ON LOVE; PART MCCIX
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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 blended the idea of the Apostle Paul, his words on the way that one’s expression of Love defines the validity of one’s presumed “spiritual gifts” and his words which define agape as the governing principle of spiritual reality, with the alternate reality created by men in their various doctrines which ignore the Truth of agape. We tried to show how that the religious doctrines of men DO NOT seem to grasp the True importance of Love as the Way and this IS much the same as the Master railed against 2000 years ago. While most may act with purpose in promoting their doctrinal approach because they Truly believe, there ARE others whose purpose IS the more selfish the and more self serving.
ALL however ARE yet trapped in the vanity, in the illusion and glamour of Life in this world. This IS their individual and corporate “bondage of corruption” and it IS this that even their leaders have in common with everyman. And this has been our point: until men can recognize their own True state of being, they will not KNOW the state of their brothers nor understand the True nature of the neighbor to whom they ARE obligated to express Love. Again we must ever understand that this Love, this agape, IS NOT according to the common view of Love; it IS NOT that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others and to the things of this world.
True agape IS the Universal understanding of man and God by which one can see everyman in himself and see himself and God in everyman regardless of any of the separative and divisive ideas promulgated by men since the beginning of time. True agape KNOWS the True meaning of the brother and the neighbor and understands that these ideas ARE divorced from ALL physical, mental and emotional criteria….that these ideas ARE based in the Oneness of ALL men as Souls on the very same journey to Truth.
And it IS these things that the Master teaches us, it IS the Truth of the neighbor, the stranger, and the deeper meaning of the idea of “one another“….that NONE of these take note of one’s’ appearance, one’s mental or emotional state nor one’s religion, national origin, culture, color nor any of the man made barriers to that Oneness. We should understand here that such barriers, such separative and divisive ideas of men, ARE the product of the nurturing and indoctrination that IS received by everyman, even as he forms his own identity. It IS very difficult to ignore what one IS taught and it IS here that we should try to see the influence of the times in which one lives.
There IS ever an evolution of mind that moves the various parts of the Human Race to greater Truth and whether we see this as “the sweet influences of Pleiades” (Job 38:31) at work in the various ages through which our Earth passes or the natural effect of evolution, one CAN NOT deny the change. As we briefly discussed in the last essay, this change IS at work on the thoughts and the attitudes of men and the product IS a greater vision of the Truth of brotherhood and the Peace that this idea that is agape can bring. At every turn however there ARE the forces of the status quo; at every turn there IS the resistance that cause change to come in fits and starts.
And this has ever been True as world history will show us and there IS ofttimes a human cost to such change. The journey of the Jewish race can perhaps be seen as an example of the constant changes that ARE wrought in the minds and the emotions of men in this Earth, and the way that these intersect with the Plan of God as the natural evolutionary course and the movement of the Earth through its galaxy. But this IS NOT our point; our point IS that there IS a greater vision of brotherhood and Love in the Earth today than there ever has been and there ARE several forces marshalled against this change of vision around the world.
But change DOES come; we can see this in the political changes in such places as Russia where the USSR IS been dissolved and the people in its satellite countries have found a greater measure of freedom. We see also the movement to democracy as a political ideal which has been and IS sweeping across the world to the dismay of those governments that seek to control the minds of men. The impetus for much of this IS a spiritual force that IS increasingly realized in the minds of men; it IS found in the promptings of one’s own Soul to the Good, the Beautiful and the True as these ARE heeded by the man in this world who IS ready to listen even though he may NOT KNOW what he IS listening to.
And set against this ARE the forces of capitalism that seek to take advantage of the new vision of men and while these will NOT deter this ‘evolutionary’ change, they will create enough diversions to slow it and change the course of some who were inclined to follow it through. Also set against this ARE the political forces which can be seen working around the world and nowhere IS this more clear that in America where the ‘left’, which IS inclined to a greater sense of brotherhood and Love, IS ‘set in array’ against the ‘right’ which IS inclined to the traditional ideas of me and mine. Perhaps the most important force that IS set against this change to brotherhood and Love IS the church which carries the name of the Lord and which DOES NOT understand the great Truth that their Namesake brought to the world 2000 years ago. A Truth that IS encapsulated for us in these words from Paul:
“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” (Romans 13:8-11).
This IS the vision of Truth that began in the time of Christ and which has been interpreted into the political, social and religious norms that have become the history of humanity over the last 2000 years. Despite the forces of resistance, we can see Today in the political arena much evidence of the vision becoming a reality as men ARE freed from the monarchal, the tyrannical and the authoritarian rule that once was the way in most every nation. Socially we can see the same as men stride toward both freedom and the way to express that freedom with a greater sense of brotherhood, acceptance and harmony. The social constructs of today see men as men in greater accord with the Truth of brotherhood than ever before; the ill effects of racism and discrimination ARE waning and have been for many years.
