ON LOVE; PART MCIII
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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 have been spending much time on the words of the Apostle Paul, words that have taken their place as the foundation of so much of Christian doctrine. We have been discussing the apostle’s words from the perspective of the way that they have been taken out of context and then misconstrued, misinterpreted and misapplied by the doctrinal authorities who have seen it more important to fulfill their own agenda than to offer the deeper Truths of the Master’s words. We should note here that much of this IS DONE with ‘righteous’ motives; that IS that those who built the doctrinal foundations and those who built upon them have convinced themselves of the rightness of their approach without ever seeing that this IS just that….their approach.
This IS ever a function of the vanity, which IS Life in this world, of which Paul tells us that ALL were “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20). It IS this sense of vanity which IS explained to us from the Greek word mataiotes by Vincent who tells us that: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. It IS this sense of vanity that we call the illusion and the glamour that afflicts most ALL men in this world causing them to NOT see the Truth over their own personal and ofttimes selfish interests. Regardless of what we call this state of the human family, the idea IS the same; it IS a human affliction that keeps men from seeing the reality of Life until such time as they begin to seek the Truth and heed the call to the Good, the Beautiful and the True that IS the prompting of one’s own Soul.
Paul captures this sense of vanity in many of the ideas that he presents to us in his epistles but his point IS most often ignored because those who seek to interpret his words according to their doctrines ARE yet entrapped in this same sense of vanity. Paul shows us this in his saying that “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17-19).
Again, we should see the idea of gentiles as other men….the men of the world at large. And we should remember that the apostle IS speaking to men who have gained some measure of Truth, men who ARE striving to keep the Master’s words through the teaching they have received from Paul and his surrogates. This reality can be easily seen in the the words of the introductions to most ALL of his epistles; these greetings however go largely unnoticed by the doctrinal thinker who believes ALL IS written to and about him without ever understanding that he DOES NOT Truly fit into Paul’s words. The apostle’s warning and his caution IS to them, to those who have heeded his gospel and NOT “another gospel“, and it reflects on the way of ALL men who DO NOT see the Truth of Jesus’ words nor understand the depth of His teaching on Love.
But doctrinal thinkers DO NOT put themselves into the apostle’s words to the Ephesians nor into any of the negativity that Paul shows us regarding the DOINGS of men in this world. Doctrines and their followers believe that the apostle’s words apply to the next person, the person who IS NOT a ‘believer’ as they ARE; they DO NOT see themselves walking “in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart“. And, perhaps to support their doctrinal views of salvation, they have relegated much of the apostle’s words to be in regard to sex, as IS done again here, and to the grossest of human endeavors. Here they see the idea pleonexia, which IS rendered as greediness, doctrinally applied ONLY to the very greedy and the very covetous and never to one’s own sense of self.
John Gill shows us the doctrinal perspective of Paul’s use of pleonexia as he tells us that such a man IS: being like a covetous man, never satisfied with sinning, but always craving more sinful lusts and pleasures 8. Mr Gill DOES NOT show us that covetousness and some degree of greed ARE a basic human trait as men ever seek for themselves and for their families the pleasures of Life through their own focus upon the self in the world. Mr. Gill DOES NOT see that these ideas ARE Paul’s caution to those to whom his epistle IS addressed: “to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus” and he along with most ALL doctrinally oriented people see themselves in this role.
We have discussed the other words that the apostle uses here in many essays as our examples of the doctrinal interpretations that ARE NOT in accord with the Truth nor with the intent of the writers. Here Paul uses aselgeia and akatharsia and both ARE words that we have discussed in some detail. Again, in aselgeia we should try to see the depth of the idea that Paul IS presenting to these Ephesians as he cautions them against every variety of lustful ideas which ARE ideas that ARE of the self and the things of the self and which IS the way of “other Gentiles“; the way of other men who ARE NOT focused upon the Lord but who live “in the vanity of their mind“. Aselgeia IS essentially the thoughts and the attitudes of men that ARE contrary to Jesus’ own words that define for us the dichotomy between the spiritual and the carnal and that show us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).
And we should see the idea of akatharsia in a similar manner as this word builds upon the apostle’s warning in aselgeia. In aselgeia we see the desires for the things of the world and the thoughts and the attitude that lead men to such lust and covetousness, while in akatharsia we have the activity of living such a Life. In akatharsia we have the activity which the lexicon defines the word as: the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living 2. That doctrines DO NOT see this activity and its attendant thoughts and attitudes as sin IS unfortunate; and that the so called prosperity gospels actually teach this as the way that man IS intended to live IS a aberration of the Master’s Truths and ARE the far extreme of Paul’s caution against “another gospel“.
