ON LOVE; PART MDV
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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 Repentance after completing our discussion of the Apostle Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh”; in previous essays we discussed Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit“. It IS our Repentance and subsequent Transformation that moves us from living as carnal men exercising the “the works of the flesh” rightly understood to living as spiritual men expressing “the fruit of the Spirit“. It IS important to remember that the Greek words that Paul uses have been manipulated by the doctrines of men to mean what such men wanted them to mean and it IS such meanings that generally point ONLY to the gross behaviors of men. This has been the subject of our recent essays as we have looked rather deeply at the words that comprise both “the fruit of the Spirit” and “the works of the flesh”. It IS the deeper and more spiritual ideas behind the words that allow us to understand our own individual thoughts, attitudes and actions as we evaluate our progress in moving from the carnal to the spiritual, a progress that IS established as we begin to Repent and IS finished through our Transformation into “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). Repeating Paul’s words on both “the fruit of the Spirit” and “the works of the flesh” we read:
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit“
Galatians 5:16:25
Paul begins with the idea that we should “Walk in the Spirit” and we should understand that the ability to DO this IS dependent upon our Repentance; dependent on our change of focus from the things of the self to the things of God. It IS this change in the focus of our lives that IS defined for us by Vincent’s defining ideas on Repentance. Mr. Vincent tells us that: Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice4. This IS what we mean by our change in the focus of our lives. Paul tells us that IS it when we can “Walk in the Spirit” that we “shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” and we should understand here that such fulfillment of our desires IS the natural action of men in this world. We should understand that the ideas here ARE NOT evilly oriented as doctrines interpret “the works of the flesh” and here we use the idea of evil as it IS commonly understood. Most references to evil and to the idea of sin ARE NOT as doctrinally depicted; they ARE rather the mundane carnal activities’ of men according to the ideas presented in our discussion of “the works of the flesh”. Most ALL of our carnal activities ARE sin and ARE evil when we realize the spiritual Truth that our lives ARE enmeshed in matters of self which ARE contrary to the “the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21) as the Master frames this for us. The whole idea that we should “Walk in the Spirit” requires our Repentance as the idea of such a walk should be understood as our: habitual conduct. This Vincent shows us saying: Walk [περιπατειτε]. Frequent in a metaphorical sense for habitual conduct and never by Paul in the literal sense4.
Paul tells us of “the works of the flesh” that “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” and here we should remember that the word ideas most often represent the normal carnal activities of men. From the idea of fornication to the idea that IS rendered as sedition, the ideas ARE NOT as depicted in the doctrines of men but rather represent the carnal thoughts and ideas of men in this world. This IS understandably a difficult idea to embrace but it DOES remain a Truth; fornication IS NOT ONLY the sexual encounter one may have, it IS also our looking away from the Lord to whom we ARE eternally bound and focusing on the self and the things of the self instead. Similarly the essence of the idea of sedition IS NOT ONLY our activities against the established rule in religion or politics; it IS, from a spiritual perspective, our disunion and our divisions as we each stake out our chosen positions without regard to the One Truth. Here we should see that the Truth IS God’s words and that men ofttimes choose another path which IS then disrupted by yet another. So then, they that DO cause disunion and division, despite their motivation, ARE embracing “the works of the flesh” and those that follow them into disunion and division ARE similarly committing the same offense. Similarly ALL who place the carnal and the mundane above the words of the Lord, above honoring His precepts ARE those that ARE fornicating and we should understand that this covers ALL men including those that believe that they ARE saved by their doctrinal allegiances. It IS to our understanding of this that we read again Jesus’ words saying “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).
