ON LOVE; PART MCDXVIII
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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 way that the church has treated the New Testament over the last 2000 years. While we have NOT read the entirety of the church fathers writings, often conflicting writings to be sure, we DO see enough to KNOW that from the beginning the establishment of the Christian religion, specifically that of the Roman Church, was born of compromise. NOT necessarily compromise between the church fathers over many years nor the compromises founded through the church’s conclaves or synods. While there ARE resources to review the specifics of some of these councils, we concentrate on the resultant religion of which the latest products ARE with us today. It IS Jesus’ words that begin as the central point of Christianity and it IS Jesus’ words that ARE compromised away through the evolution of the church which hit a final reckoning in the Reformation of the sixteenth century. While most of the reforms were intended to be against the practice of Christianity in the Roman Church, the results of the Reformation DID NOT greatly change the theologies that had been established. In hindsight, the results ARE more political than theological although the teaching of some of the Reformation authors spawned their own theological divisions such as Lutheranism and Calvinism. The divides between the Roman and the Protestant, and we should NOT forget the Easten Orthodox movement that in many ways held to much of the Roman theology, remain yet today. The Catholic division, often still called Roman Catholic, relies on the pomp and ceremony, papal authority and on the sacramental theologies from the beginning while the Protestant division adopted the Apostle Paul’s ideas on ‘justification’ by faith. ALL however have looked past the Truth of Jesus’ words; through their individual compromises over the centuries they have diluted the commandments of the Lord to favor the lives of men in this world while combining elements of mammon with their created view of the intent of scripture. The many divisions of the Christian faith have adopted a path that IS starkly similar to the the way that the Jews manipulated the law to fit the lives of the Jewish nation. It IS because of this path that we often cite Jesus’ words with which we ended the last essay; The Master tells us “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 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 7:6-7). Of course there ARE few if any Christians who will admit that their own error of NOT seeing themselves in these words and likely fewer still who will understand that through their present religious condition the Truth IS that “in vain do they worship me“.
While harsh, the reality of the Christian’s idea of worship IS far from the reality that the Master paints for us. In His words on discipleship He tells us that it IS ONLY when “ye continue in my word” that “ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth” (John 8:31, 32) yet many millions of Christians see themselves as His disciples while ignoring His words. For the present day Christian and those who preceded him this idea of keeping His words IS as much a burden at keeping the law was for the Jews and while the Jews DID have Moses ancillary ‘laws’ as the foundation for their traditions of worship, the Christian DOES NOT. Like the Jews the Christians picked and chose the ideas of scripture that they would ‘obey’ and their nebulous ideas of faith and believing ARE the result for many while pomp, ceremony and sacraments remain the approach of many others. Even more a burden ARE Jesus’ words according to Matthew and Luke where the idea of discipleship IS defined clearly by Luke and in terms of being “worthy of me” by Matthew. In the realm of discipleship we have the same dynamic as we cite above. Despite the Master saying that “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple“, many millions see themselves as His disciples without such forsaking and without minimizing one’s relationships with “his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also “(Luke 14:33, 26) as Jesus instructs here and according to the Great Commandment. While it may be difficult to equate being “worthy of me” with being “my disciple“, we should understand that the subject of both writers IS the same and that these terms should be understood as synonymous. Matthew reports Jesus’ words as “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37) and here the idea IS again in accord with the Great Commandment that says “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” (Mark 12:30). Can we see the point here? Can we see how that much of the Christian world masquerades as disciples and as those who see themselves as ‘being Christ’s’ without understanding or DOING the rest of Paul’s saying which ends our selection from his Epistle to the Galatians. Repeating our selection again 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
Paul speaks here about crucifying “the flesh” if we ARE to Truly ‘be Christ’s’; in his Epistle to the Romans he speaks about the need to “through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body” so that “ye shall live” (Romans 8:13) while in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians he tells us that we must be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We should try to see that these words ARE Paul’s and that they ARE as important to the spiritual Life of a man as ARE those sayings that the churches have adopted and interpreted into their theologies. To ‘be Christ’s’ IS the effect of our ability to have “crucified the flesh“, it IS NOT the result of any doctrinal ideas of faith and believing, taking the sacraments or repeating the words of affirmation and confirmation that end with the idea that “thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). To have Life, spiritual Life in a mortal body, one must “mortify the deeds of the body” which idea has the same purpose as crucifying “the flesh” as this spiritual Life and ‘being Christ’s’ ARE synonymous ideas and reflect the Master’s saying to His disciples that “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:20-21). It IS this same Oneness that we read of in Jesus’ words from our trifecta where He tells us “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” (John 14:23, 24). This crucifying and this mortifying, begins in the heart of the man who Truly seeks the Lord and it IS in our seeking and our striving that we can be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“. These words from Paul however ARE NOT put into the proper context by the doctrinal church. KNOWING his words on crucifying, mortifying and “casting down“, doctrines have diluted and changed them to the effect that they ARE NOT Life changing events; they ARE just words offered in sermons against the singular saying by the apostle 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 3:8-9). This they DO while considering the ideas of crucifying, mortifying and “casting down“, ideas related to our striving, as ideas of works that men need NOT DO.
