ON LOVE; PART MCDXIV
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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 begin today’s essay off the topic of Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit” as we delve into the related ideas of doctrinal insistence on their own Truths. We should note that what we say here IS of course our own insistence of a greater Truth than such doctrines offer; Truths that we advise one to research on their own rather than accept our ideas or those of Christian doctrines. Yesterday on the broadcast of a popular and nationally recognized Christian preacher the audience was told that if one DOES NOT believe the whole bible as it IS written that he CAN NOT attest to believing any part of it. He seemed very much to say that it IS an ALL or nothing proposition. He bases this on the idea that the whole bible IS the inerrant word of God transcribed though the writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and this of course has NO basis in biblical fact. While Paul DOES say that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), he DOES NOT say that the words ARE inerrant nor DOES he proclaim that the communication IS direct from the Lord to the pen; Paul claims ONLY that scripture IS profitable. It IS in the doctrinal interpretation of these words that the idea of inerrant comes to be a primary point and this by men who DO NOT KNOW the fullness of scripture or, better, the fullness of the meanings embedded in the Master’s words. Here we could cite Jesus’ words to the Pharisees and the Sadducees saying “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29) and we find it ironic that this saying IS used by some in support of their idea of inerrancy. Also used in support of this claim of an inerrant bible IS the Apostle Peter’s saying “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” while they themselves have replaced the apostle’s intent with their own “private interpretation“. This radio preacher implied that those that DO NOT believe in the whole bible as the inerrant word of God are hardly Christians as he equated Christianity with one’s believing such doctrinal pronouncements against which we should see the Master’s words 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).
The reality here ties us back to our discussion of Paul’s words through the idea that it IS the man who has “the fruit of the Spirit“, the man that Truly possesses “the wisdom that is from above” that has the necessary revelations and realizations that enable him to scrutinize the presentation of the whole text of the bible including the written words and the doctrinal interpretations of of them. It IS this man that can see through the doctrinal ideas of men which have replaced and made moot the words of Jesus and the right interpretations of the words of His apostles. Many also attribute the Apostle John’s words saying “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” to their claim of inerrancy while NOT understanding that it IS their doctrines that have destroyed His Truth in the hearts and minds of the masses. Overall we ARE told to believe without doubt the creation story of Genesis with ALL its faults and uncertainties; we ARE told to believe that “the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies” (Joshua 10:13) at the request of Joshua. An interesting article on this can be found at the Times of Israel through https://www.timesofisrael.com/3224-years-later-scientists-see-first-ever-recorded-eclipse-in-joshuas-battle/. We ARE also told to believe that our Lord, of whom John tells us “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8, 16) ordered the massacre of women and children saying such things as “Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him” (Numbers 31:17) and “But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth” (Deuteronomy 20:16). Similarly we ARE told to believe Moses’ recollection saying of the battle against Shinon that “we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain” and the like story in the next chapter where Moses recounts the battle against the Kingdom of Og saying “we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city” (Deuteronomy 2:34, 3:6). DO we see the barbarism and brutality of these DOINGS by the Israelites as under the direction of the Lord of Love or as the interpretations of men, Moses included, as they seek to adjure the masses in their doctrines that, while perhaps based in revelations from the Lord, are yet ONLY the interpretations of men.
Shall we believe without doubt that this IS our God as He IS portrayed in the Old Testament? And shall we believe that it IS the doctrines of men that we must believe because they ARE loosely based in an inerrant bible. Or shall we be free to explore the Truth through communion with our own Souls, our own God and Christ Within, which IS the ONLY source of Truth according to Jesus’ words that ARE the first part of our trifecta without being ascribed a status as non-Christian? It IS in following the Truth of Jesus’ words that we can attain the Truth, His Kingdom and His Presence; it IS NOT in following the precepts of the church which Jesus calls out saying that they ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“. It IS NOT in believing the whole bible that makes one a True Christian. It IS in keeping His words that the reality of salvation can be ours. Repeating the guidance that the Master offers us in 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).