In the Master’s words here we should clearly see that the Way to the Kingdom IS through keeping His words and the framing of this to say “he that doeth the will of my Father” can be seen as a way to invite ALL men in and out of Christianity. And such IS the reality of “the fruit of the Spirit“: those that have this fruit will express it and it IS in one’s expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” that we ARE DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“. Many focus upon the ideas of “the works of the flesh” according to their carnal understanding of the words that Paul uses and the varying translations of his words but this IS NOT the way that these ideas should be seen. As we have discussed most ALL of the words that lend to sexual ideas ARE understood that way doctrinally while the deeper ideas of those same words IS missed. It IS these deeper ideas that lead us to the reality that “the works of the flesh” ARE NOT ONLY the gross behaviors of men. The words ARE the reality of sin and of evil rightly understood as ALL that IS contrary to “the will of my Father which is in heaven“. Similarly the ideas embodied in Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit” ARE understood ONLY according to the carnal translations and interpretations that have been established by the church and there IS NO more egregious error that that which IS placed upon the highest human ideal which IS agape. The clarification of this idea that the “the fruit of the Spirit” IS indeed comprised of spiritual values communicated to the personality by the Soul, the Christ Within, comes from Paul’s words that follow, words that ARE entirely ignored by most ALL of the church. The apostle tells us “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. Here we should see that it IS ONLY those the keep His words or by measure strive to DO so that can consider themselves as Christ’s but this has NOT stopped the doctrinal thinker from making that claim without Truly striving toward that goal. Perhaps the problem IS again the interpretation of the words that Paul uses to express his spiritual ideas.
The idea of lust has been discussed in our blogposts from the beginning; the Greek word IS epithymia which IS defined by the lexicon as: desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust1 but the ONLY doctrinal ideas that come from this ARE desire for what is forbidden, lust. The ideas of desire, craving and longing ARE NOT used in terms of lust as this word has been given specific definitions by much of the church. These specific definitions have trickled down into the common understanding of the word which our dictionary defines as: intense sexual desire or appetite; uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness*. Strong’s defines epithymia saying it IS: a longing (especially for what is forbidden):—concupiscence, desire, lust (after)9a but the understanding of the word has been without the idea of especially for as the word IS seen ONLY in terms of the forbidden. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines lust in much the same way; while including some of the ideas of desire they also focus upon the sexual. They tell us that lust IS: Longing desire; eagerness to possess or enjoy; as the lust of gain; Concupiscence; carnal appetite; unlawful desire of carnal pleasure. Romans 1. 2Peter 2; Evil propensity; depraved affections and desires. James 1. Ps. 811. The inclusion of bible references in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary IS a common practice and, of course such references ARE based upon the author’s own doctrinal ideas. Webster’s cites James in his definition of Evil propensity; depraved affections and desires but IS this the real idea behind James’ words? James IS telling us of sin saying “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” (James 1:14-15) and it IS the very misconception of sin that brings them to their conclusion of depravity. So long as men see sin and evil as ONLY the grossest of human behaviors, the ideas of desire and lust will be lost to them. It IS our desires that tempt us to DO ALL sorts of things and so many things DO draw men away from the True pursuit of the things of God; this IS the apostle’s subject. The whole idea of death as James presents it here IS in regard to our spiritual death or, better, the death of our spiritual goals. To follow in the Path of sin IS to remain “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2) to remain in the vanity to which ALL ARE subjected (Romans 8:20) by their birth into this world. Our point here IS to show the depth of misconception regarding the simplest of words; words like desire and lust and words like sin and evil. The world has been made to see these ideas through the doctrinal ideas of men of which the Master tells us “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7).
Contrary to Paul’s words on the “the works of the flesh”, that those the live by these “shall not inherit the kingdom of God“, ARE his words that follow his list of “the fruit of the Spirit“. It IS in our expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” that we ARE able to “inherit the kingdom of God“. Paul tells us that to “inherit the kingdom of God“, to be Christ’s as He frames this, one must “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. We should understand here that this IS DONE by our expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” as our innate spiritual impulses overwhelm our carnal nature. Peter shows us a similar idea saying “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). If we can see that these “exceeding great and precious promises” ARE our innate spiritual impulses emanating from our Souls, our Christ Within, we can then see the Path to becoming “partakers of the divine nature” which IS to “inherit the kingdom of God“. Paul ends his words here with an admonition saying “if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” and here again we seem to have somewhat of a language problem. These ARE NOT separable, living “in the Spirit” and walking “in the Spirit” ARE essentially the same thing and while we ARE unclear as to why Paul’s words ARE phrased this way, we can likely assume that he IS writing to some who proclaim that they DO “live in the Spirit” without DOING the corresponding “walk in the Spirit“.
