ON LOVE; PART MDVI
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 some thoughts on discipleship and the criteria that the Master places upon counting oneself among His True Disciples or, as the King James Bible renders, His “disciples indeed“. This criteria IS NOT understood in the modern church nor has it been accepted by many over the centuries as doctrinal adherents claim this appellation for themselves without considering the criteria. From the right reading of Jesus’ words few beyond the original twelve, and perhaps a few cohorts, Truly qualify as well as some of whom we read of in the Book of Acts such as Stephen and Philip. The disciple IS clearly defined by the Master and alluded to by His apostles in their epistles. The Master tells us that:
- “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).
- “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” (Luke 14:26-27).
- “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 16:33).
These spoken criteria for being the Master’s True disciple ARE His most directly elucidated words on True discipleship and while ALL of these criteria seem burdensome to the doctrinal thinker, they ARE NOT Truly so from the perspective being His disciple. Jesus DOES tell us that there IS a cost but his cost is a rather muted one that DOES NOT involve our sacrifice of anything but our carnal and mundane sensibilities. The cost of discipleship IS founded in a conscious choice and a Plan; this IS what the Master IS showing us in His examples. We should remember here that the text of His words IS intentionally parabolic and that it IS likely that ONLY the sincere seeker after discipleship actually understands the gist of His words. We read:
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace” (Luke 14:28-32).
The first example IS in regard to a decision, an intention if you will, to build something and the reference here is in building a tower which IS likely appropriate for the times. Jesus plays this intent against failure of the man to ‘think through’ the magnitude of his decision and lays it against the idea that without a plan and without finishing the task, the man will likely be mocked. Can we see the point here as it relates to one’s striving toward discipleship? The Master has laid out for us the most basic criteria for discipleship as He tells us that we must see ALL as less important than the chosen task, that we must see those that we Love in a different way than IS customary in our lives. When we compound this with the words of the Great Commandment, we can have the more complete picture. The hidden idea IS our singlemindedness, that if we choose to follow the Path of discipleship we must come to grips with the ‘sacrifices‘ that must be made. The sacrifice of the second criteria, that we ‘hate‘ those that we Love, IS seen in terms of having to leave them behind but the greater reality IS that we place them into the same reality of persons that ARE NOT “father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters” as the gospels tell us that He Himself did. Add to this that we should see our own lives in the same way as we view the lives of our neighbors around the world. Jesus shows us the idea in this exchange with some of His disciples:
“Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it“.
Luke 8:19-21
While the Master tells us here that those that “hear the word of God, and do it” ARE akin to His mother and brethren, the deeper Truth IS that these words ARE intended to show how that His mother and brethren ARE equal to ALL others. It IS this idea that comports with the Great Commandment where we should see ALL men as the neighbor including those that ARE close to us. In the simplicity of the idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” the whole of this matter of relationships should be resolved. It IS in this understanding that we can then understand the idea of hating those close to us in this world. We should remember here Matthews version of the Master’s words; we read that “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38). Here the idea of discipleship IS framed in terms of being “worthy of me” and while the idea from Luke includes one’s need to hate “his own life also” this IS covered by the next verse where Matthew gives us the Master’s words saying “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). In both ways that this idea IS framed we should see the sameness of the idea and, to be sure, neither has aught to DO with dying. The point of ALL this IS simply that if we desire discipleship we must be will to pay the price which in the end IS essentially NO cost at all save for the forsaking of our carnal and mundane ways. Jesus tells us however that we should “counteth the cost” which idea implies that there IS a cost and, while this IS the way that His ideas ARE framed, the message IS more to the idea that we should be aware of the changes that must be wrought in our lives.