Religion, especially the Christian, IS the last stronghold for the old and tired ways of resistance and, like the Master’s point in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, it IS those who should be leading the field in this ‘evolutionary’ change of the thoughts and the attitudes of men who have instead “passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:31, 32) as did the priest and the Levite of the parable. Some seemingly welcome disharmony in the world claiming it IS according to their own particular view of the ‘end times’, a view that IS largely based in their own particular way of conflating the various biblical texts that they perceive to be eschatological.
Many ARE afraid, if we can use that idea here, of any movement toward a world unity, afraid of anything that can be painted as a new world order and, most importantly, afraid of whatsoever may even remotely imply a one world religion….even if that religion should be based in Love which IS the clarion call of scripture and the Truth of Christianity. We must understand that NOT ALL denominations and sects harbor such views but such ARE prevalent within a large section of the church and it IS this section that seems the most vocal, feeding their view to any and ALL who will hear.
We should ever try to understand that when the Christ comes again among us that He will bring the same message of Love that He DID 2000 years ago, a message that was NOT accepted by the Jews then and will likely NOT be accepted by the church that carries His name today. And it IS here that men of vision must come to His aid, it IS here that men of vision must become “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mark 1:3); it IS this that the ‘evolutionary’ change IS preparing men to DO. The criteria here IS NOT religion, it IS NOT found in any particular denomination or sect, the criteria here IS a sense of brotherhood, of GoodWill and of Right Human Relations
We should try to understand that this sense IS NOT a particularly carnal one but one that it IS found in one’s heeding the prompting of his own Soul to the Good, the Beautiful and the True, a prompting that IS NOT heard by the many over the clamor of their daily lives and one that IS shut up by those religious doctrines that fail to see or to seek the Truth. This IS our dilemma as a world, as the One Humanity living in this One World with One God: that the forces of resistance ARE strong in ALL areas of human Life….strongly seeking ONLY for the self, the individual self and the various corporate selves with which one IS aligned. Men tend to care for their own wellbeing, that of their family, their church, their religion, their politics, their culture, their nation and perhaps that from which they have descended. This human proclivity IS founded in the vanity, in the illusion and the glamour, of Life in this world and it IS this that must be understood by ALL who claim to have the vision to see the Truth.
There IS NO Truth in the separative and divisive ways of those who resist the coming changes into which we ARE already immersed and, from a religious point of view we should try to see the Master’s words from another woe proclaimed against the religious rulers of the Jews and understand that this too afflicts the Christian today. Jesus says: “woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13). What IS the point here? Simply that as the “scribes and Pharisees” were bound to their doctrinal approach to the Lord and had taken authority over the people’s religious lives and so have the priests and the pastors and the ministers of today who teach their several doctrines rather than the Truth of His words of Love, of brotherhood and of harmony….they teach atonement and salvation according to their ‘theories’ rather that such things as:
- “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).
In these words that ARE our trifecta there IS the Truth of the Lord’s teaching and this, along with the Way that this IS ALL fulfilled in Love, in agape, IS the reality of salvation….the reality that it IS here and now that one finds the Way, IS freed from his “bondage of corruption” and can take his place in “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). This IS the True promise which the Apostle Peter presents to us so eloquently 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). These promises begin with Love, with the Truth of agape, where men can free themselves from their proclivity toward the self and the things of the self and focus upon the things of God in GoodWill which IS Love in Action.
And this IS the apostle’s point in the selection from his First Epistle to the Corinthians which we have been studying: that it IS Love, it IS one’s expression of agape, that IS of paramount importance. Viewed in terms of religion, which IS become the greater resistance to Truth, where most ARE holding on to their several ideas on speaking in tongues, prophecy, KNOWING the Truth of the mysteries, the Truth of God, the spiritual abilities of men in healing as well as their doctrinal attitude of giving, we should see much that IS contrary to Paul’s words. Paul tells us that without agape that ALL of these religious ideas ARE for naught and that he, as an apostle of the Lord, IS NOTHING should he have these in the absence of Love. We read Paul’s words again saying:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
“Agape suffereth long, and is kind; agape envieth not; agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
This IS Paul’s message and while men may think that their expression IS Love, that they ARE in accord with Paul’s words here, the deeper view of Love IS, for the most part, missing. As we have been discussing, this idea of Love IS far beyond the common understanding; this idea of agape IS founded in the elimination of any division, of any separative attitudes, which detracts from seeing everyman the same….this IS the greater Truth of having NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9). It IS in this view that we can express Love under the definition of the apostle saying “that agape makrothumeo chresteuomai” which IS rendered as “Agape suffereth long, and is kind” and which IS commonly understood as “Love is patient, love is kind“.
