ON LOVE; PART MCDXLXVI
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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 Master’s Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders which IS more of a real-time comparison than it IS a parable. There IS NO other way to look at Jesus’ words here than to see that the idea IS to show us the Way of the man who will keep His words versus the way of the may who DOES NOT; the former IS the “wise man” while the latter IS the “foolish man“. From a spiritual perspective most ALL men ARE among the foolish; few there ARE that Truly keep His words. Few there ARE that ARE the “wise man“. Wisdom IS NOT so much a subject in the churches but it IS a important component in our journey onto the Path. It IS perhaps Solomon who shows us the deep realty of Wisdom and if we look closely we can perhaps glimpse the intimate relationship between Love and Wisdom; agape and sophia. This Wisdom IS NOT a subject in the New Testament save for this parable and a few references to the Wisdom of the Master. Perhaps the best way to view Wisdom IS through the words of the Apostle James who tells us that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed“. In these words the idea of Wisdom IS in regard to our ability to resist temptations and here of course the temptation IS ALL that can divert our attention from the Truth, from the True Path which IS our “strait gate” (Luke 13:24). We should try to understand that the idea of patience that James introduces IS better understood as steadfastness which we should perhaps read as that in his words saying “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience steadfastness. But let patience steadfastness have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:5-6, 2-4). In this reference the idea of Wisdom IS our tool by which we can discern the temptations that seek to disrupt our steadfastness and the need for Wisdom IS found in the way that men see most often through their own sense of vanity. For the man whose focus IS upon the Lord the Wisdom flows but until our Transformation IS complete, until we ARE “perfect and entire, wanting nothing“, we ARE ever susceptible to our “divers temptations“. James goes on to show us the Path of temptations which should NOT be understood in terms of gross ‘sins’ but rather in terms of the diversion from the Truth that such temptations cause. The apostle tells us:
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning“
James 1:12-17
Can we see the apostle’s point here and can we see how that it IS Wisdom that protects us and offers us the discernment necessary to KNOW “Every good gift and every perfect gift” from those things of the world after which most ALL men strive. We will explore James words in more detail in our next section for discussion which focuses upon the apostles’ words that amplify and clarify the Sermon on the Mount, a Sermon which we should see as the Master’s broad stroke at showing us the Way. James next point on Wisdom tells us that:
“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace“
James 3:13-18
These words on Wisdom ARE important aspects of our journey on the Path which opens into the “strait gate” and we should see that James’ words here ARE to show us that the wisdom of the world and the Wisdom that we should seek after ARE NOT the same. The idea of the wisdom of the world instructs men on the ways of the world while “the wisdom that is from above” instructs a man on the Ways of God so that he may “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). And, in these words from Paul we should see the idea of dokimazo in terms of discernment rather than proving. We have discussed James words on Wisdom several times over the course of our blogposts and have tried to show the reality of the ideas that ARE “earthly, sensual, devilish“. While the common understanding IS “bitter envying and strife“, the reality IS that the ideas ARE founded in emulation and in factious division as our individual thoughts and emotions. We have noted that the rendering of these words IS ofttimes confused and that different translators deal with them quite differently; we will refresh our ideas in a coming series where we will discuss again the entirety of James’ Epistle. For today’s discussion however we need ONLY to try to see that emulation IS connected to covetousness, to our desires and lusts, while factious divisions ARE just that and can be seen by the segmentation of men in their religious circles, in their denominations and sects. This division IS likely a result of the, or perhaps better it began with, Paul’s ideas on “another gospel: Which is not another” (Galatians 1:6, 7) which we have also discussed in some detail. Our point here IS that “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish” because it IS focused upon the mundane and carnal lives of men while that “wisdom that is from above” has its focus upon the things of God. In the end we should try to see these ideas from James on Wisdom in the Master’s words on the Wise and the foolish builders and try to see how that the idea of focus IS perhaps the KEY.
