ON LOVE; PART MCDLXXVI
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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 Aspects of God, the Father, the Son or Christ and the Holy Spirit, and how these correspond to the aspects of man, Spirit, Soul and their activity in this world. Both the Holy Spirit and the activity of the Soul in the world ARE the lowest spiritual ideas that ARE presented in this Earth and, as we have been discussing, neither ARE in any way related to this gross carnal existence. Here in this Earth there IS little that IS effected by the Aspects of God and we say little because we DO NOT yet understand the evolutionary forces that ARE constantly at play under the Power of that Supreme Being that we call God. Again, we must try to understand that the ideas of Being, and of the personal titles that we give to God ARE NOT because of any understanding of the nature of God but ARE rather to allow us, as men in this world, to speak about what IS essentially unspeakable. This IS NOT to say that there IS NO God per se but ONLY to point out that our God IS NOT a man or any sort of mystical being, our God IS the Power of Life expressed through Light and Love. We should try to see here as well that even these ideas of Light and Love ARE but the best ideas that we can even imagine as our God. God IS as we ARE and it IS in the macrocosmic/microcosmic relationship that God DOES actually have an effect on Life on this small world. As the microcosm we ARE the Souls that inhabit the animal vehicles that we call man and while this IS a difficult thing to Truly understand, it IS the basis for ALL True religion. As Souls we ARE Sparks from the Divine Flame so to speak with ALL of the Potency of the Christ Principle which were displayed for us in the Life of the Master, the Christ. It IS with this in mind that we should understand the words of the Apostle John saying “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). And it IS with this in mind that we should understand Jesus’ words saying “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). Two things here; first we must understand that to “believeth on me” IS NOT the nebulous idea of believing bandied about in the churches. True believing must be understood as Vincent presents this to us saying: to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4.
Especially important ARE the last words in Vincent’s statement above. These words show us the reality of keeping His words which IS the necessary ingredient that IS missing in the doctrinal ideas of believing in the Master as Lord. This idea IS spoken by Jesus who asks us simply “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). For us this IS a rhetorical question that should invoke a response in the doctrinal thinking of men but it DOES NOT. It has become a rather meaningless idea that IS parked in the easier idea that these words ARE intended for the Jew in those days. This IS of course counter to the whole of the reality of the teachings of the Christ and while Luke offers us this in a simple rhetorical question, Matthew gives us a greater idea of just what the average Christian should see in his own practice of religion. Matthew says “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. 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 7:21-23). While the first part of this IS included as one of the precepts of our trifecta so that we can see the idea of keeping His words and the reward for so DOING, the rest ARE the greater conviction of those who DO say “Lord, Lord” but “do not the things which I say“. It IS in the ideas of prophesy, healing and DOING what one may see as “wonderful works” that men ARE deceived and this according to James most succinct words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). The meaning here IS NOT that DOING such things as prophesying, healing and DOING “wonderful works” ARE unimportant, it IS that DOING any of these things without an overall effort to keep His words, to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” as Jesus frames this, contributes to the self-deception of men and the mass deception of the religious.
