as He rails against their practice of their version of religion. Again, the purpose of this study IS to show the spiritual depth of what Paul calls “the works of the flesh” by analyzing his choice of words spiritually rather than carnally and we should note again the inherent confusion that some of the rendered interpretations of the apostle’s words bring to Light. Paul’s next word begins the third verse of his list of “the works of the flesh“; the word IS rendered as envying from the Greek word phthonos. The idea IS rendered in terms of envy by most translators and as jealousy by a few and we should remember that we DID see these ideas rendered from other words in Paul’s list; those that rendered zelos as jealousy in the previous verse have chosen to render as envy here. Strong’s defines phthonos saying: probably akin to the base of G5351; ill-will (as detraction), i.e. jealousy (spite):—envy9a and here we should see that the primary idea IS ill-will (as detraction) for which they give jealousy and envy as examples. It IS their examples that have become the rendered words from phthonos but the idea of ill-will can mean much more from our spiritual perspective. That envy IS listed among the ‘seven deadly sins’ IS of NO import here as we search for a Truer meaning. While Vincent tells us in his commentary on zelos that the rendering envying, as A. V., more properly belongs to φθόνος [phthonos], which is never used in a good sense4, the idea remains for us rather fuzzy when applied spiritually. Our aversion to rendering phthonos as envy IS based in the common understanding of the word today. Older dictionaries show the word in a more negative light as Vincent suggests saying that it is never used in a good sense4 while today’s dictionaries show envy as: a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages, success, possessions, etc.*. Webster’s 1828 dictionary includes the current ideas but with the added negative aspect that envy includes hate; they say that whatsoever causes one’s envy also causes one to hate him on that account1. Their 1828 dictionary includes ideas of malice which by the 1913 edition of the dictionary had become the lead definition saying that envy IS: Malice; ill will; spite while noting that this is obsolete1. This should help us to see that the idea of ill-will existed in usage despite NOT being spelled out in previous editions. To this we should add that today’s dictionary also tells us of an obsolete definition that IS simply called ill-will*.
Here then we can assume that the rendering by the King James translators as well as most other early translators saw ill-will in the idea of envy, an idea which today IS obsolete. Accepting that the rendering as envying by the King James translators was intended to convey the idea of ill-will should help us to understand Paul’s intent in ways that ARE beyond the ideas offered in current usage; that his intent IS to show us that it IS ill-will, an antonym of GoodWill, that IS the idea that we should take from the apostle’s words. Again the idea IS a spiritual one and a caution that we must NOT allow the personality to interpret our own spiritual Truth into ill-will towards anyone and here we should include the purveyors of “another gospel” as well as any that oppose us in any way. Anyone can proclaim a spiritual Truth and here we should see that any such Truth would perforce be in accord with Paul’s next section which IS “the fruit of the Spirit“….every Truth must produce fruit through the thoughts, attitudes and actions of the man expressing such Truth. Effectively our Truth IS our fruit expressed as GoodWill of which the opposite here IS ill-will and, if we look at the use of phthonos in the gospels and epistles, we can see that ill-will IS a suitable rendering for ALL. While envy may be listed as one of the ‘seven deadly sins’, it IS probable that this idea, presented as far back as the fourth century, was also ill-will which makes infinitely more sense than our current understanding which IS in many ways a function of covetousness.
Paul’s next word IS phonos which IS rendered as murders by the King James translators. Vincent tells us regarding phonos that we should omit it from the text and many other translations DO NOT include this; this IS likely because the word IS NOT found in later found but earlier written texts of the bible. As we have seen throughout our posts there ARE many such words and here in Paul’ list of “the works of the flesh” this IS this IS the second we have found, the first being rendered as adultery. While we DID nonetheless discuss adultery, this was because of the dual meanings that ARE this word; there IS NO such duality involved in murder which phonos clearly translates as and we will NOT explore this idea here and now.