The Apostles’ words regarding the idea of lust have been long lost; they have been misplaced for centuries as men have ever sought to protect their ability to live as men. The idea has been attributed most ONLY to desire for what is forbidden as the lexicon shows us above and as Strong’s emphasizes saying that epithymia IS desire especially for what is forbidden. We should understand here that this idea of forbidden IS also regarded most always in terms of the sexual behaviors of men and NOT in the more general idea of ‘strong‘ desires. The proper idea IS provided us by the apostles through such sayings that tell us that in order to become “partakers of the divine nature” we must have escaped from “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. Surely “the corruption that is in the world” IS NOT centered around sexual matters, such corruption has its heart in the totality of men’s selfish nature which DOES ever go against the reality of the Great Commandments of the Lord. There IS a strong link between our lusts, our strong desires for the things of the self, sexual desires included, and idolatry as listed by Paul among “the works of the flesh”, an idolatry that puts such things that we strongly desire at the forefront of our consciousness. Two things we should remember here: first Paul tells us elsewhere that we must “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). In these words we should see the same idea as above where the apostle tells us that to be Christ’s one must have “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. Can we see here the relationships between covetousness and idolatry and our strong desires or lusts? Secondly we go to the Master who tells us clearly that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21); these words sum up Paul’s ideas under that banner of treasure. This treasure IS NOT only worldly riches but whatsoever has become the object of our idolatry, whatsoever we lust after and whatsoever we covet; these ARE the links to epithymia that should be seen through the message of the gospels.
Finally we go to James words on lust. James IS the most blunt New Testament writer whose words ofttimes carry the conviction that men need in order to see their True plight. While this IS so, most seem to ignore his words and this likely because of the way that the apostle’s words DO cut to the heart of our spiritual status in this world. James reflects strongly on the way that men may believe that they ARE spiritual, that they DO “Walk in the Spirit” when the reality for most IS that they ARE yet living in their vanity. Paul also reflects on this idea saying of himself that “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” (Romans 7:14-15). What Paul IS showing us IS the struggle of everyman who IS striving to crucify “the flesh with the affections and lusts“; to be sure, Paul’s problem IS NOT a sexual one. James tells us two things of importance regarding our desires and our lusts; first he shows us the way that our desires lead us according to our emotional state saying: “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….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” (James 1:12, 14-15). Later in his epistle James shows us the futility of our desires for worldly things be they riches, status or any other human attraction. The apostle tells us:
“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God“
James 1:1-4
While James includes in his words the idea polemos which IS rendered as wars, wars IS NOT his primary idea; Thayer’s confirms this by telling us that the idea of polemos in this verse IS: a dispute, strife, quarrel9 and NOT warfare as this IS generally understood. And while the causes of actual warfare can be seen in the idea of “lusts that war in your members“, the message to the reader IS more in regard to one’s interpersonal relationships as an individual in this world. John Gill has an interesting take on James’ idea saying that such wars: are to be understood, not of public and national wars, such as might be between the Jews and other nations at this time8 as he offers us several reasons for his view. He then goes into a rant on the ways of men in a rather odd way saying the idea IS: lawsuits, commenced before Heathen magistrates, by the rich, to the oppression of the poor; see ( James 2:6 ) though it seems best of all to interpret them of those stirs and bustlings, strifes, contentions, and quarrels, about honours and riches; endeavouring to get them by unlawful methods, at least at the expense of their own peace, and that of others8. Indeed there may be instances of this in the world but this IS NOT James’ general ideas as he speaks to the idea of “wars and fightings among you“; James’ point IS more to the idea of the causation of strife being the desires which drive men whose focus IS on the self and the things of the self in this world. Mr. Gill DOES get to this against the next part of the apostle’s words as he tells us the hence saying that the cause IS: pride, envy, covetousness, ambition which, like so many soldiers, are stationed and quartered in the members of the body, and war against the soul8. Others render James’ ideas without reference to wars which idea can mislead the readers forming of their own ideas regarding the apostle’s message. The gist of James’ message here IS simply that it IS our desires and lusts for ALL things human that propel us into the “wars and fightings among you“; such IS the power of lust. James IS showing us the futility of this Life in vanity as he explains that what we Truly want, what we Truly should lust after, we “cannot obtain“. Such True lusts ARE spiritual but most ALL men ARE carnal and “sold under sin” as Paul tells us above. This same idea IS offered by Paul to the Corinthians saying “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3).