This then IS the reality of True believing in the Lord: that we accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4. Again the essence of these words IS that we keep His words and, according to the Master’s words above, should we properly DO so we can then understand and participate in His words saying “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. We can become the ‘he’ to which Jesus refers. This IS of course denied by the church in ways akin to John Gills commentary where we read that: we are not to understand these words of everyone that believes in Christ, of every private believer in him, but only of the apostles, and each of them, that were true believers in him8. Mr. Gill unintentionally shows us the reality however as he notes that this DOES NOT apply to every private believer but ONLY to true believers in him which, according to Vincent ARE those that DO accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4. Mr. Gill represents that such Power IS ONLY possible for the apostles but nowhere in the Master’s words DO we find this limitation on men. Mr. Gill then acknowledges that the apostles DID raise the dead, heal all manner of diseases, and cast out devils8 but we should note here that these words ARE spoken to apostles that had already been DOING such. The question here then would be: why would Jesus be telling them of the possibility of DOING things that they ARE already DOING? Could it be ONLY to frame the next idea that “greater works than these shall he do“? Then, regarding these “greater works” Mr. Gill, as DOES most of the church, denies the gist of the idea by saying: not greater in nature and kind, but more in number; for the apostles, in a long series of time, and course of years, went about preaching the Gospel, not in Judea only, but in all the world8. The doctrinal argument against such “greater works” has NO True scriptural support; it IS essentially a doctrinal concept which flows from the church’s belief that Jesus alone could DO such works as the ONLY Son of God. We should remember here however that the Apostle John never says this in terms that mean what the Church believes, the apostle says ONLY that Jesus IS “the only begotten Son” (John 1:18) a Truth that IS declared several times in the New Testament. The view here should be that the Master IS the only-born9a son, as Strong’s defines the idea of the Greek word monogenēs, of this deeply spiritual relationship. Thayer’s tells us that monogenēs IS single of its kind, only9 and while they go off into doctrinal ideas, their defining idea as well as Strong’s show us that monogenēs refers ONLY to the nature of His birth without limiting such Sonship to Jesus alone. Our point here IS to simply support Paul’s words saying “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” and to emphasize that it IS those that DO accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4, those that DO keep His words, ARE those that “are led by the Spirit of God“.
Others that believe that the Master IS speaking to ALL men and NOT to His apostles ONLY also have convoluted His words much as John Gill shows us in saying that such “greater works” ARE not greater in nature and kind. Vincent offers us the idea that these ARE: not more remarkable miracles, but referring to the wider work of the apostolic ministry under the dispensation of the Spirit4 thereby placing such works onto the ministry. While we ARE NOT sure of Vincent’s meaning in the idea of the apostolic ministry we may be able to better understand his intent through his offering of the words of Godet. Vincent tells us that: Godet truthfully says : “That which was done by St. Peter at Pentecost, by St. Paul all over the world, that which is effected by an ordinary preacher, a single believer, by bringing the Spirit into the heart, could not be done by Jesus during His sojourn in this world“4. This limitation on the spiritual ability of the Master IS for us both non-sensical and contrary to the essence of the New Testament. Our point IS that the Master IS as Omnipotent as IS the Father albeit under the constraints of expressing this Omnipotence through a physical form in this world. In our citing of the verse from John above we left out the ending ideas that say “because I am going to the Father” as a reason for this ability to DO “greater works“. For us the idea of because IS an invalid rendering of the Greek word hoti in this usage; we see the idea as presented by Wycliffe who renders the idea “for I go to the Father” making it more the reason that the cause. The apostles DO NOT realize the Power that they possess until the Master’s departure and resurrection and this remains as the reason for our own potential. We should remember that these words regarding “greater works” ARE a part of Jesus’ explanation of them to His apostles and while we DO ofttimes let it stand alone, we should also relate them to the whole of the dialogue. John tells us Jesus words following Philip’s question as:
“Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father“.
