ON LOVE; PART CMLXXXV

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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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).

In our last essay we discussed the Apostle Paul’s intent in the use of the Greek word komos which IS rendered as revelling and as rioting by the King James Translators. We noted how that both the lexicon and Vincent show us this idea of komos in reference to a specific nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken and frolicsome fellows ² as the lexicon frames this idea which Vincent paints with more religious and sexual overtones ⁴. In this context it IS difficult to see what it IS that Paul IS proposing to the reader who IS NOT likely to participate in such fare, especially as this IS attributed by both to be: in honour of Bacchus or some other deity ². In the context of the way that we see the apostle’s intent in the rest of this list of “the works of the flesh“, a list that IS written to men who have largely overcome the baser behaviors which can be imagined from the common understanding of komos, we should be able to see how that this word IS used in regard to the excitement and the joy that IS a part of this or any view of revelry.

Vincent tells us that in the three times that this word IS used that it IS coupled with drunkenness ⁴ and when we can see this idea of methe in its religious overtones, we can then see the better idea in Paul’s use of komos. That they go together IS easy to see from most any perspective and here, in a religious way, we should see that the man who IS drunk on his own ideas of God and of salvation IS at the same time revelling in that state. This can be seen in many ways yet today as men express their religious excitement in church services around the world and attribute this to the Presence of the Holy Spirit. We should try to see this largely emotional experience in the words of the apostle who IS cautioning us against believing that this IS the Truth of His Presence while the reality for most IS that this IS a carnal affair. Not carnal from the perspective of the common ideas of “trespasses and sins” but in the idea of focus that should be gleaned from Paul’s words to the Ephesians saying “who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world” in which he DOES include himself. It IS this change from being “dead in trespasses and sins” to being “quickened….together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:1-2, 5) that IS the essence of Repentance that Jesus teaches us.

And again we ARE taken back the the words of the Apostle James who tells us that the man who Truly follows the Lord must “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). We should see here that this sense of deception IS in believing that one IS hearing God, that one has His Presence, while NOT being “doers of the word“. It IS this sense of deception that filters through the mind and the emotions as that joy and that excitement that IS Paul’s komos and IS his caution to the man who DOES NOT desire to live in the flesh or DO “the works of the flesh“. In the reality to the Presence of God in one’s Life we should see Jesus’ admonition to His disciples saying: “Behold , I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:19-20″). In this we should try to see the True demeanor of a man who has those things that ARE promised in the trifecta which we read again 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).

We should try to see how that the True demeanor of a disciple of the Lord, and by measure an aspirant, IS shown to us in the demeanor of Jesus and of His apostles and we have two painted pictures of this in Paul and in Peter. And this IS Paul’s message regarding methe and komos: In the True Presence of the Lord that comes in keeping His words, in the KNOWING of the Truth of Life that ARE men’s spiritual reality, and in the reality of the Kingdom of God here and NOW, there IS no carnal jubilation nor IS there an intoxicating spiritual state; there IS ONLY the KNOWING and the Peace of the Presence of God. This IS the humble existence of the man who Truly seeks God. And this IS the reality of Paul’s words, a reality that we can more clearly see when we contrast the “the works of the flesh” against “the fruit of the Spirit” which we read again in the apostle’s words to the Galatians:

“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” (Galatians  5:17-24).

In the contrast between these lists of words we should see more than the words and their common interpretations. As we have been discussing, in the apostle’s list of “the works of the flesh“, there ARE deeper and more significant meanings behind the Greek words and this same IS True with this next list of “the fruit of the Spirit“. But more; there IS fundamental difference in the actions of these ideas in the Life of the man in this world and it IS this that we should try to see at the heart of the apostles message. The “the works of the flesh” ARE just that: these ARE the DOINGS of the man based in the carnal mind and emotions, these ARE the DOINGS of the man for the self and the benefit of the self IS the paramount motivator.

We should try to see that this IS True in the Life of everyman who IS NOT in accord with the Master’s words and this IS regardless of his own view of himself on a spiritual level….this IS regardless of the degree of methe and komos that afflicts a man. It IS ONLY in the Truth of Repentance, as that change of focus away from the self and onto the things of God, that this dynamic changes. And it IS in this sense of Repentance that men can begin to strive toward the fullness of keeping His words and begin to see the reality of the Presence of God which IS then expressed as the “the fruit of the Spirit” toward ALL others according to the Truth of Jesus’ words. ALL else can be found in that deception which the Apostle James shows us above, a deception that can be seen as founded in Paul’s sense of methe and komos as we have been discussing them.