James’ main point develops as he continues to show us the effects of our desires and lusts against the reality of our True desires as Souls in form in this Earth, desires that we DO NOT recognize easily. He shows us this through his words on our relationship to this Earth, how that our focus upon the self and the things of the self in this world make us at “enmity with God“. He shows us this through his words on the reality of asking, of ‘prayer’ if you will, as he shows us that our ‘prayers’ ARE NOT answered because our desires ARE Earthly; this he tells us in saying that “ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts“. The church has never offered a contrast between the things that ARE asked in ‘prayer’ that ARE to be consumed “upon your lusts” and those things that ARE spiritual. In the previous chapter James tells us what we should be seeking as he shows us that it IS Wisdom that we should seek. The apostle tells us “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,[h] and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). This he compares with the things that men desire of the world, worldly wisdom if you will, saying that “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:15). It is these ideas that we should conflate with the apostle’s words from the beginning of his epistle as he tells us that “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 1:17).
Understanding that the whole of the bible IS written in parabolic terms which aligns with the Master’s intent which He shows in such sayings as “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). We must understand here that these words ARE spoken to His disciples as He offers a contrast between those whose focus IS upon the Lord, disciples and by measure those that strive to be such, and those who ARE focused upon the self. This latter group IS of course “them that are without“, those that continue to live in their vanity, in their “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20, 21). It IS because of the parabolic nature of the Master’s words as well as the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles that it IS important to try to see past the carnal ideas embedded in their words and to try to link the various spiritual ideas together. Here we should try to see that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” and has naught to DO with any worldly ‘gift‘ that we would want or receive; worldly ‘gifts‘ ARE NOT from above, they ARE in essence “not from above, but is are earthly, sensual, devilish“. The idea of ‘gifts‘ as we use it here should be understood as a combination of ALL that we receive carnally and especially those carnal things for which we ‘pray’; those things which we desire so that we may “consume it upon your lusts“. In the end we should try to see that it IS such things that we desire for the self in this world that, whether in ‘prayer’ or not, create that state where we ARE “a friend of the world” and thereby “the enemy of God“. Again, these ideas should NOT be understood ONLY in their carnal context; men generally ARE NOT “the enemy of God“. It IS the more subtle ideas that the apostle references, ideas that ARE generally unseen in one’s own Life. Take for instance the average ‘religious’ person who spends the majority of his time in pursuit of those things that satisfy the flesh and who devotes some measure of time to doctrinal religious ideals. Such persons may believe that they ARE in the Will of God, but James tells us that they ARE NOT Truly so, that they ARE in fact at “enmity with God” as they seek out the benefits of “the friendship of the world“. This IS the plight of most ALL men and, to be sure, most ALL ARE unaware of their plight because their doctrines teach them differently; many doctrinal approaches teach them that their success in this world IS their “perfect gift“. Of course there ARE many millions of persons who DO NOT ever realize such success in this world and for them the idea may be presented as that they ARE NOT doctrinally religious or that their faith IS NOT strong enough to prevail against the happenstance of Life in this world. James however shows us the reality, he shows us that such persons “ask amiss“, that their desires for earthly gain and carnal rewards ARE NOT what should be sought after. This IS a complex human problem when viewed from a spiritual perspective and while the reality of the Way, the Way of Wisdom, IS unhidden from us in scripture, it IS at the same time ONLY revealed to the True seeker who IS willing to pay the cost of discipleship. The first part of this cost IS clearly shown to us in 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 ALL of these points made