Against the backdrop of the reality of these ideas of akatharsia and aselgeia we have the apostle’s use of the Greek word pleonexia which IS rendered as greediness here and generally as covetousness. This rendering of greediness IS likely used to avoid a duplication of ideas with aselgeia and here we should look again to the lexicon which shows us how that pleonexia compounds the ideas of the other words; the lexicon defines this as the: desire to have more 2. Vincent also gives us this idea of the compounding of the previous apostle’s intent in the previous words saying of “with greediness” that: The noun commonly rendered covetousness: in an eager grasping after more and more uncleanness. Not with, but in, as the state of mind in which they wrought evil . If we can look past the doctrinal slant here we can more clearly see the idea behind pleonexia and better understand the apostle’s caution and his warning “to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus“.
Within the selection from Ephesians that shows our point that the doctrinally oriented man DOES NOT see himself in the ideas that Paul IS cautioning against ARE yet more words that ARE misunderstood and misapplied and in this we should see the further complication of the problem, a problem that will NOT be solved until some generation of men IS able to see past their doctrines. Today we have many who speak against the beliefs of other denominations but few, if any, who speak against the ideas that separate most ALL from the Truth that the Master brings and which IS amplified and clarified by His apostles.
There ARE few if any that can see the idea of Love, of agape, as the singular weapon and as the object of Paul’s words saying: “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Nor do any see their own strong holds, their own imaginations nor their own exalted ideas of Truth which they have built through their doctrines.
And perhaps we can find the reality of Paul’s idea of “another gospel” today in these words from his Epistle to the Romans that we have been discussing. Here the reality of Love IS shown to us as the reality of the Way and along with his admonition IS the message that those who DO NOT see this Truth of agape ARE among those who ARE NOT yet “awake out of sleep“. This IS a sleep that we should try to see as the lives of the “other Gentiles” who ARE ALL other men that ARE NOT Truly striving to keep His words. Here we can equate the ideas of those who ARE yet asleep, yet living in “the works of darkness“, with those who yet “walk, in the vanity of their mind“. We read the apostle’s words again saying:
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:10-14).
As we leave our study of these words from the apostle we should again try to see that the ideas that he presents as “the works of darkness” ARE but the normal and carnal tendencies of men which should be fought off by the aspirant and the disciple as these too ARE among those thoughts and attitudes of which Paul tells us “that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). Again these ARE NOT those gross human behaviors nor those sexual sins of which the church condemns but a small part; these ARE ALL thoughts and attitudes that ARE contrary to His words and to the ideals of the Great Commandments and they ARE, as lists, a caution and a warning that men DO need to keep His words which preclude the self-serving ideas that these words Truly represent. These “works of darkness” and his list of “the works of the flesh” ARE but the ways of men who DO NOT see the reality of the trifecta which we repeat here again:
- “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 doctrines have largely departed from the teaching of the Master that ARE the essence of His message and the trifecta ARE the cause and the effect of what Paul call for us “another gospel“. Paul tells us this of the Truth: “I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). Here we should see that any and ALL thoughts and ideas that can be considered as being by “the revelation of Jesus Christ” must be in accord with His words which ARE the trifecta and ARE the Great Commandments that we list again at the top of our essay.
This IS our segue then into our next area of discussion….the mind. There IS a carnal mind and there IS a spiritual mind and these ideas CAN NOT be disputed scripturally as Paul does speak on each of these. It IS however difficult to separate the mind into pieces as, to the man in this world, he has but one mind and this idea IS an essential Truth. How then can we speak of a carnal mind and a spiritual mind as though these ARE separate entities? We can DO so based on the thoughts and the attitudes that occupy the one mind that a man has and how that it IS the focus of these thoughts and attitudes that make a man either a carnal creature or an aspirant and a disciple.
Of course these ideas ARE found in the fullness of being one or the other, carnal or spiritual, but this IS NOT the Life of everyman; the Life of a man is an admixture of both of these as he IS essentially a spiritual entity living for a time in a carnal body and world and using the one mind to express the value of his focus. While our new topic will be the mind and the duality of it, the underlying topic IS our focus and this IS a word and a concept that we have long employed to show the direction of everyman. It IS this same duality that the Master presents to us in so many of His sayings and the same duality that we should try to see in our selection from Paul’s writings to the Corinthians which we repeat again:
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him” (2 Corinthians 5:1-9).
While many see these words in relation to being in this body or NOT and see the whole of the apostle’s message in relation to the death of the body, the deeper ideas here ARE of focus and of the direction of the mind. Can we see how that a mind that IS “at home in the body” has its focus upon the things of the self while the mind that IS “present with the Lord” has its focus upon the things of God. And, more importantly, can we see how that this sense of focus IS what everyman will serve and that Paul’s ideas here ARE an extension of Jesus’ words saying “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also“.
As we proceed here we should keep in mind two things; first that the ideas of one or the other ARE found in the fullness of one’s focus upon the one or the other, the carnal or the spiritual, and second that the vast majority of men ARE bound in this arena of Life where from moment to moment their focus can change and shift and here perhaps we must look to the preponderance of the focus of one’s Life as a guide.
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
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