The church has made their disjunctive and seemingly opposing views on works from Paul and James into a debate rather that a full-throated look at the whole of the apostles’ words and their intended meanings. We have frequently discussed how that Paul’s view of works in His writings IS related to his Life as a Jew and a Pharisee. How that Paul’s view of works IS the same as what the Master condemns as He seeks to change the hearts of the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the Jews who for centuries had linked their salvation to their traditions and interpretations of the law, their mitzvah if you will. We have also discussed how that James IS also consistent with the Master’s ideas and how that the major difference in their approach IS the meaning that they give to works. While their seemingly opposing views have likely been a source of contention in the early church, a proper resolution to the apostles’ ideas has never been ordained as a part of the doctrines of faith that so much of the church holds as True. For us, the idea of faith from the Greek word pistis has been misapplied from the beginning as its deeper meaning of KNOWING has been missed by most ALL men. This we covered in recent posts where we allow the Master to define pistis for us in His words that ARE intended to show us that True faith IS found in the idea that we KNOW without doubt, a KNOWING that comes, according to Jesus words, to those that will “continue in my word“; it is these that will “know the truth” that will “make you free“. Short of this men DO NOT KNOW the spiritual Truths that should govern the lives of men in this world who Truly seek those “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature“. While many may believe that these promises ARE found in their doctrines of salvation and in their supposed destination of heaven when they pass on from this Earth, we should understand that these ARE but the ideas of men and likely men who have NOT the wherewithal to “continue in my word” as Jesus instructs us. Peter shows us that the Way to these promises IS found in our freedom from the vanity that IS Life in this world; a vanity that IS “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4) which we must escape.
This escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” should be seen in the same way as our ability to “mortify the deeds of the body” and to “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. The rewards ARE also synonymous; Peter shows us these as “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” while Paul tells us that as we DO “mortify the deeds of the body” we “shall live” and here we should see Life as “partakers of the divine nature“. It IS this Life that Jesus refers to saying such things as “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10) which idea He offers in regard to Truly following Him. To follow Him IS to escape, to mortify and to crucify the flesh which IS further explained in His words saying “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). This following IS NOT however the doctrinal idea that one proclaims himself a Christian; this following IS intimately linked to other ideas as “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34) where in this idea of “let him deny himself” we have the same dynamic as mortifying, crucifying and escaping “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. And what DOES it mean when Jesus tells us to “follow me“? The lexicon alludes to the idea that this IS: to follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him and to join one as a disciple, become or be his disciple2a; here the first idea IS spiritually meaningless while the second offers some glimpse of the Truth through discipleship. Strong’s offers us a clearer view saying that akoloutheo IS: properly, to be in the same way with9a while Thayer’s IS still clearer as they define the word against its usage in Matthew’s version of this same saying as: to cleave steadfastly to one, conform wholly to his example, in living and if need be in dying also9. We should note that this defining idea from Thayer’s IS strikingly similar to Vincent’s commentary of the idea of “believing in” and “believing on” the Master were we read that to DO so IS: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4. Finally, on the idea of Life, we have the Master’s continuing words where He divides mortal and carnal Life from spiritual Life saying fully that “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). This IS the same Life that Paul references and we should try to understand that this Life IS the overview of the reward that includes the “exceeding great and precious promises” that ARE our having Life “more abundantly“.
