IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1469

ON LOVE; PART MCVIII

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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 the last essay we continued our discussion on the mind of man with some ideas on the way that most ALL men in this world DO operate in the carnal mind. And while there ARE many who DO believe that they ARE operating in the Spirit based in their doctrinal view of Life, most ALL of these ARE covered under the harsh reality of the Apostle James’ words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). This sense of deception IS however a broad stroke assessment of the state of men and we should see in this the reality of the Apostle Paul’s words on vanity, on the illusion and the glamour that plagues our planet.

Paul tells us that ALL ARE “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20) and while some may see in these words the so-called ‘fall of man’, the reality IS that this state IS our reality. Beyond the Christian ideas of Adam and Eve and the serpent we have the reality of Souls, of the spiritual entities which we ARE, taking form in this world in a: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴  which IS Vincent’s defining idea for the Greek word mataiotes which IS rendered as vanity. This vanity IS the illusion and the glamour in which men live; this vanity IS that which feeds James’ reality of deception.

Now we must remember and understand here that while most ALL men ARE yet trapped in this “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21) as Paul frames it, there ARE many who have some measure of the Light of the Soul in their lives. Here we should try to see that despite the doctrinal diversions in which they live, there IS still the Light of Love and a grasp for the reality of “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) which IS expressed in some measure. This expression IS the goal of humanity and it IS this expression that will overcome the divisions and the factions that doctrines DO create. We must understand here as well that NO ONE Truly KNOWS the heart of another; one can ONLY Truly KNOW himself and measure himself; we DO however have a guide that IS offered us by the Master who tells “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

This KNOWING however must be judged according to the Master’s words and NOT according to the words of men. The expression of the fullness of the “the fruit of the Spirit” comes to the man who DOES keep His words and in this fullness one would see Christ. In the trifecta we read that to keep His words, to continue in them as Jesus tells us, one will KNOW the Truth and Truly be His disciple. This IS rather clearly stated yet men believe that they DO have such Truth without DOING, without keeping His words, and, despite James words above, they DO NOT realize their deception.

In the trifecta we see a defining quality of the disciple and in another of Jesus’ sayings we see the relationship of the disciple to the expression of “the fruit of the Spirit“. The Master tells us that “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8). Without getting into the meaning of glorifying the Father, we have a rather clear idea here of the relationship between being the disciple, keeping His words, and bearing “much fruit” and, in ALL of this we should be able to glimpse some idea of how one can “know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).

And just as one can see through the expression of men that they DO or DO NOT express some measure of “the fruit of the Spirit” so others can see the same in us. But this list IS NOT to be seen as an either or list, that one can have some qualities and NOT others. We should rather see this list as the entirety of the Way of the man who bears fruit….that he expresses some measure of ALL of these fruits. We should remember also that these fruits ARE NOT to be viewed in carnal terms and ideas but with the spiritual Truths that these present….and this discernment begins with agape, with Love, according to the second part of the Great Commandments and according to the apostle’s words that show us how that one’s expression of agape IS one’s keeping of ALL the law and ALL of Jesus’ words.

In In the Words of Jesus part 1426 we discuss the individual words that ARE Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit” in terms of the Apostle Stephen and how that his expression IS the reality of Paul’s intent in giving us this list. These Greek words ARE NOT intended to be translated and rendered into simple human ideas of virtue but these ARE to be one’s expression of the spiritual ideas that the Greek words represent. We did spend much time and many words on the deeper meanings of the words of this list and the apostle’s list of “the works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19). While much of our time has been spent showing that the translations and the doctrinal understanding of the negative words IS ofttimes wholly wrong and arbitrary, we should try to see that the renderings and understanding of the positive words fail also; they fail to carry the True meanings and they fail to see the apostle’s intent.

The primary example of this IS always the common understanding of the word agape, that this IS Love understood in emotional and mental terms which ARE ever carnal terms. One CAN NOT Love another without True respect for that person as a fellow traveller on the same road upon which we tread. One CAN NOT Love another without seeing and understanding his plight in overcoming the nurturing and the indoctrination that he has endured and understanding as well that the the carnal mind IS a strong deterrent to Truth.

One CAN NOT Love another without acceding to ALL men whatsoever he may claim for himself and one CAN NOT Truly Love another without recognizing that ALL men ARE ONE….ALL ARE One Humanity, living in One World and ALL have but ONE God who IS the Creator and the Maintainer of ALL. And One CAN NOT Love another without the realization that this ONENESS transcends ALL carnal attributes which Paul frames for us in the verbiage of his time saying that “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). That doctrines choose to interpret these words through their separatist and divisive Christian Only doctrine IS against the very Unity that the apostle’s words present.

Doctrines see ONLY the Christian in these ideas and NOT necessarily the Christian who IS “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” as they take credit for being renewed by way of their idea of being “born again“. It IS NOT necessary according to most doctrines to actually DO what the apostle cites; it IS NOT necessary to “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth” regardless of how Paul’s Greek words here are interpreted. It IS NOT necessary to “put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” nor IS it necessary to “Lie not one to another” (Colossians 3:10, 5, 8, 9).

