ON LOVE; PART MCDXXIX
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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.
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
We ended the last essay with a rant on the way that the church of today still DOES NOT follow in the words of the Master; most ALL DO not DO as the Master tells us and this IS especially True in regard to what has come to be called the Great Commission. We should try to see that while most of the church has accepted the Great Commission as their charge in spreading the gospel, the gospel that they spread IS what the Apostle Paul calls “another gospel“. This gospel or, better, these various gospels, taught by the churches to both their own ‘members’ as well as those that they wish to proselytize ARE NOT founded in the words of Jesus but rather in the “commandments of men” and it IS this failure that Paul admonishes the Galatians and the Corinthians for. Many had chosen “another gospel: Which is not another” (Galatians 1:6-7), a gospel that IS based in the reality of the Master’s presence in this Earth but which DOES NOT have the same objective as Jesus’ words; it IS this church view that has persisted for the last 2000 years. No where IS this clearer than in the way that the churches have taken on the Great Commission as they have substituted their doctrines for what the Master asked us to DO; they have substituted the “commandments of men” in place of their “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you“. If the early church had been teaching men “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” perhaps the world condition would NOT have been as history has recorded it and this because His teaching, His commandments, were ALL in regard to agape and its expression by men in this world. Perhaps it IS because the whole concept of agape IS NOT understood that the church has failed and we should understand here that this lack of understanding IS more than the way that agape has been equated to the common ideas of Love; ideas that should have little relationship to what agape must represent. While the Master IS clear in His telling us that the True follower must “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14), his message has been misconstrued. In the doctrinal world those that DO conform to the various doctrinal approaches to the Lord ARE deemed, by themselves, to be among “few there be that find it” and here we should try to see that their approach IS NOT accounted to the church by the Lord as such.
The “few there be that find it” ARE NOT the doctrinal adherents but rather those that have broken away from their own dogma to actually begin to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” with full awareness of the Master’s words. The few ARE NOT doctrinal adherents but rather those that accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4; there IS a large difference between keeping His words and the practice of doctrines which reflect ONLY the “commandments of men“. Jesus warns us of this as He admonishes the Jews saying “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). These words further show us the failure of the church in properly fulfilling the Master’s Great Commission as they have forsaken His words for the seemingly easier path of their doctrinal approaches. These “commandments of men” largely interpret Jesus words into “another gospel“; a gospel that IS void of His admonitions save for the way that they ARE used to support their doctrinal approaches. The crux of most ALL Christian doctrine IS based in the words of the Apostle Paul and the doctrinal interpretations of those words. While Paul’s words largely agree with the words and intent of the Master the church has chosen to ignore this as well; most ALL have failed to accept His words by simply teaching men “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you“. While we believe that our point here IS valid and True, the church would likely disagree as their commitment IS ever to their doctrinal approaches. Whether these approaches ARE based in the confessions and affirmations supposedly taught us by Paul or whether they ARE based in such rites and rituals as sacraments, the reality IS the same and that reality IS that ALL such teachings ARE the teachings of “another gospel: Which is not another“. The Christian world should be well aware of the plight of the Jews from Moses to today and it would behoove the Christian to look again at the way that the Master speaks against the Jews’ practice of their religion which has been deemed ‘legalistic’ by church authorities. But the Jews’ mitzvah IS more than legalistic and more than the common ideas attached by doctrines to the Pharisees; the Jews’ mitzvah was and IS their interpretations of the Truth rather than the Truth itself and this Jesus clearly shows them. The lesson for the Jews went unheeded save for the converts to Christianity who began, during Paul’s time, to fashion much of what was the Truth into their own version of the mitzvah which Paul calls “another gospel: Which is not another“; a gospel attached to the Master as Lord but one that CAN NOT answer Jesus’ own rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