Again it IS in the deeper reality of the Greek words that we find the greater Truth of Love: that in the idea of to be long-spirited 9a as Strong’s defines makrothumeo we have the idea of expressing the very Spirit of agape as it flows through the mind in the thoughts and the attitudes of a men. Vincent tells us that this IS a: sense of strong passion, stronger even than ὀργή , anger, as is maintained by Schmidt (“Synonymik”), who describes θυμός as a tumultuous welling up of the whole spirit; a mighty emotion which seizes and moves the whole inner man 4. Here we should try to see that as a defining quality of Love, and thereby of God, neither patience nor longsuffering Truly fit the descriptions nor the intent of the apostle’s words.
If we can see that the source of makrothumeo IS the inner man; that it IS NOT found in the carnal ideas of passion; that this welling up of the whole spirit IS the flow of agape as the inner man KNOWS this, we can then see our point that agape KNOWS and understands the plight of men. It IS in this understanding that a man becomes expressive of the ultimate Truth of Love….having NO “respect to persons“. In this IS the True Power of Love and in this IS the Truth of KNOWING the meaning of the brother and the neighbor which Jesus teaches us to Love.
Can we see the point here? Can we see that any and ALL of these presumed spiritual gifts ARE worthless, ARE but carnal misrepresentations, in the absence of this sense of Love for everyman equally and without any other prompting save that of one’s own Soul. Paul adds that agape IS also chresteuomai and this word, a derivative of chrestos, IS the verb form of an idea that IS better understood as good than as kind although both fail in the common understanding. Chrestos IS rendered as easy in Jesus’ saying that “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30) and here Vincent tells us: Not a satisfactory rendering. Christ’s yoke is not easy in the ordinary sense of that word. The word means originally, good, serviceable 4.
We should try to see the idea of good in this saying as well and it IS rendered such by two translations from our library. We should also look here at a saying from the Apostle Luke’s Gospel that we used two posts back; here the Master says “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35). We noted that kind, as this IS generally understood, IS lacking and here we should say that the idea of “he is kind good unto the unthankful and to the evil” better fits the intention of His words.
This idea of good IS a difficult one to understand from a New Testament perspective. There ARE other Greek words that ARE also rendered as good; one of these IS agathos, which IS used in Jesus’ saying “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:18). Here we should note two things; first that this word IS used as a defining quality of God and second that although it IS NOT related to agape in the lexicons, it IS nonetheless a very similar idea to agape in both word form and in its spiritual meaning.
If we can see this idea of agathos as perhaps the state of being good and see chrestos and its derivatives as the expression of that goodness, we can perhaps come to a better understanding of the way that these ideas ARE used. These ideas work out across most ALL of the uses of both words in the New Testament and if we can see them in combination as regards a defining quality of agape, we can then see the greater point. God IS good and God IS Love; both of these ARE His qualities and it IS the expression of this Love and goodness that IS the reality of Paul’s idea “that agape makrothumeo chresteuomai“: that agape IS its expression to ALL with NO “respect to persons” and, since this IS the approach to men by the Lord, it should be the approach of a man to his brother and his neighbor in this world as well.
This IS our defining idea of agape and it IS in this view that the spiritual gifts that many presume to have become True spiritual gifts. It IS in this view of Love expressed universally to ALL men, a view that IS neither emotional nor mental and which IS NOT based in desire, that men ARE found to be keeping His words. It IS the privilege of those who DO Truly “love thy neighbour as thyself“, those who Truly can “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), to have such gifts which ARE the foundation of those “greater works” that the Master promises saying “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). Here we should remember that to “believeth on me” IS to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4.
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.
We change our Quote of the Day today to the words from Solomon on Wisdom along with our thoughts on them from the original postings of them in In the Words of Jesus parts 46 and 556. These words ARE a testament to those things that we should be asking of the Lord and which are representative of the Holy Ghost. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge which will lead us to understanding the fear (reverence and respect and awe) of the Lord and the knowledge of God so that in this world we can understand righteousness and judgement and equity and be preserved by discretion and understanding. Thus are we in a position to treat everyone as we would want to be treated ourselves.
Since we are centered on the ideas of Wisdom today we offer the following from Proverbs as our Quote of the Day. Solomon, who is KNOWN for his Wisdom, which we read in the story of his Life was His gift from God, a gift that he receives because he does not want for the things of the world. But Solomon gains as well the things of the world in plenty and as his Life story proceeds we can see clearly that it is his Life in the world that is to his detriment. The wisdom however produces for us the writings of the Book of Proverbs and it is this that he is remembered for. His Life is interesting reading and is well documented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.
….incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee (Proverbs 2:2-11).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