When we look at these words on the Wise and the foolish builders we should understand that from Matthew’s and Luke’s perspectives the idea that “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them” IS directed at those that ARE “doers of the word” (James 1:22). It IS those whose focus IS upon the Lord through their striving to keep His words that ARE among the Wise while those whose focus IS on the self and the things of the self ARE among the foolish. And, while the foolish will deny their foolishness citing their doctrines, the Wise will simply continue to strive. The Wise then are in a constantly uncomfortable position as they continue to strive to Live according to His words while the foolish claim that these Wise ARE NOT ‘believing‘ according to the doctrinal precepts that seem to require that men DO NOT rely upon anything related to works. It may be difficult to comprehend how that the out of context words of the apostles, especially Paul, have been allowed to overwhelm the words of the Master while these same proponents of doctrine accept the idea that Jesus IS the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). If He IS the author then His words should count for much more that adages and if He IS the finisher, the entirety of His words should have the force of a Universal Christian doctrine. Most ALL of the church however relies upon Paul’s words and to a lesser extent the words of the other apostles. Should they take the entire volume of the apostles’ words in their context rather than take a few chosen sayings out of their context, the most basic doctrines of every denomination and sect would be closer to the Master’s intent. But this has NOT been the Way over the last 2000 years as men have consistently chosen a path of least resistance, a path that allows men to live in this world as men while deeming themselves spiritually focused. And it DOES NOT matter what religious sects ARE analyzed. The reality of keeping His words has been replaced in some by rites and rituals and in others by philosophies that preach faith and believing. Still others combine aspects of each while yet others have created a separate view of Christianity that IS less reliant on the gospels themselves and over reliant on the teachings of third party religious figures. ALL of this should be seen in the Master’s Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders where there ARE but two realities, keeping His words and NOT keeping His words and it IS easy to put most any group of persons into one or the other of these realities and, unfortunately, most ALL fall into line with the foolish. Repeating the Master’s Parable we read:
Luke tells us: “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great“.
Matthew tells us: “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes“.
Luke 6:47-49, Matthew 7:24-29
We should try to see how that this parable, this comparison story that shows the fate of the man who will keep His words against those that will NOT keep His words IS a summary quid pro quo on the same level as the words from Deuteronomy that we often cite. That the church has NOT seen Jesus words as opposition to its attitudes toward the idea of works that they have developed as their own version of “another gospel: Which is not another” (Galatians 1:6, 7) IS Truly unfortunate. In this view we can easily see how that it IS the church itself that Paul speaks of as he tells the Galatians that those that teach things other than the Truth that was brought to us by the Christ ARE those that “would pervert the gospel of Christ“. To be sure this perversion of the Truth was NOT DONE as act of defiance but rather as one of expediency. We use this word expediency according to its defining idea that it IS: a regard for what is politic or advantageous rather than for what is right or just; a sense of self-interest*; it IS our own individual and corporate self-interest that motivates men that ARE yet trapped in a sense of vanity that they simply DO NOT see. In Paul’s day it IS assumed that the apostle IS speaking against the propensity of men to fall back into their religious roots founded in Judaism but IS this really the case in Galatia? We should remember here Paul’s framing of the idea of “another gospel” as he calls it “another gospel: Which is not another“, “another gospel” that seems similar enough to the Truth to be passed on as that Truth. And passed on it has been for centuries, changing with the times with changes that ARE taught and accepted by men who DO NOT see their error nor the perversion that they have created. And this IS the role of vanity in this world: men DO NOT realize the spiritual import of what they DO as they focus upon the politic or advantageousness of their individual and corporate positions. It IS this tendency of men that IS captured in Vincent defining ideas on that vanity to which ALL ARE subjected according to Paul who tells us that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20). Vincent defines this vanity saying it IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4. It IS vanity that keeps us from the Truth, that keeps us separate from God and keeps us in a perishable and decaying condition; it IS vanity that keeps men searching for the mundane and the carnal rather than the spiritual Truths that govern the Universe. And it IS this search that Jesus shows us in His Sermon as He tells us we must choose between “treasures upon earth” and “treasures in heaven“, when He tells us that we must choose between “God and mammon” (Matthew 6:19, 20, 24). The choices ARE ever ours and we must understand here that we DO choose, unconsciously for most and consciously for others; we DO choose the path that we will walk and we should understand that once we ARE on our chosen path it IS difficult to change. It IS NOT impossible however and this IS the lesson that we gain from the Master’s words and parables that tell us that regardless of when we choose the Path to Truth and Love, it IS a choice that matters spiritually. Perhaps the most graphic picture of this IS in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard which we repeat saying:
“the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought[b] but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen“
Matthew 20:1-16
While this may seem like a lengthy way of getting to the final point that “the last shall be first“, the entirety of the parable IS intended to show us the ‘flexibility’ of the Lord. Regardless of whether we choose to enter His Truth at the first or at the last, we have entered and we will receive our due and while this may be complicated by such karmic ideas as “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7), it IS nonetheless a most basic Truth. But we should understand here that this IS NOT governed by the ideas of the various theologies of the world, it IS governed ONLY by the self-analysis, self-judgement if you will, that we must DO as Souls in form; it IS here that we select our own fate as Souls. We should understand here that there IS NO personality involved as we understand this directing our judgement of own lives; as Souls we CAN NOT and DO NOT hide from taking responsibility for our own sowing in this world. While most of the church has created a place called hell to which the sinful go, there IS NO such place and while we may see this place allegorically in scripture, the idea IS man made and far fetched as a punishment by a God that IS Love, who IS agape. We must understand that the depictions of God that ARE offered by the churches ARE but an attempt to put a human face onto a Divine Reality in whom “there is no respect of persons” (Colossians 3:25). Perhaps the main point to be taken away from our reading of this parable IS that NO matter when one decides to follow the Lord in any given Lifetime, he will receive the reward of being a striving participant. This IS NOT like the practice of some denominations that call on men to accept the Lord on one’s deathbed for absolution as there must be a practicality to the endeavor, a striving if you will. The man who chooses to focus on the things of God at an early age surely has an advantage over one whose choice comes later in Life but much more depends upon the measure of focus and the degree of striving than DOES the timing.