To be sure the doctrinal interpretation of the Great Commission, an interpretation that allows men to teach others contrary to Jesus’ intent while feeling assured that they ARE carrying out His instructions, IS NOT the ONLY shortcoming of Christian religions. Greater IS the failure to embrace His Truths which we highlight in every blog post; His Truths that ARE our trifecta which we repeat here saying:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
While these words are clearly spoken by the Master and dutifully rendered by the King James Translators, they have become words without meaning in most Christian circles which follow their own doctrinal agendas. Most ALL translations DO show the Master’s words from the first part of our trifecta in a similar Light; most ALL direct us to keep His words with some showing this as abiding, as living in His word. Somehow however this idea of keeping His words has been diluted and changed into keeping with one’s doctrinal dictums which ARE generally embedded into ideas of having faith and believing as the KEYS rather than Jesus own dictum that we keep His words. We should understand here that the very ideas that ARE the Greek words pistis and pisteuo have also been diluted and changed into the nebulous doctrinal ideas of faith and believing that ARE bandied about by the churches yet today. Jesus shows us the crux of the True meaning of pistis and pisteuo as KNOWING as He shows us the reward for keeping His words which IS framed as continuing in the King James Bible and as abiding in others. We should note that the primary meaning of the Greek meno IS: to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy)9a according to Strong’s. That reward IS the reality of KNOWING, of KNOWING the Truth, and while many in the churches may purport to KNOW the Truth and have access to the mysteries as DID Jesus’ apostles, the doctrinal reality IS but carnal knowledge which IS far from the Truth that unites ALL and goes unseen in most ALL doctrinal settings. Jesus tells us that it IS in ‘staying’, continuing or abiding in His words that we can “know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” and we should try to understand that this freedom IS furnished by our KNOWING the Truth which frees us from the vanity into which ALL ARE born; the Truth that frees us from our own “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20, 21). In the end it IS KNOWING the Truth that Truly DOES “make you free“. While these ideas ARE clearly stated in John’s Gospel and the rendering of the Greek words IS accepted by most ALL translators, they have had little or no effect upon the doctrinal teachings over the last 2000 years. We should try to see here that this freedom that IS given to us by our KNOWING, given to us in our pistis and pisteuo, IS tantamount to Jesus’ words regarding the “strait gate” (Luke 13:24) and represents our striving toward that goal through Repentance and Transformation.
It IS our KNOWING that IS the reality of pistis and pisteuo and we should understand here that this KNOWING IS but our realization as men in this world the spiritual Truths that ARE ever ours as Souls, Truths that ARE ever KNOWN by the Christ Within everyman. While faith and believing may be adequate renderings for the Greek words, the interpretation of those rendered words IS but a nebulous ordeal that fully obscures the Truth. That men may believe that they have faith and believe IS but the product of doctrinal teachings that ARE the antithesis to the realities revealed by the Master who shows us that faith and believing must be without doubt; faith and believing must reach the point of KNOWING that one can move the mountain and DO those “greater works” (John 14:12) that Jesus promises. The nebulous nature of doctrinal faith and believing will NOT reach this point and, to be sure, doctrinal faith and believing ARE more hope than the expectation which IS the clearer interpretation of the ideas. We should try to see that this idea of hope from the Greek word elpis was never intended to reflect that type of hope that IS common in this world; that kind of hope that borders on wishful thinking. Strong’s tells us that elpis IS: from a primary ἔλπω élpō (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence9a and we should note that there IS NO idea of wishful thinking in this defining idea. Perhaps hope would have been better understood from the beginning if the resultant idea were better defined; as expectation hope leaves the realm of wishful thinking or feeling and enters into the reality of KNOWING and here perhaps we should restate Paul’s words to reflect this. In his Epistle to the Romans, in that great chapter that reveals for us the idea of vanity and our bondage as well as our freedom and our Redemption, the idea of elpis IS used multiple times. In context we should note that his words follow upon the idea that he and those to whom he writes ARE waiting for a final triumph which he frames as their adoption, an idea he makes synonymous with our Redemption. We read that: “we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 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. For 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 8:22-25). Paul’s point here IS not that we should wish for salvation but rather that we should expect salvation and that that salvation IS our adoption, our Redemption of the flesh, as we finally complete the task of overcoming and can stand and say with the Master “I have overcome the world” (John 1:33).