It IS in line with these precepts that ARE our trifecta that the lists that we have been discussing reveal to us in more specific terms. If we ARE keeping His words then we will perforce be in accord with the specific ideas, rightly translated and interpreted, that ARE the components of “the fruit of the Spirit” and “the wisdom that is from above“. We should remember here that it IS when the words used by Paul and James ARE rightly translated and interpreted that they ARE amplifying and clarifying the Master’s message; they ARE NOT changing His message or His covenant from Jesus’ teaching as IS supposed by far too many that call themselves Christians. There IS NO easier way to salvation than the words of Jesus and while He spoke to the Jews 2000 years ago this IS ONLY because He was born and raised in Israel; this DOES NOT mean that His words were ONLY directed at the Jews in those times. So we continue with Paul’s list of what ARE the specific things that ARE included in both Jesus broader view of keeping His words and in the apostles clarification and amplification of them. Paul begins with Love, with agape, which IS the major theme of the Master’s teaching and of which the apostle tells us that it IS our expression of agape that IS the KEY, that IS the fulfillment of ALL the precepts of the Lord. Paul tells us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and we should try to see that this, this precept, IS the ONLY ‘easier way’ to accomplish what men have forever shunned as keeping the law and keeping His words. It IS in men’s shunning refusal to interpret the law and the Master’s words properly that caused the Jews to form their doctrinal approach, their mitzvah if you will, and it IS this same sense of refusal that has led us to “another gospel” of which today there ARE many. It IS in the simplicity of agape that ALL IS possible, it IS in the simplicity of agape that we can find our True salvation here and now and can count ourselves as aspirants to discipleship. And we should remember here that Jesus Himself gives us the definitions of the disciple, definitions that ARE NOT shared by the Christians who believe that they ARE disciples in the absence of keeping His words. This IS Paul’s message as he leads his list of “the fruit of the Spirit” with agape of which Vincent tells us that: Love, in this passage, is that fruit of the Spirit which dominates all the others4. As we continue with Paul’s list we repeat our selection from his 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
Agape IS the first point on Paul’s list and we should understand that agape, being the very nature of God, IS the most important and as we proceed we should try to understand how that ALL of the other points ARE included in men’s expression of agape. We should remember that it IS our expression of the both “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” that ARE our determining characteristics that should show us the direction that we ARE headed. It IS within our own purview to KNOW our own state of being; NO others can see into our hearts clearly enough as we ofttimes feign our own True state for a multiplicity of reasons. And while we often KNOW that we ARE feigning our own way of conduct through our expression, we should be ever careful as it IS easy to convince oneself that what we may feign IS our Truth and it becomes so. The ideas that we present in this blog have become our Truth in the same way as the doctrinal presentations of the churches have become the Truth for those that closely follow them and we should try to see in this dynamic the creation and perpetuation of “another gospel“. Here we should state that while our presentation IS our version of Truth, NO one should accept our views as ‘gospel’ without searching out the meanings of what we say in both scripture and in meditation upon the themes. So, back to our theme which seeks to scrutinize the translations and the rendering of the Greek words that Paul uses in his lists as we try to understand his meaning in spiritual rather than carnal ways. We believe that our previous presentation on “the works of the flesh“, while incomplete and at times rather nebulous, offers a foundation for our understanding of what we should NOT DO if we ARE seeking to become disciples of the Christ and to conduct ourselves as such. That our presentation of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” calls out the doctrinal church as examples of the way that “another gospel” has permeated the lives of men for the last 2000 years deserves the same scrutiny as we must use to in determining our own state of being as, for the doctrinal Christian, it IS his doctrines that have largely led to him to believe whatsoever he has come to believe.
Paul’s next word after agape IS rendered as joy and, while we did discuss this in the last essay, we should refresh our understanding that the idea of joy IS NOT what gives men joy as men in this world. This joy IS based in agape and the flow of agape into the heart of a man who can express it in his Life. The point of joy being rendered from chara must be seen through the idea of grace and both should be seen as the effect of agape on the hearts of men. It IS the sense of Oneness with the Lord and Unity with ALL that IS the hallmark of the effects of agape on a man; we can call this flow into the human psyche grace. We should try to understand our position that grace IS ALL that comes from the Lord and we should understand that there IS naught that IS carnal in this flow. The lexicon ideas of biblical usage show the root word chairo IS presented to us in terms of the effect of this flow on a man which ARE the cause of his ‘rejoicing‘, his gladness and his joy2a. Its derivative, chara, expresses the same as a noun which Thayer’s tells us IS a joyful condition or state9 which results from the cause or occasion of joy9. Our point here IS that this sense of joy IS based solely upon the flow of agape into the heart of the man whose focus IS upon the Lord and, as mercy IS an aspect of this flow of Love, so IS joy; that mercy IS an expression of Love to ALL while the joy IS the ‘elation’ felt by the man who has come to KNOW some measure of the Truth. We should understand that the idea here IS spiritual and NOT carnal and IS thus shown to us through the idea of “joy of the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:6); a True joy that IS based on Truly having the Presence of the Lord according to our trifecta.