A similar story of preparedness IS the idea we should take from the Master’s second example concerning going into battle. Here we should try to see that we must measure our desire for discipleship against our ready tools as they work through our carnal and mundane personalities. We must understand what ARE the obstacles to our success and whether we should modify our desires to match that which we think we can accomplish as aspirants to discipleship. The idea here IS that we CAN NOT presume that we have the wherewithal to fully Repent and Transform in an instant; we should ONLY presume that we can take the necessary steps to ensure some measure of success upon which we can further build. The criteria for discipleship should be clear however as the ideas ARE stated with clarity and with purpose. And while these criteria seem extremely burdensome, this IS ONLY because of our carnal perspective, a perspective into which we ARE born in vanity, a perspective which IS so greatly enhanced by our nurturing and our indoctrination and which IS further aligned with the world through our Life experiences and our carnal desires. We ARE moved step by step further into our carnal lives despite whatsoever doctrinally religious leanings we might have as such leanings ARE themselves part of our carnal perspective. It IS this scenario that creates the idea that the Master’s criteria IS extremely burdensome and strikes a note of fear in us as we express our desire to Truly be His disciple. While the fear may be real and the sense of burden overwhelming, it IS necessary that we overcome both in order to advance along the Path. Here we should try to see that we ARE in essence born upon the Path as Souls taking form and that the task at hand IS to overcome the carnal perspectives that we have established as our lives. It IS this overcoming that IS the True message of the gospels and the epistles but unfortunately this has been turned into doctrinal ideas that seldom bring us to our tipping point. The Master shows us the reality of our capacity to overcome but His words ARE NOT understood as intended. Perhaps as encouragement to His disciples the Master tells them “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This idea of overcoming IS a word of victory; Strong’s defines the Greek word nikao as: to subdue (literally or figuratively) giving as examples the ideas of conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory9a. Thayer’s gives us similar ideas saying that nikao IS: to carry off the victory, come off victorious9.
As Jesus IS victorious in subduing the worldly and the carnal impulses that ARE natural to the human species, His message IS to the encouragement of His disciples who, as we KNOW from the gospels, ARE yet struggling somewhat with their own ability to overcome. Perhaps it IS to this end, to the encouragement of ALL, that John tells us that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). This IS a written idea that the church has NOT yet Truly accepted as they insist on elevating the Master far above mere humans. To be sure Jesus IS above mere humans but he IS still a man who biblically overcame the temptations that were presented to Him, temptations that ARE NOT understood as they should be. Jesus also tells us of our ability to be “as he is” saying to His disciples “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). Here the idea of perfection IS introduced as the Way for one to be “as his master” and we should understand that this IS NOT a idle idea; it IS intimately connected to another of the Master’s admonitions. In His Sermon on the Mount which IS directed at His disciples Jesus tells us to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Perfect IS yet another word that IS maligned by the doctrinal ideas of men where it IS ONLY the last defining idea from the lexicon2 that IS presented as this perfection. Thayer’s, which IS the general source of our lexicon, defines teleios saying: of men, full-grown, adult; of full age, mature9; it IS the idea of mature that IS most often applied. The lack of proper understanding of telios in both these sayings from the Master IS compounded by Luke’s use of the idea of mercy as he tells us Jesus words as “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). We should note two things here; first that the idea of mercy IS also a misunderstood word which should always mean spiritually: the expression of agape in this world.
The Lord’s mercy IS that He expresses this agape Love and the idea for men IS the same as we should ever be merciful. The relationship between our expression of mercy as agape and our perfection IS shown us by John who tells us “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. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:16-18). Fear in this sense should be understood as broadly as IS possible. The idea then of Jesus words saying “every one that is perfect shall be as his master” should point us clearly to our expression of agape rightly understood; it IS in our expression of mercy as agape in this world that we ARE perfected. Matthew presents us the same idea regarding discipleship without stating the idea of perfection; in Matthew’s words this perfection IS assumed. We read “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord” (Matthew 10:24-25). We should understand here that for one to be “as his master“, he must perforce have this sense of perfection. While this IS NOT a difficult concept to understand, the church has ever established obstructions to the idea of being “as he is” and here perhaps because they fail to comprehend the force of discipleship. The main point here IS that the disciple IS NOT to be understood according to the common understanding of the word. When we ARE considering being the Master’s disciple the Path IS much more profound and we should easily see this by the criteria that He Himself has established, criteria that ALL resolves itself into the reality of keeping His words. The importance of keeping His words IS shown us throughout the gospels and the epistles but this also has NOT be clearly understood by the church whose stance has ever been to protect the carnal ways of men. Likely unintentional for the most part, this stance has created doctrinal philosophies that ARE ofttimes in direct opposition to the Master’s words. Regarding His words the Master tells us:
“Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak“
John 12:44-50
Of course we have the same doctrinal problems with these words as we do with so many of the Master’s sayings and this begins with the idea of “He that believeth on me“. This IS NOT addressing the casual believer of Jesus but the the one who will keep His words; if we believe on someone we DO NOT ONLY DO so emotionally while we live according to our own predispositions. If we Truly believe on someone, we follow their lead; Vincent shows us the depth of this believing saying that: To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence 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. It IS this last part that most ALL have difficulties with. While most Christians will proclaim that they accept His words, trust Him practically and draw upon Him and even accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge, they fail at the final point which IS to keep His words. It IS this last point however that leads us to the portal of discipleship and it IS the disciple that garners the rewards and the promises offered to us in our trifecta where 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).
