ON LOVE; PART MLIII
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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).
We ended the last essay with some comments about what IS called the Great Commission. It IS based in the doctrinal ideas of Jesus’ words that the whole missionary scene has evolved and it IS unfortunate that the main point of the Master’s words IS missed. The teaching that IS DONE is most ALL along doctrinal lines and, as in the doctrinal teaching at home, this teaching DOES NOT include the Truth of His words. Much as IS done at home, the missionary concern IS to bring people to a doctrinal version of Christ, to baptize them physically, and to be able to count those who ‘accept’ and ‘affirm’ the Lord, according to the Apostle Paul’s words, as saved. Little IS DONE to teach the Truth of Jesus’ words and much pleasure IS taken by those who can dissuade a person from his own nurturing and indoctrination and make him a ‘Christian’.
From our perspective the whole of the Master’s message here IS missed; first in the idea of nations instead of persons, and then in the way that the very idea of the disciple IS missed. The idea of nations IS easily clarified by the meaning of the Greek word ethnos which IS generally rendered as gentiles and which, according to Vincent, means: the whole human race 4. To this we should add the Apostle Mark’s version of this idea which IS rendered as “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15) and while there ARE some who believe these ARE NOT Jesus’ words, that the chapter ends at the eighth verse, these words ARE accepted by most doctrines and ARE included in most translations.
Our point here IS that since many in the missionary field see these words from Mark’s Gospel as Jesus’ words, the idea of nations over the idea of the whole human race should be moot but still remains as a strong point of reference in some denominations. This however IS an unimportant part as the reality of nations IS ever people and it IS people that can become disciples. We should see the whole point here in the reality of Jesus’ intent which IS that it IS disciples that can make disciples according to His defining words on this high calling. In the last post we cited the first part of the trifecta as a defining quality of discipleship and here today we should try to see how that this idea of “continue in my word” IS inclusive of the discipleship ideas from the Gospel of the Apostle Luke.
Luke shows us how that to be His disciple one must ‘hate‘ “his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also” and when we can see this in terms of to ‘Love less‘, we can then see its relationship to the first of Great Commandments. Luke shows us as well that to be a True disciple of the Lord one must “bear his cross, and come after me” which IS one’s commitment to Him and His words and he shows us as well that one CAN NOT be His disciple if he “forsaketh not all that he hath” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). Can we see here the depth of keeping His words?
This IS the Truth of the disciple and in the seeming difficulty of accomplishing this we should be able to see how that it IS ONLY the disciple who can DO such work and that such work must per force be according to the Master’s words and NOT according to the several doctrines of men. There should be NO competition here as we find in the way that there ARE Mormon missionaries, Jehovah Witness missionaries, Catholic missionaries plus a variety of Protestant missionaries of which several ARE taught and teach that the first three groups ARE NOT True Christians. Here, we begin our thoughts on the last word of Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit“, egkrateia, which IS rendered as temperance.
We should see first how that this sense of competition that IS fueled by the illusions and the glamour of Life in this world Is contrary to the idea of egkrateia which has the stronger meaning of self-control. It IS when we can see this idea of egkrateia in spiritual terms that we can understand how that this glamour IS an integral part of the factions and the divisions that ARE counted as “the works of the flesh” and see the relative futility of this aspect of missionary work. In the balance of Jesus words that have become that Great Commission there ARE two other points where the doctrinal view fails and the sense of glamour IS allowed to flourish….where there IS NO spiritual self-control. We read Jesus’ words again saying:
“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20).
In the glamour of denominational ‘belonging’ the Master’s ideas of teaching ARE lost. Each of the thousands of different denominations have their own view of His words and the words of His apostles. And it IS, from our perspective, ironic that those that seem closer to the Lord’s words ARE those that ARE viewed as heretical by the mainstream of Christian thought. Glamour IS however a rather universal problem that NOT only separates and divides but IS also a problem through which men reinforce their own doctrines as Truth, and with such vigor that the Master’s Truths ARE rarely seen. So it IS with His words on teaching….that this should be “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you“.
And this IS ever our point; His commands to His apostles and through them to us ARE clear and these ARE easily summarized in His own sayings that we should keep His words. And there IS NO clearer view of this than our trifecta which tells us first to keep His words and then shows us the reward for so DOING. Men’s reward, this grace of God, IS spiritual and NOT carnal but this idea IS missed by most ALL doctrines, especially those who maintain an emphasis on the Old Testament teachings to the Jews. The trifecta shows us that we can have the Truth, that we can KNOW the Truth which IS the reality of faith; that we can realize the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that the Master tells us IS “within you” (Luke 17:33); and that we can have His Presence, that “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“, as He tells us, which idea should be understood as one’s realization of that Presence. Repeating the trifecta 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).