To the practicing Christian this idea IS harsh and unacceptable but the reality IS in Jesus own words; words which doctrines choose to explain away as they cite Paul’s words on grace and faith and hold these as superseding the Master’s own Truths. It IS only when we can see and understand that most ALL of the words of the apostles ARE intended ONLY to clarify and to amplify the precepts given us by the Master, that we can Truly understand the reality of the New Testament as our guide and example of Life as it IS intended to be: as the spiritual man, the Soul, expressing “the fruit of the Spirit” in his Life in this world.

In this we should try to see how that this third segment of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” IS in regard to the condition of one’s own thoughts and attitudes in Life, that these should not be in the deception of methe and komos but in the reality of Truth and that Peace that comes in KNOWING that Truth. It is this KNOWING that one IS able to express the “the fruit of the Spirit“. In the three segments that we have in Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“, segments that ARE NOT seen in the various translations of the bible which ARE, for the most part, arranged according to the work of a few men, we have the greater understanding of Paul’s intent.  It IS this work that has divided the apostle’s thoughts according to the way that they ARE commonly understood and there ARE several places over the course of our posts where we disagree with these divisions.

In many of these differences from the accepted norm we have the help of Vincent while in others, like in these three segments of Paul’s words, we have our own ideas which ARE found also in the Weymouth Bible of 1903. While we DO NOT KNOW why Mr. Weymouth chose to restructure these verses or if there ARE other changes that he made, he DOES structure these verses as we DO. His ideas however ARE along the lines of the common understanding of Paul’s words as he renders methe as hard drinking and komos as riotous feasting. Paul says that they “that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God“ and here we can much easier envision the apostle’s intent in using methe and komos as these relate to the condition of one’s own thoughts and attitudes in Life than we can as the drunkenness and revelling of the common understanding.

We should try to understand here how that this relates to the Master’s own words as He speaks against the scribes and the Pharisees regarding their way of “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7). Here Jesus tells us of the insignificance of what one puts into the body as He emphasizes the idea that it IS what comes out of the man, out of his heart, that Truly matters. And there need not be anything specifically evil regarding what goes in or what goes out according to His words which we read from the Apostle Mark saying: “Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear , let him hear” (Mark 7:14-16). The Apostle Matthew tells us Jesus’ words as “Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man” (Matthew 15:10-11).

We should remember that the context of these words from Jesus IS in regard to “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” and it IS here that we should understand the idea of methe as the affliction of the scribe and the Pharisee, an affliction of deception, of illusion and of glamour, the causes them to NOT ONLY believe their own view of Truth but to stand fast in it. This IS methe to the Jews and this IS the same affliction today for ALL who place their doctrines first….ahead of the reality of Jesus’ own words. And here we should see komos in much the same way as it works together with methe and functions as the glamour to the illusion, as the sense of religious excitement that IS founded in that methe where a man IS overcome with a religious sense that distorts reality.

There IS NO easy way to say these things and while this ALL may seem a harsh criticism against the religious doctrines and the men who hold them, we must ever understand that this sense of illusion and glamour, that IS at the heart of ALL Paul’s ideas on “the works of the flesh“, IS the common ailment under which most ALL men suffer. The reality of the apostle’s words in our selection ARE intended as a caution to the disciple and the aspirant by showing him the peril and that he must fight against these afflictions of the flesh, afflictions that keep a man from the reality of the spiritual Truths that ARE the Great Commandments and which ARE the reality of the Master’s words.

And so we repeat again our three segments of “the works of the flesh“:

• First there IS those thoughts and attitudes that ARE contrary to the first of the Great Commandments which clearly tells us that “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“
• Second there ARE those thoughts, attitudes and actions which ARE contrary to the second of the Great Commandments which clearly tells us that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” which Jesus clarifies for us in the Golden Rule which IS a great KEY to Truth saying “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“.
• Third we have those thoughts and attitudes that condition the man in this world, those thoughts and attitudes that seem to him to be the Truth based in his own sense of delusion. It IS this condition that allows a man to see himself on the positive side of the Master’s Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders; as a man who IS keeping His words whilst he IS NOT but IS ONLY keeping his doctrine.

These ARE the crux of the apostle’s caution to disciples and aspirants; these ARE those realities of which Paul says that they “that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God“.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of  God	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

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse these forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.

Mantram of Unification

The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.

The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888