It IS ONLY in understanding the Master’s words and those of His apostles spiritually that we can Truly understand the idea of Life “more abundantly” as there ARE NO carnal components involved in this idea. While segments of the church align abundance with wealth and possessions, things if you will, others deny these carnal advantages but hold onto ideas of abundance in good health, a loving family, and other things that make a person happy and free from worry** which ARE also carnal ideas. The True abundance for the True follower of the Master IS his measure of those “exceeding great and precious promises“, a measure that IS proportionate to the reality of our acceptance and adoption of His precepts and example. In a word the reality of this ALL IS that we keep His words; it IS in our striving to DO this what we gain our measure of revelation and realization of the Truth which IS in the end the revealer of the “exceeding great and precious promises” and that Life “more abundantly“. This IS the essential message of the Master who reminds us of this Truth through our trifecta which we repeat saying:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
The essence of these words from the Master IS that we should keep His words as He reveals a set of rewards for those that DO. We should remember here that in striving to DO so we DO reap some measure of those rewards….it IS NOT an ALL or nothing proposition. However, it IS in discipleship that we can realize the fuller measure of these rewards and we should remember that discipleship has its own criteria as expressed above and in Jesus’ words that show us clearly that Path as we discuss above. These rewards ARE perhaps the definition of having Life “more abundantly” and they ARE surely the reality of those “exceeding great and precious promises“, the reality of being “partakers of the divine nature“. It IS in this “divine nature” that we can “know the truth“, “enter into the kingdom of heaven” and have the Presence of the Lord which Jesus shows us saying that “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” as our trifecta describes. That the church eschews this idea of rewards and DOES NOT see the need to keep His words except as an extra idea apart from having faith IS a part of the failure of religion to lead men to the Truth that IS Jesus’ words and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles. But we ARE to strive toward the end result which IS ever discipleship and we should understand that even in reaching this plateau there IS ever more to DO. This IS shown us in the stories of the apostles through the gospels and the Book of Acts and IS especially visible in the Life of the Apostle Peter who IS often admonished by Jesus for leaning toward carnal ideas and who, after the Resurrection, becomes a leader who can DO those “greater works” which the Master promises; works that unfortunately are often cast as being through the intercession of angels or through the Power of Jesus in prayer. The reality IS that behind Peter’s “greater works” IS the Power of the Christ Within which has overcome his carnal propensities to such a degree that “the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them” and heal them; as Luke tells us “they were healed every one” (Acts 5:15, 16). Striving brings us “into the glorious liberty of the children of God” as we leave behind “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21), as we escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. And striving IS our ongoing endeavor, our works if you will, of which the Master tells us that “when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10).
That men’s striving IS a KEY to spiritual reality IS also found in the Master’s words that tell us to “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). In Luke’s Gospel this saying follows upon the Parable of The Friend at Night where the theme IS asking with importunity which IS a persistent asking. The lexicon defines the idea of the Greek word anaideia as shamelessness and impudence2a but these defining ideas DO NOT paint the right picture to be carried over into Jesus admonition that we ask, seek and knock. The idea IS rendered as hutzpah and brashness as well as the lexicon’s definitions by others with some rendering in terms of persistence. Vincent tells us that we should see anaideia as: A very striking word to describe persistence. Lit., shamelessness. As related to prayer, it is illustrated in the case of Abraham ‘s intercession for Sodom4. We should try to see that the idea of shamelessness perhaps had a broader definition than it carries today and that ALL things considered, persistence IS the better idea to take from importunity as it relates to Jesus’ message that follows the parable: “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9). We should try to see then that the Master’s message IS to persistently ask, seek and knock and while the idea of what one asks for seems unclear from the text, the reality IS that it IS ALL things that come from the Lord. Luke shows us this as he ends Jesus’ words saying “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him” (Luke 11:13). In the selective use of the Master’s words by the church this idea of asking for the Holy Spirit IS seldom referenced when citing the concept of asking as most ALL turn to Matthew’s version which IS rendered in terms of “good things” and applied to an assortment of carnal ‘rewards‘. But Paul tells us of things spiritual and things carnal that “these are contrary the one to the other” so that such asking for carnal ‘rewards‘ IS a fruitless endeavor. We should add to this Paul’s words saying that “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6) and understand that asking for carnal rewards IS “to be carnally minded“. There IS a stark incompatibility between things carnal and things spiritual that goes unseen in the church as these sayings from Paul should show us clearly and while James offers a different view saying “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4), the intent IS the same.
The reality of ALL this IS the answer to that question of just what ARE we to strive after; Jesus answers this in simple terms saying that we should “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24) but this idea can be interpreted into many doctrinal ideas. We DO NOT have far to look however for even clearer answers which, sadly, most ARE also interpreted into doctrinal ideas. Jesus tells us to “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth….But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19,20) as part of His instruction in the separation of the carnal from the spiritual; He tells us also that “No man can serve two masters….Ye cannot serve God and mammon” and, perhaps most importantly, He tells us to “Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:24, 25). ALL of these ARE interpreted in the doctrines of men in largely carnal ways; “take no thought” IS viewed in terms of worry, God and mammon are seen in terms of riches and treasure where the idea of defined in the lexicon as riches (where it is personified and opposed to God)2a. Perhaps the most spiritually perplexing ideas ARE in relation to “treasures in heaven” where the idea, according to John Gill, IS to: lay up your earthly treasures in heaven; that is, put them into the hands of God in heaven; and this is done, by liberally communicating to the poor; by which means men “provide themselves bags which wax not old, and a treasure in heaven that faileth not“8. The point here IS that the Master’s words ARE interpreted into carnal ideas rather than the spiritual intent and instruction that they ARE intended to carry. We should note here that Paul’s and James words can amplify and clarify the Master’s intent if they ARE looked at as being in the same context and we should understand that while the Master’s words ARE less subject to interpretation, they ARE NOT less subject to just being ignored.