(John 14:9-12)
We should see two things here; first IS the reality that as we seek the Presence of the Christ Within as the controlling aspect of our lives, the Master had the Presence of the Father Within and this because He was the Christ in full possession of the Power of the Second Aspect of the Godhead. The Master’s statement here IS a more fully explained version of His previous words saying “I and my the Father are one” (John 10:30). It IS also a prelude to His continuing revelation of the reality of spiritual Life; above He cites the idea of works while later He tells us “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:24). Both Jesus’ works and His words ARE divine, they come from the Father aspect of God and this IS how we should view ALL True spiritual enterprise regarding the apostles and the Lord. Second IS the ‘promise‘ if you will; the promise that the apostles and ALL who follow them can and will realize the Truth that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” without the whittling away of this ‘promise‘ that has been the way of the church for 2000 years. We should understand here that the ‘promise‘ IS NOT in any way restricted to the apostles; in fact there ARE NO restrictions at all save for the stated requirement saying “He that believeth on me“. We must NOT however see this idea of believing as that nebulous doctrinal idea that will NOT result in one’s ability to “greater works” and there IS much more aside from Vincent’s words that affix the meaning of keeping His words to one’s believing. While Vincent DOES tells us that to “believeth on” the Master IS to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4, Jesus Himself also explains the reality of such believing. In such words as “whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). These words show us the Power of Truly believing and while much of the church uses this idea from Mark 11:23 as a way of gaining in this world, the reality IS far from this. While much the church sees this believing as part of their equally nebulous idea of faith, there ARE NONE who can perform the feat of casting the mountain into the sea and we should understand here that this IS NOT merely an example of difficulty, it IS the Master’s statement. Luke and Matthew frame this idea of faith as having “faith as a grain of mustard seed“, an idea that has naught to DO with the ‘size’ of one’s faith. Luke gives us this differently than Matthew saying “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6). To be sure, this feat is just as impossible in human terms as IS moving the mountain. Matthew gives us two references to this exercise of faith and believing, this exercise of KNOWING; he tells us first that Jesus says “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20) during an instruction to His disciples regarding believing. Later, as the apostles marvelled at the the withered fig tree, the Master says “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” (Matthew 21:20, 21). Can we understand the idea of KNOWING without doubt that what one says will actually happen and the intensity that IS required to “doubt not” against such seemingly impossible feats. ALL of this reveals the reality of believing while Vincent’s words reveal for us the mechanism for having such conviction….keeping His words.
We have frequently discussed these ideas regarding the Greek words pistis and pisteuo which ARE rendered as faith and believing. While the renderings ARE valid understandings of the Greek words, the understanding of the rendered words according to common usage IS faulty. There IS little in doctrinal ideas that supports our contention that the meaning of these ideas when applied to spiritual matters IS much more acute than merely having faith or believing what IS said and perhaps the greatest example IS found in the church’s treatment of the Master’s words. Jesus tells us many things as DO His apostles. Should we look honestly at the way their words ARE treated however, we would soon understand that while we may believe what IS said and/or have faith in the speaker, we tend to ignore the gist of the messages. When we KNOW some measure of the Truth however we ARE then more motivated to heed the message. A clear example IS found in the Master’s words from the Sermon on the Mount that we recently discussed in much detail. Jesus tells us about our choices; our choice of the source of our treasure or the objects of our focus, the choice of having the single eye focused on the Truth or the evil eye focused upon the self in this world. He sums this up by showing us the choice between God and mammon and then shows us the Way which IS to Truly “Take no thought for your life“. As men we have ever chosen the way of the self rather than the Way of the Lord and this despite the clarity of His message and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles. In addition, we have manipulated His words to reflect our carnal lives rather than our spiritual lives as we choose to live as men in this world; as we refuse to offer up our worldly focus. We should understand here that this IS as True for those in the church as it IS for those that ARE NOT affiliated with any denomination or sect and we should try to see that the manipulation of the Master’s words was and IS DONE by those in the church. What IS this manipulation? In regard to treasure where Jesus’ words clearly tell us to “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19:21) we have chosen the former almost universally. We have related the idea thesauros which IS rendered as treasure to wealth, to money, but even in so DOING we have NOT heeded His words but have manipulated them to allow for such wealth. We should remember here that wealth IS a relative term and that it DOES NOT ONLY pertain to those with great wealth. These DO have the greater burden which James frames for us saying “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” (James 5:1) while Jesus offers the idea of being rich as a woe (Luke 6:24). The meaning of thesauros however IS NOT so restricted in reality; we have posted the story of St. Thomas and Gondoforus in previous essays where we can glimpse a better way of seeing this idea but even this IS a bit lacking as it too concentrates on treasure as wealth.