Reinterpreting the apostle’s words we read that: “we are saved by hope our expectation: but hope expectation that is seen is not hope expectation: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope have expectation for? But if we hope have expectation for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it“. Here, in the idea of elpis rendered as expectation, we have that sense of KNOWING that what we expect will come; this IS the reality of expectation. The English word expect IS: from Latin ex(s)pectāre “to look out for, await* and here we should see Paul’s point as he too IS “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” as well as his admonition that we await “with patience wait for it“. The Apostle James also shows us this idea of expecting and waiting saying that “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. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:7-8). While the phrasing of these words can lead us to believe that James IS showing us to wait for the “coming of the Lord” in terms of time and space, the greater reality IS that his IS showing us the “coming of the Lord” through the realization of His Presence which IS our realization of the same Truth that Paul IS speaking of in his “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. This IS a spiritual waiting and has naught to DO with our mortal lives save for the Way that these ARE altered to reflect the Truth and Love flowing into our hearts from our own Souls. We should remember here that this IS an active waiting which idea we take from the apostle’s comparison to the husbandman. That the husbandman IS waiting IS clear and by the use of this example we should see that whatsoever the husbandman IS awaiting IS also that for which he IS working. Today the idea of the husbandman IS simply a farmer* but the 1828 defining idea was a bit more broad saying that the husbandman IS: A farmer; a cultivator or tiller of the ground; one who labors in tillage; this definition shows us the diligent work of the husbandman who KNOWS that through his efforts his own “precious fruit” will come. From the perspective of the first part of our trifecta this “precious fruit” IS our KNOWING and the freedom that KNOWING brings.
The second part of our trifecta concerns our entry into “the kingdom of heaven“. There IS a reality in Jesus’ words here that IS ignored by the churches as most fantasize about the idea of heaven while claiming that His words ARE meant for others and NOT the self-proclaimed Christian. DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven” IS a concrete statement that shows the need to keep His words as the ‘price’ for attaining heaven and we should note that there IS NO reference to any ideas of dying in order to attain this reward. Men may debate the meaning of “the will of my Father” and minimize the idea but if we look at the Master’s words we can surely see the True meaning. First Jesus tells us that “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) and here we should see that the word my IS added by the King James translators while most other translations render as “the father“. Either way the meaning should be clear and we should be able to see that “the will of my the Father” IS NO different that the Master’s Will as they ARE One. Vincent tells us regarding this verse that we should look at the idea of their Oneness as: One [εν]. The neuter, not the masculine eiv, one person. It implies unity of essence, not merely of will or of power4; Vincent IS showing us the separation as persons, that they ARE individual, and at the same time that their unity is of their essence….in essence they ARE One. The idea here IS that whatsoever the Father says, the Son says in essence and this is shown us in the reverse as Jesus tells us that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:24). In the end we should see that the cost of attaining heaven, and there IS one, IS keeping His words which idea IS the combined reality of ALL of the True commandments recorded from the beginning. We should note here that Jesus DOES NOT Truly offer us any new commandments despite His words saying “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).
The idea of agape IS covered in some detail in the Old Testament but because of the Jews’ concentration on the presumably easier and mundane aspects of the law, the ancillary parts added by Moses, the idea that “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18) was most often overlooked or simply ignored. This IS perhaps because the Jews were NOT ready to accept this Truth in their barbarous and superstitious times but, to be sure, this precept DOES become the central point of Jesus’ teaching. So then the Master IS NOT introducing a “new commandment” as one would understand that idea but He IS renewing the emphasis on agape which renewing we should clearly see in Jesus’ proclamation of the Great Commandments. Our point here IS twofold; first that this second part of our trifecta shows us the cost of attaining heaven as keeping His words and second that in so DOING, in keeping his words, we can attain the Kingdom here and now. It IS this latter idea that IS shown us in Jesus’ many words on Life as He tells us such parabolic things as “whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). If we could see that such references to Life, to saving it and losing it, ARE purely spiritual ideas, we can then better understand the whole idea of the Kingdom here and now. The Life of the Soul IS relatively eternal as the Soul IS but an expression of Spirit; it IS this Life that IS in jeopardy. This jeopardy IS NOT in Life and death as we understand this in this world however; this jeopardy IS that we can easily lose the Soul Life and its expression through flesh by NOT ever Truly Repenting and Transforming the flesh into such an expression. It IS in our Repentance and our Transformation that a man will “lose his life for my sake” as he looks past his heretofore carnal Life and into “the glorious liberty of the children of God”. It IS this liberty, this freedom from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4) that IS essentially our entering “into the kingdom of heaven” and we should understand that it IS from this state of being that one can stand with Paul “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. Can we see the point here?