We should see that the first part of our trifecta combines keeping His words and discipleship and here the Master refers to “disciples indeed” perhaps to deflect from the common understanding of the word. The word rendered here as indeed, the Greek word alethos, DOES have a more definitive meaning; the lexicon tells us that the idea IS: truly, of a truth, in reality, most certainly2 while Strong’s defines it simply as truly9a. In this we should see that the prerequisites to discipleship includes keeping His words but there ARE more sayings that help us define the disciple. In John’s Gospel we also read “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35). While many see these words ONLY in relation to Love among the disciples, it has a much broader meaning when comported with the many other sayings on the reach of agape, particularly “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mark 12:31). Of course the idea of our expression of agape IS included in the idea that we should keep His words and we should try to see this secondary saying as a reminder that agape IS the greatest part of DOING so. The final point that we seek to show here regarding the relationships between discipleship, our expression of agape and the more general rule that we keep His words IS found in a single verse saying “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples“. While this IS clear, we should look at the context here and learn how it IS that we can “bear much fruit” and be His disciple. We read:
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends“
John 15:4-13)
In these words there IS much for us to consider but here our focus IS upon the Master’s words that help us to define discipleship: “that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples“. We should look at this idea of bearing fruit according to the Apostle Paul’s listing of “the fruit of the Spirit” that we recently discussed in much detail. Paul’s list shows us clearly what it IS that we should express as we “bear much fruit” and while there may be some carnal and mundane undertakings that DO qualify as fruit, the Master’s intent IS clearly spiritual. To “bear much fruit” then should be understood as our expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” which IS “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). We should be careful however to see the deeper ideas found in the Greek words that have been rendered into this list; it IS the deeper spiritual ideas that ARE of importance to the disciple and to ALL that aspire to discipleship. That the carnal renderings of these words found in our bibles may be virtuous IS understood but it IS the deeper spiritual ideas that ARE the Master’s goal as He tells us that we should “bear much fruit“. This point should be observed first through the leading fruit which IS agape and, as we had discussed, ALL of the other fruits ARE included in our Truthful expression of agape. Vincent goes to great lengths in his Word Studies in the New Testament to show us a comparison of the different kinds of Love as he addresses this verse and while we DO not have the time to discuss this here, I would refer you to his text which IS available online. Our point in citing Vincent IS to show his final conclusion which IS that: Love, in this passage, is that fruit of the Spirit which dominates all the others4. While our point IS a bit different, that agape includes ALL of these other fruits, Mr. Vincent’s point should be understood as the apostle’s intent in this list as well.
As Jesus tells us that we must “bear much fruit” in order to be considered among His disciples, we should understand that this involves our spiritual expression of Love and Truth to the world of men. This IS the focus of ALL discipleship as He tells us saying “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). While such ideas should have destroyed the Christian aversion to works, to ‘earning’ one’s Way to heaven, much of the church still teaches that it IS “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” to the exclusion of Jesus’ own words. In the more complete view of Paul’s words we can gain some insight into the reality of what he meant for us to understand; we read: “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Can we see the contradictory nature of the full idea presented by the apostle? On the one hand we ARE to refrain from works “lest any man should boast” and on the other hand we ARE “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” and that “we should walk in them“. While doctrines have embraced the former idea against works, they DO so without a clear analysis of the apostle’s intent, an intent which IS also emphasized by the Apostle James who tells us clearly that “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). While there ARE volumes of doctrinal ideas that support the contention that in essence tells us that ‘a man cannot save himself’, there IS little that shows us the deeper ideas that ARE embedded in the apostle’s words.