Paul’s next word IS methe which IS rendered as drunkenness and this IS the general idea offered by the Greek word. However, there ARE many forms of drunkenness; ‘drunk on power’, ‘drunk on Love’, etc.; there IS NO necessity to understand Paul’s use here as drunk on intoxicating drinks. Strong’s tells us that methe IS: apparently a primary word; an intoxicant, i.e. (by implication) intoxication:—drunkenness9a and perhaps we should view this idea more as the intoxicant than the result. Thayer’s offers us the same idea defining methe as: wine; perhaps any intoxicating drink9 and while there ARE bible verses where the idea IS clearly intoxication with wine or strong drink, that need NOT be the case here. We should try to see that there IS a more spiritual idea behind methe as drunkenness or the intoxicant that cause such and here the idea goes to our reference of forms of intoxicants and intoxication. The euphoria that comes upon a man who has come to see the Truth and have realization of the Love that IS the Lord can have unexpected results on one’s psyche. If we can see one’s realization as an intoxicant and Paul’s words as a warning to NOT allow oneself to ‘bask’ in that Light feeding his ego and his expression to the world, we can perhaps explain how that drunkenness, a generally harmless carnal endeavor, could result in a situation for the Soul where “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God“. Surely there must be more to Paul’s reference to methe as the ‘punishment’ for being drunk on wine or strong drink CAN NOT be one’s loss of the Kingdom. Our idea here IS NOT a guess but a reasoned approach to Paul’s list; when we can see that being ‘drunk on the Lord’ can have real effects on the Life of a man and a glimpse of this can even be seen in the lives of those who become doctrinally drunk. Moreover, we should try to see this idea in the words of Luke as he writes in the Book of Acts about what had overcome the disciples at Pentecost. We read that men of different languages ALL heard the ‘reveling‘ of the disciples saying “hear we every man in our own tongue“. Luke continues to say that “And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke” (Acts 2;8, 12-19).
Can we see how that this idea of drunkenness can be Paul’s point but with the caveat that such ‘reveling‘ should not be done to show oneself better than or above another in ways that can promote those carnal ideas that ARE shown us under the ideas of pharmakeia, echthra, eris, zelos, thymos and so forth from the previous verse. Can we see how that ALL of this can be the cause of and the product of that ill-will that can come from oneself as we see others as believing other things and from the response of others to our ‘reveling‘ in our realizations. We should understand here that the doctrinal euphoria can cause similar reveling but it IS unlikely that this IS what Paul IS writing about as his words on “another gospel” ARE words against men “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“. Paul’s next word IS rendered as revellings in the King James Bible. This idea IS rendered from the Greek word komos which IS translated in the King James as revelling (2x), rioting (1x). The word has taken a turn toward sexual ideas as it IS rendered by some as “orgies and things like these” and as carousing which idea IS tied to drunkeness. Vincent tells us that: The word originally signifies merely a merry – making; most probably a village festival4 before going on to show us the idea of carousing based in the Greek writings of the times. There IS NO real reason to see this as something to warn the Galatians about although it IS likely that carnally focused men of Galatia may have reveled in such ways. But Paul IS NOT writing to the carnally focused; he IS writing to those who had been “called you into the grace of Christ” and then “removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel” and this should paint the idea in a very different way. In our view this idea of komos, revelling as it IS rendered by most, IS of the nature of that reveling that we discuss above as the elation found in finding the Truth. Since Paul’s point IS NOT in regard to the ways of carnal men, there must be another reality which IS perhaps that one should NOT bring one’s spiritual elation down into carnal DOINGS but should be as were the disciples at Pentecost of whom Luke writes that: “we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11). Can we see the point here?