As Souls it IS our mission to take possession of our mortal Life and to express the Soul’s qualities through that Life. We should try to see and to understand that it IS this expression that brings one out of vanity to become an aspirant to discipleship and, should we strive long enough, to discipleship itself. It IS in discipleship that we Truly “soweth to the Spirit” but we should understand that in striving to be such there IS the reality of measure, a reality that the Master shows us albeit in obscure terms regarding judgement and what we hear. We should also try to see how that our sowing IS in reality our striving, it IS an ongoing event that works out as our Transformation and perhaps we can see this point in the full text from Paul saying “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:7-9). While the parable shows us that we can obtain our reward regardless of when we begin to focus upon the things of God rather than the things of the self in this world, the karmic effect still plays a large role in the way that the reward reflects upon the man in this Life and after death. Jesus shows us that the reward IS available to ALL who come to Him and DO the work while Paul’s amplifying and clarifying words show us that this reward can be built upon “if we faint not“. We should note here that unlike the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, this Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard IS a True parable that expresses spiritual ideas hidden behind a carnal one.
As we close out our discussion of the Master’s Sermon on the Mount we should try to understand how that the Sermon IS Jesus’ most basic instructions on how to become as aspirant and then a disciple. While there ARE other instructions spread throughout the gospels, the Sermon captures the crux of problems that face men in this world. Jesus explains for us the idea of those that ARE blessed and we should understand here that the idea behind the Greek word makarios IS NOT being happy2 as the word IS generally defined as an alternative to being blessed. The idea of blessings IS a rather complex one in both the church and in secular society. Generally being blessed means being favored and when the word in used in a carnal context as it most often is, this idea of being blessed IS of a material nature. Spiritually the idea of being blessed must perforce be in relation to the Lord and while many seek to ‘bless the Lord’, this idea IS nonsensical. In his lengthy commentary on the Greek word makarios Vincent offers us a keener view of the idea saying that: In the Old Testament the idea involves more of outward prosperity than in the New Testament, yet it almost universally occurs in connections which emphasize, as its principal element, a sense of God ‘s approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God4. In the Beatitudes the idea IS clearly that: a sense of God ‘s approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God4. It IS God’s approval that IS the result of the ideas in the Beatitudes, ideas that we DID discuss in some detail at the beginning of our discussion on chapter five of Matthew’s Gospel. The whole idea of God’s approval IS however misconstrued based in the idea of a Supreme Being with mortal ways and attitudes; the whole idea of this blessing should be founded in that same self-judgement and self-analysis that we discuss above as it IS the that Soul KNOWS how and when it IS living in righteousness. What then IS this approval? The Master spells it out for us telling us that it IS attaining “the kingdom of heaven“, being comforted which idea we should link to Jesus’ words on the Holy Spirit. We should note here that attaining the Kingdom IS itself subject to certain criteria as Jesus shows us in our trifecta. The Master adds an obscure idea next saying that this approval IS to “inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3, 4, 5) and should we see the idea of kleronomeo which IS rendered inherit as Thayer’s shows us saying that the idea IS: universally, to receive the portion assigned to one, receive an allotted portion, receive as one’s own or as a possession; to become partaker of, to obtain9 and here we should pay special attention to the idea of being a partaker. While most of these ideas involve receiving something which DOES NOT work in this context, the idea of being a partaker can be most useful to our understanding of the Master’s intent. We should note that this IS in regard to meekness and here we must properly understand this word as having the ability to DO a thing while spiritually refraining from DOING it. Jesus IS meek by His own admission and to be sure He DOES NOT fit into the defining ideas of meekness. However, throughout the gospels we see Jesus in positions where He can take an action to fend off His accusers but chooses instead to simply move away and perhaps the best example IS at His arrest. There we read that the Master says to His disciples “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matthew 26:53-54). It IS then this sense of meekness that puts one in control of his own Life and what IS happening and in this sense he becomes a partaker of the effects of spiritual expression in this world. While this may sound convoluted, it IS necessarily so and against the idea of a True inheritance of the Earth as a thing; it makes much more sense.