We should begin here with the ‘reality’ that the words of the apostles, rightly translated, ARE ever intended to amplify and clarify the words of the Master; they ARE NOT, as many believe, intended to set forth a ‘new’ covenant that differs in any way from Jesus’ teachings and precepts. For many in the church this IS a difficult pill to swallow but, this IS a necessary view if we ARE to understand the reality of New Testament scripture. We often cite the Master’s words, a reiteration of the words of the Prophet Elijah, that ARE intended to demote the way that men have manipulated scripture to their own benefit from the beginning. And while the church today believes that they ARE free from His words, they fail to see or understand the timelessness of this Truth. Jesus tells us “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7-9). It IS the commandments of men that have become the doctrines of the church and, as we ofttimes say, these doctrines overtly diminish, dilute and change the words of the Master which should be the basis for the church’s proper understanding of the Truth of Christianity and of discipleship. Again, it IS discipleship that IS the ultimate goal through our lives here in this Earth. The link between discipleship and the True salvation of a man IS established by the Master and His apostles who tell us so. Jesus reserves for His disciples, those that Truly keep His words, the rewards elucidated in our trifecta. It IS the Master that tells His disciples that they have the KEY to the mysteries and the understanding of His parables saying to them that “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables” (Mark 4:11). It IS the Master that lays out clearly the criteria for discipleship and while they may seem to include ideas that ARE NOT tied to keeping His words, the reality IS that ALL of His words ARE to be kept.
In the first criteria from our selection: “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) we have the specificity of discipleship being the reward for keeping His words. The Master’s next statement tells us 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” (Luke 14:26-27). In this we should see a clear reflection of the Great Commandments. Under the reality of the first of the Great Commandments one must “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30); we have the reality that one must perforce Love the Lord more than ALL else. This IS clearer in Matthew’s Gospel where we read again that “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37) but to see this clarity we must first see the relationship between discipleship and being “worthy of me“. Writing about the same idea from the Master, both Luke and Matthew offer us a different perspective on the objective and through this we should understand two things; first, as we have been saying here, the idea of hate IS to love less. The manifold point here IS that we must Love the Lord above ALL else and, to be sure, this IS NOT merely an affirmation but rather a conscious undertaking. We should remember that a part of this Loving the Lord IS our Loving ALL men equally as John shows us saying “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20). There ARE numerous New Testament sayings that show us this same thing.
Second IS the implication, a Truth if you will, that tells us that even our family and others close to us ARE to be Loved less than we Love the Lord. This IS the direct statement in both versions and IS clearly the most objectionable point for many. A few more word ideas here may help to alleviate men’s aversion to this criteria. First the idea here IS a spiritual one and NOT a carnal one; agape IS NOT related to that Love that we may have in this world, a Love that IS our mental and emotional attraction and attachment to others and ofttimes to things. This sense of carnal Love DOES NOT Truly interfere with our expression of agape where our duty IS ‘see’ ALL men equally and to offer ALL the same that we should want for ourselves. This IS a paraphrasing of the Great Commandment where the idea IS that we must “love thy neighbour as thyself” in combination with the Golden Rule that tells us clearly that “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12). We should understand that these word ideas ARE indeed parabolic, they ARE NOT clearly explained to the masses; it IS through this lack of clarity that we DO NOT KNOW the deepest meanings that ARE implied in each until we begin to focus ourselves on the things of God. Jesus DOES try to show us the reality of the neighbor but His words ARE NOT generally accepted; some of the church deems the idea to be that we should Love fellow Christians but even this lacks clarity against the common idea of Love. More on this in the next post.
Finally, in the Master’s words saying “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 16:33) we have a reiteration of His words about treasure and about mammon as precepts for the Way. This IS also the subject of Paul’s words regarding the flesh where we read such things as “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13). Can we see the idea of forsaking in these words and can we see that this forsaking IS NOT ONLY towards material things but rather towards the totality of our thoughts, our attitudes and ALL that we focus upon in this world. John helps us to understand this as he tells us to “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Lastly we look again at Paul’s introduction to our discussion on “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” where he tells us to “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would (Galatians 5:19, 22, 16-17). Again, we should look for the idea of forsaking in these words.
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
- 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