Overall our point IS that it IS the minds of men that have created the idea that Paul IS warning the Galatians about purely carnal things and it IS in the minds of men that such carnal things have devolved into ideas of sex and sexual deviation. It IS this idea that has largely plagued Christianity over the centuries and has drawn a line between acceptable carnal behavior and the unacceptable and, as we said at the beginning of this discussion, this line has been fuzzy at best. Most of the church will accept adultery although this IS the idea, along with fornication, that IS most mentioned by Jesus in the gospels; while many may frown upon such things, it IS perhaps the same many that indulge in such behavior carnally. Few see the idea that these offenses ARE spiritual; few see that both adultery and formication ARE what keeps men from a True relationship with the Lord according to the Great Commandments which ARE clearly stated yet ignored through the doctrines of men. The whole idea of men’s True spirituality IS founded in the simple idea of keeping His words and we should understand here that His words ARE Universal and cut across ALL religions, ALL cultures and ALL politics. The Master’s words ARE for ALL men. The failure of the church DOES NOT stop at sex and sexual deviation however; the failure of the church extends into those ideas of factious division that ARE found in Paul’s list but remain unseen by a church that fails to see that their own denominations, sects and so called cults ARE the factious divisions that the apostle writes against. The major divisions of the church DO NOT Truly respect the ‘calling’ of other major divisions and there IS much infighting among the subsets of these divisions that ARE the denominations and sects of each. Most ALL fail to realize that it IS such division that IS at the heart of Paul’s citing of “another gospel: Which is not another” as an offense against the Lord that DOES “pervert the gospel of Christ” and DOES so unbeknown to those who have perpetuated the role of “another gospel” from the beginning. Most ALL in the church over the centuries ARE convinced that their own doctrinal stance IS the right one, that their division of the Christ IS based in Truth while the others ARE heretical using this word in its proper context. Most ALL believe that they ARE teaching the Truth of God’s Word while they ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“, doctrines that render the Truth of God’s Word moot. Again we must say that while this IS a seemingly harsh indictment of the church from the beginning, it IS based in the factual way that the church has conducted itself and divided itself over the centuries, and this IS a reality that goes unseen because the doctrines of men paint an altogether different yet still divisive picture. Repeating our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians we read:
“for, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit“.
Galatians 5:13-25
While it IS True that men should be aware of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“, this awareness must expand to include the apostle’s intent in offering these words to the Galatians, words that have become applicable to the whole of the church. Looking away from the Lord as we pursue our daily lives IS NOT the Way of the disciple and while most DO NOT see discipleship in the way that the Master teaches the idea, His words ARE the ONLY True guide. In the absence of discipleship or one’s striving toward that goal there IS the reality of adultery and fornication as well as the impurity of men’s lives. There ARE may ways of looking at these ideas and while the church has traditionally focused them on sex and sexual deviation, this IS but a diversion from the deeper Truths. Similarly there IS the idea of wantonness which IS defined for us as negligence of restraint1 and usually in a careless and reckless* way; this idea can can take many forms carnally but perhaps the most accurate spiritually IS the way that men forge forward with their own ideas of spirituality rather that the words of the Master. ALL of these leading words reflect upon men’s attitudes toward the Lord and His precepts which have become in many ways the cause of men’s “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” as they have ever sought out the ‘easier’ way to comfort themselves in their religion. This leads us to the first word in the next section of Paul’s list and, as we have discussed, this word belongs in the first section from the perspective of its objective which, like the four previous words, ARE concerned with our relationship with the Lord. The doctrinal thinkers that divided Paul’s words into verses separated this because they DID NOT see the sexual connotation that they applied to the previous words. However, when viewed spiritually and in regard to men’s relationship with the Lord the idea of idolatry IS men’s fixation on the things of the self and the things of the world over the prescribed spiritual fixation upon the Lord and the things of God. It IS by redefining the rendering of Paul’s words that we can find the greater Truth than those sexual ideas offered from the beginning; it IS in redefining that we can come to understand the Truer intent of the apostle’s words. To be sure, our view of Paul’s words IS NOT the end-all; surely there ARE yet deeper ideas involved in what ARE “the works of the flesh” that men should avoid as they “Strive to enter in at the strait gate“.