Jesus’ next point IS more easily understood as He speaks a logical idea that needs NO interpretation; simply put, if one Truly DOES “hunger and thirst after righteousness“, he will have that blessing of righteousness. The next blessing has to DO with mercy and being merciful; Jesus says “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5: 6, 7). Here we have another look at karma in action in this world; this however IS spiritually motivated under the idea that mercy IS ALL that comes from the Godhead; mercy IS our expression of agape in this world. The idea here then IS that when we express this Love as a man in this world we turn on the reality of fuller revelation; our expression brings to us more and this according to Jesus’ words on judgement and hearing which we reference above and cite here. The Master tells us “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2) in speaking regarding judgement and “Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given” (Mark 4:24). This latter saying IS more aligned with our ideas on mercy and there ARE others that show us the Master’s words on measure as well. The point IS that in our striving to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” we turn on, if we can use that idea here, the flow of revelation that ever leads us to greater expression; this IS the Way of a man on the Path to Truth and agape. This brings us to the next blessing that IS shown us by Jesus as He says “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God“. Again there IS a sense of logic in His words that tell us the reality of the third part of the trifecta. If we ARE Truly righteous we DO keep His words, His commandments and His sayings, and it IS this that DOES earn us the Presence of the Lord here and now; it IS in this Presence that we “shall see God“. Our trifecta shows us the Presence of the Lord, His Truth and His Kingdom with the criteria that causes us to be so blessed; repeating the Master’s words 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).
There IS an indelible link between these words from Jesus and the blessings that He shows us in the Beatitudes as to follow His words here brings us to express what IS necessary for those blessings. It IS in keeping His words that we ARE “pure in heart“; it IS in keeping His words that we ARE “merciful“, that we express agape, and it IS in striving to keeping His words that we “hunger and thirst after righteousness“. Can we see the point here? And can we see that this IS the Way for ALL of the Beatitude’s blessings to become ours as we gain a sense of God ‘s approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God4. We should note that Vincent’s idea that such approval rests ultimately on love to God IS the same idea that we get from our trifecta where in the third part it IS “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“. While Mr. Vincent may NOT have intended his words to be viewed this way, his words clearly show us the relationship for that love to God and the righteousness of a man. The Beatitudes then ARE specific to the comportment of a man according to His words; it IS in our expression of agape that we ARE keeping His words. After the Beatitudes the Master goes on to show us the importance of the work in which the disciple and the aspirant to discipleship ARE involved. He tells us that “Ye are the light of the world” and that “Ye are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:14, 13) but the need for men, as disciples and aspirants, to continue IS stated for us in both connections to divinity. First we CAN NOT lose our savor; we must continue, we must maintain that ‘saltiness‘ that makes us aspirants and disciples; Jesus tells us that “if the salt have lost his savour“, if one fails to “continue in my word“, we ARE NO longer “disciples indeed” but we rather fall back into the ways of men in this world, fall back into our vanity. For men to take on these appellations of Light and salt without being in His word and without the necessary focus on the things of God, IS NOT the Master’s intent here but we can ONLY see this when we look at the entirety of His words. Insofar at the idea that “Ye are the light of the world” IS concerned, the criteria for being such IS much clearer; the simplicity of the criteria IS found in the word expression. We must express in this world the revelations of Light that ARE our reward for keeping His words; it IS in this reward that we find “the truth” that “shall make you free” of our own individual “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8: 20, 21). The Master IS NOT addressing everyman as “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world“; He IS addressing the disciple and the aspirant to discipleship who IS the one that DOES “Strive to enter in at the strait gate“.
It IS striving that we should see in the Master’s phrasing of the next idea which follows upon His telling us of the religious basis of what He IS about to say. He begins with a statement of fact that should convict everyman who sees Life differently. Jesus tells us very clearly of our fate, before He tells us what His commandments ARE, saying that “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19-20).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 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