That one CAN NOT see the idea of realization in the third part above but rather sees the doctrinal ideas of His Presence DOES NOT matter as the idea to be garnered here IS that this Presence comes to the man who “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“; a point that IS either missed or ignored by most ALL doctrinal presentations. And it IS this same idea that IS at the heart of the teaching according to the Great Commission….that men should be “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you” and NOT the doctrinal substitutes that ARE the creations of men.
We should try to see here how that it IS in the egkrateia, the self-control of the man who has some measure of the Truth, that he can express some measure of “the fruit of the Spirit“, and that one can and will teach the Truth of His words rather than the more convenient ideas of doctrine. It IS these ideas of doctrine that ARE founded in the illusions of Life that create the factions and the divisions through the glamour that IS engendered and which flourishes and becomes the central point of teaching. It IS against this flow of glamour and illusion that Paul writes in our selection from Galatians.
It IS when we can see how that the New Testament idea of lust IS the general desires of men and understand that the greatest of these desires, that they be men, IS based in the illusion, the vanity, of Life, that we can understand Paul’s ideas which show us that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other“. And with this we can understand the reality of egkrateia in his words saying “ye cannot do the things that ye would“. We should see his greater point that “if ye be led of the Spirit” a man will NOT desire to “do the things that ye would“; that this sense of self-control naturally overcomes the illusion and the glamour and the associated “lust of the flesh“. We read our selection from Galatians again:
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 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” (Galatians 5:17-24).
It IS in the way that egkrateia takes a man’s attention off of the carnal or, better, keeps a man’s attention on the spiritual, that we can see this as a “fruit of the spirit“. In expressing egkrateia the man will naturally refrain from carnal thoughts and attitudes and maintain a posture that IS beyond the illusion and the glamour. We should try to see here the steadfastness of the man who Truly strives to keep His words; it IS this man who will NOT be encumbered by anything that IS happening around him….he will maintain his spiritual view and continually express the other fruits which ARE ALL aspects of Love.
And this brings us to our final point on the Great Commission; a point that IS clear to the man who has some measure of KNOWING and of the Presence of God. This point IS baptism. The doctrinal idea of baptism varies among denominations and sects as DOES the method of baptizing. Among Catholics baptism IS a sacrament that IS taken as a small child and this sense of infant baptism IS NOT accepted by much of the Protestant part of Christianity. The Catholic ceremony is ofttimes an elaborate affair and the True meaning of this rite is rather lost in the ceremonial aspects. For Catholics baptism is necessary for the cleansing of the taint of original sin and baptism IS also deemed necessary for salvation. It IS the rite itself however that seems of importance; it IS a sacrament and it IS seen as a necessary part of attaining heaven although there appear to be several ways around this**.
For most of the non-Catholic denominations and sects there IS NO infant baptism and there ARE a variety of beliefs concerning the meaning, the method and the symbolism which ranges from declaring one’s faith, to being symbolic of Christ’s death and resurrection, to being an outward sign having accepted the Lord and being born again. There IS NO unified belief regarding baptism and there ARE some that believe that it IS NOT necessary and this lack of unity should be seen as a part of the created doctrinal differences that divide.
The greater point here IS that this idea of baptism, especially as this relates to the Great Commission, IS NOT founded in the ritual but in the effect of the ritual upon the man who Truly chooses to follow the Lord. This should be clarified in the way that the Master presents this to us. We should try to see how that this IS an integral part of making men disciples and that this IS NOT a separate idea in Jesus words saying “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit“. We should try to see how that it IS the baptizing, properly understood, that makes disciples and that the idea of into IS of the same effect as we read in Vincent’s words on believing in and believing on which IS written in the Greek as believing into.
There IS a deep significance in the Greek idea that IS rendered as name that IS missed by most ALL doctrinal approaches to God. Vincent gives us a glimpse of this significance as he tells us that “baptizing them into” IS: Expressing the sum of the qualities which mark the nature or character of a person. To believe in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of God, is to accept as true the revelation contained in that title 4. Mr. Vincent offers a much more lengthy and doctrinally oriented commentary on this in regard to our current verses from Matthew; the idea above IS from its use in the Prologue to the Gospel of the Apostle John.
What we should take from Vincent’s idea here IS that the name incorporates ALL, the sum of the qualities which mark the nature or character of a person, and in regard to the Trinity we should be able to see the totality of the Godhead. Can we see here how that this baptism IS into the very nature and character of God? To this we must then add the very idea of being baptized which IS NOT the ritual but the Truth of being immersed into the nature and the character of God. In the we should see that this IS NOT an idle event in Life but a momentous occasion of Repentance. We close here today by repeating the story of the pickle: for the Greek word baptizo which IS rendered as baptize we read:
Not to be confused with 911, bapto. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped'(bapto) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. e.g.Mark 16:16. ‘He that believes and is baptised shall be saved’. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!2
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 |
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 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.
We repeat here a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 2 from New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- ** Baptism. (2016, August 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