But we read these words from Paul differently; we see a Unity that is ever True while we understand that “Christ is all, and in all” as the Soul, the Christ Within. And we see his words as written to the man who has “put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him“; words with show his having the realization of this renewal in that knowledge that IS revealed to him. From the perspective that ALL men ARE Souls that ARE living for a time in a physical body with its attendant personality, we should see this idea of Christ Within as being Universal….this IS the anointing that everyman has and which IS ONLY separated from the self in this world by the capability of a carnal and finite mind to see this Truth.

And perhaps this IS the basic problem in the doctrines of Christianity: that the word christos IS rendered in terms of the person of Jesus leading men to see that it IS Jesus and NOT the anointing that IS the realization of the man whose focus IS upon God and doctrinally upon ALL who believe that they ARE “born again“. This idea of anointing however IS a difficult thing to understand; from the perspective of the man in this world whose mind IS yet attached to the idea of himself in this world the Apostle John’s words DO say that he has this anointing in him as a man. And, in fact, he DOES but NOT in the simplicity that doctrines portray and NOT in regard to the doctrinal idea of being “born again” as the way to bring Jesus into one’s Life.

There IS more and a deeper Truth here which IS NOT the doctrinal view of Christ living within a man but IS rather that this anointing IS the essence of the Life of a man much as there IS an essence in whatsoever IS in the “alabaster box of very precious ointment” (Matthew 26:7) that the woman poured upon the Master’s head. If we could see the idea of the essence AS the True anointing and NOT the oil we could perhaps see the reality of men. It was NOT the ointment itself that was precious but it was those rare herbs with which the ointment IS infused; it IS NOT the ointment itself which was applied to the Master but the spikenard, as the Apostle Mark tells us, that makes the oil precious.

If we could see that the oil itself IS but the carrier of whatsoever it IS infused with, perhaps we can understand John’s meaning as he tells us “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” and then again that “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:20, 27). The body of the man then IS like the ointment as it carries the essence which the ointment IS intended to convey; it IS the Soul, the Christ Within that IS the essence of one’s Life and it IS this that we should see being conveyed through Paul’s words which we repeat again:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (Romans 12:1-3).

The entirety of these words can be seen in the example of the ointment that carries the essence; Paul tells us to “present your bodies a living sacrifice” and we should see this idea according to the following one. It IS in being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” that the essence, the Christ Within, IS conveyed to the world. Again words fail us in expressing the fullness of this idea and while conveyed IS a rather mechanical term, we can think of NO better way to put this idea of the essence and the carrier into spiritual terms. The ointment IS the means of conveying the anointing and the unction and we should remember that both of these ARE from the same Greek word.

If we can understand the ideas here; if we can see that “ye have an unction anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things” IS the reality of the Christ Within and see the idea that this anointing IS Soul which IS ever part and parcel of the Lord, then we can see a mystery that “have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 13:35). This IS that mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” and while Paul tells us that this IS “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (Colossians 1:27, 26), we should remember just who the saint can be.

The saint IS NOT the everyday doctrinal Christian nor IS the saint the man who has theoretical knowledge regarding the idea of the Soul; the saint IS the man who KNOWS the Truth through keeping His words and, by measure, the man who will strive to DO so. It IS ONLY in understanding the Truth of the Master’s message beyond the diluted framing that IS provided by doctrines that a man will strive. It IS ONLY in gaining some realization of Truth in the mind that one can begin to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind“; and this IS the realization which comes from the revelations that ARE the source of men’s awakening, the source of being able “to awake out of sleep” (Romans 13:11). And it IS the reality of the trifecta which paints for us the picture of it ALL; repeating the trifecta 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).

We continue here with what we began two posts back. From the rest of Paul’s writings that have become the twelfth chapter of Romans we have discussed the idea of prophecy from the Greek word propheteia and the word diakonia which IS rendered as ministry but which we should try to see in terms of service as this IS rendered by some. We DO NOT often use an entire chapter from any part of the Bible but here it seems important to cover ALL and gain a Truer perspective on the apostle’s words. Repeating the balance of the chapter we read:

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:4-21).

As we had discussed, the apostle’s ideas behind the first group of words here ARE ALL tied together under the admonition to DO these “according to the proportion of faith” and this we should interpret as: according to whatsoever measure of KNOWING the Truth has been one’s True realization. This IS True of prophecy which we understand ONLY as divinely inspired utterance or revelation ⁷ and of ministering which we should see as service that IS in accord with the spiritual ideas. Here we should understand the service rendered as service by the aspirant and the disciple. And this service should be seen in accord with the apostle’s previous words that tell us “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service“, and this under the idea that one “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith“. Understanding this we can see Paul’s ideas ARE ALL in the same context.

The next word here IS the Greek word didasko which IS rendered as teacheth and then didaskalia which IS rendered here as teaching but IS most often rendered as doctrine. The context here IS the activity of teaching and then what IS taught and if we can take nothing more from this in the context that this IS offered, we should try to see the apostle’s point as that one should NOT teach anything that IS NOT the founded Truth; that IS that one NOT teach anything that IS NOT Truly prophecy as we understand it and define it above. Can we see here how doctrines fail both then and now?

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 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