Strong’s defines thesauros as a deposit9a while Thayer’ tells us that it IS: the place in which goods and precious things are collected and laid up and later says that it IS something precious9. For us the idea of thesauros IS NOT specifically related to wealth although the idea of money would be included. For us thesauros IS what we treasure, what IS important to us, our focus, what we put our attention upon and what we desire and should we read Jesus’ words without the preconception of wealth, we could easily see this if solely through the final thought that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also“. John Gill gives us a taste of the doctrinal ideas that have manipulated the gist of the Master’s message. He begins with telling us that thesauros IS: either treasures that are of an earthly nature and kind, the more valuable and excellent things of the earth, worldly wealth and riches; or the things and places, in which these are laid up, as bags, chests, or coffers, barns and other treasuries, private or public8. The ideas here ARE strictly wealth and he continues to show this saying: Christ here dissuades from covetousness, and worldly mindedness; an anxious care and concern, to hoard up plenty of worldly things for themselves, for time to come, making no use of them at present for the good of others8. While speaking strictly of wealth, Mr. Gill proceeds to tell us of “treasures in heaven” saying that: That is, either be concerned for, and seek after heavenly treasure, the riches of glory, the joys and glories of another world, which infinitely excel everything that is valuable on earth; and which can never be corrupted, or taken away: or rather, 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. While the former idea in this statement IS the more valid idea of “treasures in heaven“, Mr. Gill settles upon the latter idea of sharing one’s wealth, of liberally communicating to the poor, and while philanthropy IS a great virtue, it DOES little to make the True choice between God and mammon. Mr. Gill, and most ALL commentary on these verses, concludes with his ideas on the idea that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also“. Here he tells us that: This seems to be a proverbial expression, and contains in it another reason, dissuading from worldly mindedness; because of the danger the heart is in of being ensnared and ruined thereby. Our point here IS that there IS naught said to dissuade a man from pursuing treasure and much that renders the idea acceptable so long as there IS some measure of liberally communicating to the poor. Again, the whole of this IS limited to one’s wealth without consideration of those other things that men DO treasure. Mr. Gill DOES however have the idea right save for the way that he uses ALL treasure as wealth; he goes on to say: if your treasure is on earth, and lies in earthly things, your hearts will be set upon them, and be in them; he goes back to wealth however saying such ARE in your bags, your coffers and storehouses. Our point here IS to offer a view of the way that doctrines approach the ideas from these words from the Master and their failure to see how that ALL things carnal can be among one’s treasures.
From His words on treasures the Master goes on to speak of the single eye versus the evil eye and we should note that the is an aura of obscurity in these passages. NOT that Jesus is so much speaking obscurely, but rather that men’s understanding IS too grounded in preconceived doctrinal ideas. We begin here with the Greek word haplous which IS rendered as single. This word itself IS obscure in translation and derivation; Strong’s tells us that haplous IS: probably from G1 (as a particle of union) and the base of G4120; properly, folded together, i.e. single (figuratively, clear)9a. Here G1 IS the Greek word alpha and G4120 IS pleko which IS a primary word; to twine or braid9a according to Strong’s. Thayer’s offers us the idea that haplous IS: simple, single (in which there is nothing complicated or confused; without folds; whole; of the eye, good, fulfilling its office, sound. The last idea IS specifically in regard to our subject verses which read: “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23). Other translations of the bible stretch these ideas into doctrinal ones using such renderings as true, healthy, goodness, sound and unclouded; most of these seem based in Thayer’s understanding of the word. Vincent tells us of haplous that: The picture underlying this adjective is that of a piece of cloth or other material, neatly folded once, and without a variety of complicated folds. Hence the idea of simplicity or singleness (compare simplicity from the Latin simplex; semel, once; plicare, to fold). So, in a moral sense, artless, plain, pure. Here sound, as opposed to evil or diseased. Possibly with reference to the double – mindedness and indecision condemned in ver. 244. For us it IS what Vincent calls the possible reference that IS the reality of the Master use of this word; the idea here, apart from the doctrinal assertions, IS that the single eye IS focused upon a singular ideal. Here the comparison IS that one’s eye should be focused upon the things of God rather that the things of the world which ARE covered by the Greek word poneros which IS rendered as evil. Others render the idea in their typical way of understanding poneros; they call the idea evil, wicked, bad and no good. We should note that we ARE speaking of the eye here as the representation of the focus of one’s heart and, as we have ofttimes cited, the idea of poneros IS NOT as it IS generally understood. In these words from the Master we have the True essence of a parable where treasure IS NOT wealth and the eye IS NOT the physical organ and, as IS often True of parables, the interpretations vary based in the mindset of the interpreter.