Paul’s next word in his list of “the fruit of the Spirit” IS peace which IS rendered from the Greek word eirene. We should remember there that as a “fruit of the Spirit“, this idea of eirene represents something that IS being expressed by those who Truly have such fruit and that this idea of expression IS NOT a idle word. To best understand the apostle’s point we go back to Jesus’ teaching of the “false prophets” where the singular idea regarding men that we should take IS that “Ye shall know them by their fruits“. It IS our expression that defines our fruit and here we should see that an expression of peace, an inner peace that flows out in joy, IS contrary to much of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“; it becomes an integral part of our ability to be KNOWN and to “know them by their fruits” as this peace IS a component of one’s demeanor. Can we see the effects of our peace on others? Can we see Jesus’ point here regarding the True teacher of Christ as He repeats his charge saying “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16, 20). It IS under the auspices of agape that this sense of peace permeates the psyche of the man in this world and a great part of his joy IS founded in one’s ability to Truly “love thy neighbour as thyself” which, as Paul shows us in our selection, puts us in full accord with the Lord. It IS this reality that IS missing in the doctrinal and carnal understanding of eirene; as a “fruit of the Spirit” this peace should be seen through Jesus’ words saying “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). This peace IS what comes from the Christ and from the Christ Within to the disciple. In a similar way it IS this sense of peace that Paul seeks to send to ALL as he begins many of his epistles with the saying that “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:3); here we should see that this sense of peace, spiritual peace to be sure, flows from the Lord and IS a part of the flow of grace into the lives of men whose focus IS upon the Lord. Finally, to best understand this peace as a “fruit of the Spirit” we should look at Paul’s saying that “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7) as well as his adjuring us to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful“(Colossians 3:15).
The next word in Paul’s list IS rendered as longsuffering which IS NOT an accurate translation of Paul’s intent in using the Greek word makrothumia, While the idea of longsuffering IS used by Paul to show us the nature of the Lord as He awaits men’s Repentance and Transformation, it IS NOT as suitable as the rendering of the idea as a “fruit of the Spirit“. Strong’s tells us that makrothumia IS: from the same as G3116; longanimity, i.e. (objectively) forbearance or (subjectively) fortitude:—longsuffering, patience9a while Thayer’s offers the ideas of patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance; especially as shown in bearing troubles and ills9. Thayer’s also tells us that Paul’s usage of the word in his list of “the fruit of the Spirit” conveys: patience, forbearance, long-suffering, slowness in avenging wrongs9 and we should note that there IS little of spiritual import in these ideas. While Strong’s tells us that makrothumia IS from combining makros (G3116) which IS usually rendered as long or far and thymos [θυμός (G2372)] which IS rendered in terms of passion, Vincent offers us a different picture regarding the verb form of the Greek word makrothumeo (G3114) as he tells us that this IS from combining makros (G3116) with thymos [θυμός (G2372)] but shows us the latter as soul or spirit, but with the sense of strong passion4. The idea here IS based in seeing θυμός (G2372) as: as a tumultuous welling up of the whole spirit; a mighty emotion which seizes and moves the whole inner man4. We should remember that we DID see this word in our study of “the works of the flesh” where it was carnally rendered as hatred and about which Thayer’s offered that thymos IS: from θύω to rush along or on, be in a heat, breathe violently as they then show us a classical Greek idea from Plato which IS interpreted as: it signifies both the spirit panting as it were in the body, and the rage with which the man pants and swells9. We should remember also that Strong’s tells us that thymos IS defined as passion (as if breathing hard)9a and advises that we compare this word with G5590 which IS psuche, a word that we have not visited for quite some time; a word which Strong’s tells us IS: breath, i.e. (by implication) spirit9a. Can we see the complexity of this idea of makrothumia when viewed spiritually and of its component word thymos. As one of “the works of the flesh” we tried to see thymos as a sense of rage and Paul’s use of it as saying that we should NOT allow the Truth that flows from the Soul to cause the personality to ‘fight’ against opposing ideas that ARE in this world; a lesson the church has NOT learned in 2000 years. While makrothumia includes this same sense of passion, the direction and intent ARE different; Vincent tells us that: it is a patient holding out under trial; a long-protracted restraint of the soul from yielding to passion, especially the passion of anger4. While this supports the ideas of longsuffering and patience, a greater understanding can be found through James’ use of the idea of makrothumia and its related words particularly the verb form that the apostle uses to say “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain” (James 5:7).