We should also remember here that the Master goes on speaking past the idea that we have taken into our trifecta of spiritual Truth; Jesus goes on to say “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23). The Christian world has dismissed Jesus’ words here as most ALL apply them to the non-Christian or, as some denominations proclaim, that the ideas enumerated ARE works through which: there can be no salvation, nor is it to be expected from men’s works: for if preaching the word, which is attended with so much study, care, and labour, will not be a prevailing argument to admit men into the kingdom of heaven; how can it be thought that ever reading, or hearing, or any other external performance of religion, should bring persons thither?8 as John Gill doctrinally explains. But IS this the Master’s point? I think NOT as the whole tenor of His words IS to bring men to Repentance and to the Truth of His words. The objective of Jesus’ words IS as a caution and warning to the Christian world and as a note of error to the proselyte Jews; both of which groups DO and teach contrary to the Master’s expression; this same point is in Luke’s Gospel as the Master asks rhetorically “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). With fewer words Luke shows us the reality of what the Master IS saying and here we should understand that Jesus’ words from both apostles ARE a caution that can NOT be defrayed by claiming His point IS merely works. The Master’s point IS simply that men call Him “Lord, Lord” as they ignore His precepts; it IS this reality that Matthew expands on. Matthew’s report of Jesus’ words shows us a different dynamic than the idea of works which of course were NOT frowned upon in Jesus’ day as He consistently adjured men to “bear much fruit” (John 15:8). What Matthew’s report reveals IS that the ways of the Jews in religion, their practicing of their own doctrinal approach to the Lord, DID NOT agree with “the will of my Father which is in heaven” and we should understand here that it IS this doctrinal approach that has infected Christianity from the beginning. In today’s environment the nature of men’s doctrinal approach may have changed but the intent of the Master’s message still IS NOT fulfilled; few if any Truly DO “the will of my Father which is in heaven” as most ALL have chosen their own doctrinal paths instead. Here we should try to see that the Apostle Paul’s emphasis on works IS NOT against men’s expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) but IS rather against the doctrinal practices that ARE but a pretense to the idea of keeping His words.
The third part of our trifecta IS perhaps the most revealing. In the first two we have statements that have been ignored in favor of the “commandments of men” while these same doctrinal adherents lay claim to the rewards that they offer. Too many see themselves as having the Truth and the wherewithal to interpret the Master’s parables and the mysteries; both of which ARE reserved for disciples. Jesus tells us this saying to His disciples “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand” (Luke 8:10) and perhaps this saying IS the reason that many see themselves as disciples without ever DOING what the Master tells us IS necessary to be a True disciple. In the first part of our trifecta that requirement IS that one must “continue in my word” which should be men’s guideline to discipleship. Jesus takes a more definitive stance on this high calling however saying that “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” adding, after showing us the idea of the cost of discipleship, that “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). We have revealed here a level of hypocrisy that IS surpassed ONLY by men’s failure to understand the second part of our trifecta as again too many see themselves as attaining the Kingdom and the ability to “enter into the kingdom“. That they misinterpret the idea of attaining the Kingdom, most ALL see this entering as after the death of the flesh, IS moot; the reality here IS that the cost of being able to “enter into the kingdom” IS largely ignored and also misunderstood and misapplied. That this Christian belief IS NOT seen as hypocrisy IS founded in the doctrinal acceptance of the words of Paul, misunderstood, misapplied and out of context words to be sure, as a ‘substitute’ for DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“. The third part of our trifecta addresses both of the ideas from the first two parts and then adds the factor of agape along with the Way that we can have the Presence of the Lord in our lives. The first two ARE incorporated into the first idea of the third saying that “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“; will gain the rewards that ARE promised.