Paul continues to define “the works of the flesh” saying that among these IS pharmakeia which IS rendered as witchcraft in the King James Bible. While most translations ARE rendered this way, there ARE other ideas used. These include “drug use” which IS more aligned with the English word that comes from pharmakeia, pharmaceutics, and sorcery which IS aligned with witchcraft although at what seems a ‘higher’ order; one renders pharmakeia as “involvement with the occult“. As we said when we discussed this word and its affiliation with magic under the ideas of witchcraft and sorcery, there may be an easier way to understand this in biblical terms. The magicians in Exodus used their carnal powers to duplicate Moses’ and Aaron’s spiritual feats and Paul’s reference here can be easily seen in such ideas as that the spiritual man should NOT use carnal powers but should rather use his spiritual abilities which ARE well documented in the lives of Peter, Paul, Stephen and Philip. Of Peter’s and Paul’s miracles we KNOW much but Stephen and Philip ARE more obscure in the Book of Acts where we read that “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people” (Acts 6:8). Regarding Philip’s spiritual abilities we read that “the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did” (Acts 8:6). It IS these spiritual abilities that come to the man whose focus IS upon the Lord, the man who will keep His words, and that such abilities seem rather rare IS based in two ideas. First that few there ARE whose focus IS Truly upon the Lord and second IS that the man with such ability DOES NOT show himself as such according to the Masters many words on the subject of humbleness; Jesus says “whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). We should contrast this spiritual ability with the carnal ideas of Exodus and such men as Simon of whom we read “there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one” (Acts 8:9). In the end the ideas of sorcery work out best in understanding pharmakeia but we should be careful to define this idea in carnal terms and try to see that any form of psychic ability or occult prowess that IS focused upon the self IS Paul’s reference.
As Paul continues his list the next word IS echthra which IS rendered as hatred but more closely follows the idea of enmity as the opposing force to GoodWill which we understand as Love in action. The idea here IS simple then; the spiritual man should not have enmity toward anyone which, while NOT the complete opposite of agape, DOES include such carnal reactions to men as Jesus speaks in opposition of saying “I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Can we see the point here? Can we see that regardless of the opposition that one may face from others, there IS to be NO enmity? Paul’s next word IS rendered as variance from the Greek word eris. This idea of variance DOES NOT make much sense as it IS understood today and this IS likely why newer translations render the idea in terms of strife. We discussed in some detail the confusion regarding this string of words with overlapping renderings. This aside, we should try to see eris more in terms of debate and contention than variance and strife and here we offered the Master’s words as an example of the way that a spiritual man can get caught up in debate with those that disagree. Jesus’ says, perhaps to this very same point, to “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6).
The picture painted by Paul should show us that those things that ARE NOT outwardly viewed as sin ARE at the heart of his list of “the works of the flesh“. His list IS more than a reminder of the gross carnal conduct that men should avoid; it goes to the reality of the expressed nature of the man who could recover from “another gospel: Which is not another” that was taught for an undetermined period of time and which DID “pervert the gospel of Christ“. While a dual message may have been the apostle’s intent, it IS unlikely that he intended that ONLY the carnal ideas would be men’s interpretation of his words, especially men’s heavy reliance upon the ideas of sex. Paul ever writes to those who ARE called “into the grace of Christ” as we have pointed out in many essays and his Epistle to the Galatians IS NO different except the way that he recognizes in the Galatians “that ye are so soon removed from him that called you“. It IS NOT the gross carnal ideas of sex and other interpersonal relationship failures that seem to be his meaning through the rendered ideas of hatred, jealousy and the like; those that ARE called “into the grace of Christ” KNOW these things. It IS the reality perhaps of men’s willingness to allow spiritual impulse become carnal motivation that he writes against. It IS this willingness itself that IS both the cause and the result of “another gospel” as men interpret their own spiritual insight into a presumed ability as they teach others their carnal interpretations of spiritual ideas and revelations. It IS for this reason that we should try to see that Paul’s strategy IS to reinforce the spiritual by decrying the carnal tendencies of men and we should understand here that once one allows his carnal tendencies to take over his heart, the flow of Truly spiritual ideas and revelation ceases. We should note as well that the whole idea of “another gospel” has given birth to the state of Christianity today where there IS always another point of view, there IS always another interpretation of the Truth, another view of heaven and another ‘feeling’ that one has the Presence of the Lord. ALL of these views, interpretations and feelings ARE the cause of and the result of “another gospel: Which is not another“, ALL ARE perspectives that ARE willingly taken by the carnal man who believes himself spiritual as he himself becomes a “false prophet” and finds himself among those of whom Jesus says “many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24). We close today with the Way, the Truth and the Life that IS found in Jesus’ words which ARE our guide to the Truth, to the reality of His Kingdom and to His True Presence in the lives of men: repeating our trifecta 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 will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 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
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