We should try to understand this sense of patience IS NOT carnal although the example given IS a worldly one. The seed IS planted and the waiting begins but this IS NOT idle time spent. This IS the patience of the husbandman: he diligently works the ground as he NOT ONLY waits for but expects “the precious fruit of the earth” KNOWING fully that there IS little that he can DO to rush it. And so it IS with our own Transformation and Redemption; Paul shows us this saying “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). Perhaps the point IS best understood as the patient waiting of the aspirant to discipleship as he steadily garners a greater measure of the fullness of the fruit having “long patience for it“; in this we should be able to see the idea of patience as a “fruit of the Spirit” where there IS NO frustration in the peace and the joy that flows through his heretofore carnally oriented mind. The Apostle Luke confirms this idea in Jesus’ words saying of the man who IS the “good ground” from the Parable of the Sower that he IS among those who “in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). The application of the idea of patience as a spiritual fruit must be a part of the overall application of the entire set of “the fruit of the Spirit” which IS of course led by agape. Understanding this we can then understand that patience IS a necessary tool for the man who chooses God over the things of the self in this world. It IS a tool through which one’s measure of Truth and Love can be steadily unfolded and if we look at the lessons offered in the many bible stories regarding the Apostle Peter and his struggles to hold himself steady in the Light, we can perhaps understand that while Peter DOES NOT appear to have patience as we understand the word, he DID have the forbearance, the patient endurance* as this is defined, to stay on the Path to Truth. Can we see the value then of makrothumia as a “fruit of the Spirit” and a tool for spiritual success.
Paul’s next word IS chrēstotēs which IS rendered in the King James as gentleness, a rendering that offers us little as a spiritual fruit while perhaps more as a carnal virtue. Others render chrēstotēs as kindness, and perhaps here we can see a relationship with the ideas from another of Paul’s lists where we find the component aspects of agape, what Love IS. The idea of kindness as the rendering of chrēstotēs IS rather universal and while this IS a carnal virtue, this IS NOT the apostle’s intent in either list. As a “fruit of the Spirit” the idea IS what comes from the Spirit into the heart of a man where its expression can be seen and measured. Strong’s defines chrēstotēs as: usefulness, i.e. morally, excellence (in character or demeanor)9a while Thayer’s tells us that the idea IS moral goodness, integrity 9; none of these ideas relates to gentleness or to kindness as these words ARE understood. Such renderings of chrēstotēs make this idea and the next which IS rendered as goodness redundant as Vincent shows us by referring to the same verse to explain both. In both renderings, as gentleness or kindness and as goodness there IS a doctrinal theme playing out as these words DO NOT Truly represent what IS intended and this especially from a spiritual perspective. Regarding agathōsynē which IS rendered as goodness in the King James Bible, Vincent shows us the idea of profitableness4 which he admits IS a radical idea as he tells us that the word passes readily into the meaning of wholesomeness4. While some of these meanings for the Greek word seem out of place as a “fruit of the Spirit” and while the back to back renderings of gentleness and the next word goodness may be redundant, there IS some spiritual logic embedded in these ideas that IS beyond the ideas of one’s virtues in this world. We must remember that we ARE talking about the “fruit of the Spirit“, about the way that spiritual impulse and motivation ARE expressed by the man in this world. Remembering this can we see the idea of usefulness as such a fruit? Can we see how that the implication IS that the man in the world, the flesh expression of the spiritual man, IS to become useful for the promotion of Truth through the thoughts, attitudes and actions of the Transforming man? This IS beyond the scope of gentleness and kindness which may play a role in the aspirants Life but which ARE but the Way of the agape and Truth that flow through the man whose focus IS turned to the things of God. The more important aspect of chrēstotēs then IS the way that the Soul, the Christ Within, uses the mortal Life to extend the reach of Love and Truth into the world which can be seen as gentleness and kindness among other effects of that Love and Truth such as joy and peace and that kind of patience found in the lives of the saints. Our point here IS that the carnal ideas rendered from these Greek words ARE the worldly effects of the flow of Love and Truth and here that flow results in the usefulness of the Life. The fruits then that come from the Soul ARE agape, Love, the primary mover; chara, the effect of the flow of Truth and Love that elates the man who stands in the Light, an elation that may be understood as joy but ONLY in such ideas as “joy of the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). This flow of Love and Truth into the psyche of the man expresses as his elation, his “joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17), also brings with it that sense of eirene, that sense of peace that IS not clearly defined in scripture but which IS clearly shown as an aspect of the flow of grace into the lives of men as the Master tells of that spiritual peace to His disciples as we cite above. It IS perhaps within this sense of peace that the reality of longsuffering or spiritual patience reside as one comes to KNOW aspects of the Truth and of the Plan and, within this, we can find the motivation toward usefulness as the Soul KNOWS that it IS ONLY service in agape that can fulfill the Plan here in this world.