The gist of the Master’s words on the single eye versus the evil eye IS a matter of focus, of where we choose to spend our attention. The text tells us that when we focus upon the carnal and the mundane things of the world we ARE in darkness which, from a spiritual perspective, IS a great darkness. We should try to understand that the reference here IS to Light, the Light of the Soul if you will, and there lack thereof in one’s Life. While the idea IS presented in terms of either Light or darkness, we should try to see that there ARE gradations of each save in the lives of those that ARE at the end of each spectrum. Few of course ARE Truly free from the gradations of Light and darkness and we should understand here that doctrinal religion DOES NOT overly contribute to the Light and normal carnal living DOES NOT overly contribute to the dark save for when such focus IS the sum total of one’s Life. More than a choice, Jesus’ words here should be understood as a statement of fact regarding the focus of our lives and should we relate His words to His previous words on treasure, we could then see where the whole of the discourse IS going. Our focus on “treasures upon earth” IS focus on the darkness and on having a poneros eye; here we choose NOT to use the rendered ideas because they ARE grounded in misconceptions. Similarly our focus on “treasures in heaven” IS focus upon the Light, and on having a single eye focused upon the Lord. Again to be at one pole or the other IS rare; most ALL men ARE somewhere in this range from darkness to Light and in this idea of Light we should try to see the idea of Truth through the words of 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 the it IS the first part of the trifecta that speaks about Truth, the theme DOES run through them ALL as it IS in the Light of Truth that we see and attain the Kingdom and it IS in the Light of Truth that we can have the True Presence of the Lord as the Light of the Soul in our lives. Can we see the point here? Jesus moves on from the parabolic ideas of the single eye versus the evil eye to a more straightforward saying regarding God and mammon. Here we should try to see how that our carnal focus, our lives in vanity, ARE in essence a choice of mammon and here too we should understand that the man focused entirely on the one or the other IS rare. Here too IS the matter of measure but, in His words, there IS NO True benefit to being in the center between these poles. Jesus tells us “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Can we see here the effects of our doublemindedness? We should NOT forget that the overriding idea IS our striving to DO, our striving to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves“. While this may place us firmly in the central area were we ARE doubleminded, this IS a necessary place from which to begin. It shows us our Repentance as the choice made to follow the Lord and to begin our Transformation through the “renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). It IS in our journey though this Transformation that we move ever closer to focusing solely on “treasures in heaven” as we learn to eschew our “treasures upon earth” and recognize them as part and parcel of our vanity. Our vanity which we should remember IS defined for us as our: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4. It IS in our Transformation that we begin to see clearly through our single eye focused upon the things of God and while we will struggle to look away from the carnal and the mundane, our True Repentance will allow us to continue to strive toward our goal, to strive toward the Truth, the Kingdom and His Presence in our lives. Paul paints a picture for us, a muddy one to be sure, of his struggle to Transform and should we read this properly we will find his reality of ever striving as he awaits “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). The apostle tells us:
“we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin“
Romans 7:14-25
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect | Potency | Aspect of Man | In Relation to the Great Invocation | In relation to the Christ |
| GOD, The Father | Will or Power | Spirit or Life | Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN | Life |
| Son, The Christ | Love and Wisdom | Soul or Christ Within | Heart of God | Truth |
| Holy Spirit | Light or Activity | Life Within | Mind of God | Way |
- 2 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
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