While ALL his may seem far from our main discussion topic from our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, the reality IS that much of the above ideas ARE a part of the whole topic of men’s “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit“. The “works of the flesh” ARE carnal thoughts, attitudes and actions which expose the depth of men’s focus upon the things of the self and of the self in this world; this focus IS men’s “treasures upon earth” as the intent IS ever to maximize men’s worldly experiences especially in his relationships with others. This focus IS driven by “the lust of the flesh” which IS the entire array of men’s worldly desires of which the Apostle John says “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16) as he also contributes to the above dichotomy between the things of the Lord and the things of the self. While we have painted much of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” in terms of men’s misinterpreting spiritual ideas into carnal endeavors, we should try to see how that men’s seeking after “treasures upon earth” IS a part of the misinterpretation, especially for those that may be religiously inclined. The “fruit of the Spirit” sees past such ideas as “treasures upon earth“; centered in agape this fruit IS men’s expression of Truth and Love and IS evidence of a man’s focus upon God over mammon. Seeking after such “fruit of the Spirit” IS effectively the Way to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” and it IS in this form of seeking that we can better understand the Master’s words saying “Take no thought for your life“. There IS naught in this list of “the fruit of the Spirit” that contributes to personal carnal gain of any kind as ALL such fruit IS our outward expression of Christ likeness to the world as we endeavor to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
While the Greek word agonizomai is sparingly used in regard to the effort put forth, the reality of the idea IS spread throughout the New Testament. Luke’s report of the Master’s words IS a direct formulation of the idea that one must exert oneself vigorously; try hard; and make strenuous efforts toward any goal* as the dictionary defines strive. It IS ONLY with such effort that one can “enter in at the strait gate” while the fate of those who DO NOT put forth the effort ARE among the many that “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24). Paul uses agonizomai in a similar context saying that “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25). Paul shows us the duality of the idea of striving; for the runner the striving IS for an Earthly prize which the apostle calls “a corruptible crown“. He shows also that while both “striveth for the mastery” and “is temperate in all things“, it IS the man who seeks the incorruptible that IS striving to be among the few according to Jesus words saying “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). We should try to see that ALL of the Master’s instructions as well as the clarifying and amplifying instructions of His apostles require that we strive to accomplish them but this IS NOT understood by the doctrinal approach that eschews works, an approach that tells men that ONLY faith and believing ARE required for one’s ‘salvation‘. It IS against this doctrinal approach and others that rely upon rites and rituals and sacraments for ‘salvation‘ that we strive as we write these essays. Unfortunately this doctrinal approach has been baked into the Christian experience for so long that it IS painfully difficult to change. The doctrines of men have become settled law if we can use that idea here and this despite the fact that each denomination and sect has their own view making the doctrinal approach into many laws or, as referred to by the Master, many traditions. As men strive to fulfill their doctrinal responsibilities, they ARE but chasing “a corruptible crown“; most never seek past what they have been indoctrinated into and fewer still seek out the Truths that run contrary to their doctrinal views.
As we have said many times, most recently as part of our discussion of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“, it IS the various doctrinal approaches of men that still qualify as “another gospel: Which is not another” (Galatians 1:6, 7) and it IS through these various approaches that the church has succeeded in dividing Christ. Paul shows us this idea as he writes to the Corinthians saying “it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:11-13) but his message falls upon deaf ears. We should try to see that the names of any church ‘authority’ over the centuries can be substituted for Paul, Apollos and Cephas and it IS through this dynamic of ‘loyalty’ to a church ‘authority’ that Christ has been divided again and again by the actions of men. We close this essay with Jesus’ words that reflect the reality of “another gospel” and the doctrinal approaches of men over the last 2000 years. Jesus tells us that “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 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 7:6-7). While the church has never seen themselves in this reality the Truth IS evident for any who Truly look; the Truth that the church IS “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” and has been from the beginning of what they themselves call the church age.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 2a New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
- 3 Encyclopedia Britannica; https://www.britannica.com/topic/logos
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
- ** https://letterpile.com/religion/What-Did-Jesus-Mean-When-He-Promised-An-Abundant-Life
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