In this idea of usefulness IS the profitableness and the wholesomeness that Vincent applies to the Greek word agathōsynē and perhaps it IS right to see these two words, chrēstotēs and agathōsynē, together as Vincent treats them. We should understand that while the basic ideas of gentleness or kindness and goodness ARE the traits of ALL men who can see past their bondage to the world, see past their vanity if you will, the ideas behind these leave us little that can be considered as components of “the fruit of the Spirit“. These may be virtues but in the ideas of usefulness and of profitableness we have a concrete result that can be attributed as such fruit. In these attributes IS the steady DOING of the man whose focus IS upon the things of God. Paul’s next word in this list of “the fruit of the Spirit” IS pistis which IS one of the most misunderstood words and which represents the most used ideas from doctrinal Christianity. The idea IS rendered most always as faith, a word that applies ONLY a nebulous idea of the reality of True Christianity. We have often offered our view of the reality of the ideas of both pistis and pisteuo which ARE most often rendered in terms of faith and believing; this view IS based in the Master’s words as well as the defining ideas from lexicons, bible dictionaries and commentators analysis of the ideas. To this we must add a bit of common sense and simple logic and we should note that the ideas held by much of the doctrinal church can be seen akin to the Old Testament ideas we discuss above. We should begin here with the fact that these Greek words ARE intimately related; pistis IS a feminine noun derived from the verb peithō, while pisteuo IS another verb form that IS derived from pistis. Both words mean largely the same thing; pistis IS sometimes rendered as believing and both share common defining ideas. That these ARE rendered as faith and believing however has become nebulous doctrinal ideas as the force of the translated words that IS implied in the Greek words IS missing. The nebulousness of the ideas of faith and believing IS found in the way that neither ARE measurable although both ARE doctrinally used to justify doctrinal precepts based in a presumed level of faith held by a person. The example here can be prayer; men pray for a variety of things that ARE carnal or ARE carnally motivated and their failure to attain the objective of their prayer IS ofttimes laid to reasons of faith: a person had too little faith or the wrong kind of faith to achieve the objective or a person was asking for something that required more faith than was perhaps applied. Can we see the nebulousness here, the actual immeasurable nature of the idea? This sense of nebulousness IS also laid to reasons of time under the idea that God DOES things in His own time not the time of the supplicant and ideas that whatsoever one desires must be in the ‘will of God’. While the idea IS denied by most ALL of the church, doctrinal faith IS more hope that any other psychic factor and the combination of these ideas creates some difficulties for doctrinal understanding. Before we get to the way that faith and believing must be tied to KNOWING and NOT to hope, we offer some seemingly contradictory ideas from the Apostle Paul. While these sayings ARE out of context, we should remember that this IS the way that most sayings ARE doctrinally used. Paul tells us in Romans that “we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:24-25).
The implication here IS that hope and faith ARE the same so long as the object of that faith IS unseen and while we see this solely in spiritual terms, much of the church see men’s carnal desires included in both. Men ARE often taught to imagine what they want and it will materialize if one has faith in the right amount and kind. Contrasting this with Paul’s words to the Ephesians saying “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” takes faith to a very different place as Paul tells us here that faith and hope have little impact because of grace which should ever be understood as ALL that comes from the Lord. Our point here IS NOT so much as to be critical of the way these ideas ARE used in doctrine but to show the contradictory nature that IS doctrinally resolved by interpretations of the apostle’s words that meld them into doctrinal precepts. Our point here IS to show how that the ideas doctrinally used ARE so nebulous as to be rather worthless when exposed to the Truth of what pistis and pisteuo DO mean and DO imply by their usage by the Master and His apostles.
Both of these words should be understood in the more forceful ideas of KNOWING and our example of this simple reality IS found in Jesus’ words saying that “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). Without twisting Jesus’ words here to mean ideas that ARE NOT expressed regarding “greater works” the reality of this pisteuo CAN NOT be denied nor can we cite any consistent and persistent examples of this working out in the doctrinal church.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 2a New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.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