The reward here IS NOT simple; it IS a complex idea that IS the result of keeping His words and while many Christians claim to have this reward as a part of the Christian beliefs, few if any Truly have it. Jesus lays out concrete Ways to have the Christ Within active in One’s Life; simply put the Master tells us that “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“. This IS the Presence of the Lord in one’s Life and as we come understand the dynamics of this, we also come into the reality shown us by the Apostle John who tells us that “we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). The apostle later shows us what it IS to “dwelleth in love ” saying that “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2). It IS in the circular references incorporated into scripture that we can find the Truth; here “we know that we love the children of God, when we love God” and as Jesus tells us “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“. While the clarity here should be deafening, such ideas ARE NOT accepted by the doctrinal thinker who proclaims his Love for the Lord while neither showing his Love toward everyman nor keeping His words. Most ALL have been so indoctrinated that they have created an alternate reality for themselves, an alternate reality in which they DO Love the Lord; this sense of Love however is carnal in nature and IS a far cry from the intent of agape. Who then has the Presence of the Lord? John tells us that “he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” while Jesus tells us that His Presence IS the realization of ALL that “will keep my words“. He tells us of he that “will keep my words” that “he it is that loveth me” and it IS to these who keep His words, and through this Love the Lord, that receive the reward which IS one’s realization that the Lord, the Father and the Son, “will come unto him, and make our abode with him“.
The simple Truth IS that one CAN NOT Truly have the Presence of God, the realization of His Presence in the mortal mind, without first putting forth the effort to attain that Presence. If we could understand that the Lord IS ever Present but that His Presence IS unrealized in the heart of a man, we can then perhaps grasp the Truth of our existence as Souls living through a human form. This Soul IS the Christ Within and this Soul IS ever in ‘communication’, if we can use that word idea here, with the Father who IS, from our myopic human perspective, Spirit. This the Master tells us saying that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) an idea that IS NOT further explained but which idea can be glimpsed by the man who will put forth the necessary effort which in a word IS Repentance and Transformation. It IS the Soul however that should take our attention as the Soul IS the realization which we seek; realization of the Christ Within in one’s Life leads to ALL things that pertain to our “Walk in the Spirit“. Our explanation of Spirit above IS a technical one that IS NOT a part of the apostles’ view when they speak of Spirit; their view of the Spirit IS the Spirit of the Christ and the Holy Spirit as these, plus the Spirit of the Father, DO become the realization of everyman who DOES “Walk in the Spirit“, everyman whose Life IS focused upon the Truth and the Love that ARE the Spirit of God. We should of course understand that to “Walk in the Spirit” one must perforce be keeping His words which effectively allows one to be an expression of the Spirit of the Christ in Truth and Love. It IS this dynamic that we should see in Paul’s saying that “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16) as our focus becomes ALL that flows from the Soul, the Christ Within, which Paul shows us as “the fruit of the Spirit“. We should understand that this IS a process, that there IS NO on/off switch by which we ARE instantly Transformed; there IS NO instantaneous Presence of the Lord in one’s Life merely because he carnally accepts Christ as Savior.
Finally there IS the matter of Love for the Lord; as we say above this Love IS generally a carnal attachment and attraction to the Lord based in doctrinal ideas. Jesus however defines Love for God saying that “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“; the Master repeats this saying “If a man love me, he will keep my words“. And perhaps just to be sure that we understand His intent Jesus addresses this same idea from a negative perspective saying that “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” as He ties His own words to the Father’s in a Oneness that IS NOT understood by most. There ARE NO shortcuts, there IS ONLY Repentance and Transformation as we focus upon the Truth and the agape that IS God and bring His Presence into our lives.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
2a New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
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
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