by the Master ARE of importance in our journey on the Path to Truth and Love, the first outlines for us one of the main criteria for becoming His disciple and having access to the Truth based on our focus upon the things of God over the things of the self in this world. It IS this focus that IS of the utmost importance as it IS through this focus that we have revelation and realization of the Truth as Jesus promises. We should note that the criteria for ALL of the promises listed in our trifecta ARE the same. Although they may be worded differently the idea of ALL IS that we keep His words and regardless of how this IS framed, the meaning IS the same. We cite the clarity of the first part here because it goes to the heart of the matter that we ARE discussing, the matter of our focus and the results thereof. In discipleship we ARE perforce focused upon the things of God as the self takes on a secondary role in our lives in this world. It IS to the idea of focus upon the things of God that we read the Master’s words from Luke’s Gospel, words that ARE NOT accepted as a part of the Christian dialogue. The Master tells us clearly 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 these words and those that follow we have the more specific idea of what IS necessary to be His disciple and it IS unfortunate that the idea IS muddied by the common understanding of hate. Hate in this verse IS from the Greek word miseo which IS used in a variety of contexts. Strong’s tells us that the meaning of miseo IS: to detest (especially to persecute); by extension, to love less9a and it IS this idea of love less that should be understood here in this verse.
This same idea IS presented by the Apostle Matthew although his context IS not as complete as Luke’s. Matthew tells us that the Master says “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). It IS through these words that the idea of “to love less” becomes an important defining idea for miseo and although it IS rendered by most ALL bible versions as hate, there ARE a few that offer the idea of “to love less“. To be sure this IS a muddy idea as most ALL New Testament references to miseo involve ideas that can be more clearly seen in terms of the common idea of hate and it IS unfortunate that Vincent stays away from these verses in Matthew and Luke. For us the idea of Luke’s words IS clearly “to love less” as the Lord would never encourage men to hate anyone, especially those who ARE close and one’s “own life also“. Overall the idea in both verses IS in regard to discipleship; clearly in Luke and by reference in Matthew where the idea of “worthy of me” must be understood in similar terms. The Greek word axios which IS rendered as worthy IS defined by Strong’s as: deserving, comparable or suitable (as if drawing praise)9a; Thayer’s analysis of axios shows us the different effects of the word depending upon the context which: makes it plain of what one is said to be worthy9. Here, in Matthew’s version of the Master’s words, Thayer’s tells us that the idea of axios IS: worthy of one’s fellowship, and of the blessings connected with it9 and, to be sure, the blessing IS discipleship.
The Good News Translation of the bible frames Jesus’ words according to Luke saying “Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well” (Luke 14:26). This IS a sensible rendering considering the intent of the Master’s words and the framing of them in Matthew’s Gospel. This IS also the way that the Master’s words in these sayings should be understood; from the perspective of focus it IS important to understand that one’s focus CAN NOT be upon the Lord and the things of God if one IS also focused upon the mundane ideas as “father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life“. While the idea of discipleship includes our singlemindedness, this DOES NOT mean that we should forget about our familial relationships; it DOES mean however that such relationships should be understood as secondary to our focus upon the things of God. This should bring to mind the Great Commandment that tells us “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). It IS through this that we can see the validity of the criteria for discipleship as we have noted above. Finally, there IS one last criteria and it IS this one that IS perhaps the most burdensome on the psyche of men. The Lord tells us “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 16:33). We will begin with this idea of forsaking in the next post.
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 |
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 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
- * 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
