ON LOVE; PART MCCXV
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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 thoughts on the equivalency of keeping His words, which Jesus frames for us saying “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed“, and one’s expression of the Truth of Love as defined for us in the Greek word agape. The Master shows us the defining ideas of agape as part of His word; in such sayings as the Apostle Luke shows us in “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:27-31) we have a True working definition of agape.
While the Apostle Matthew expands upon these ideas, Luke gives us enough to see the reality of Love, of agape, working in a man’s interrelationships with others. We should however understand that the ways of man in this world, through his inborn vanity which IS compounded by his nurturing and indoctrination, fight against this lofty principal while the doctrines of men both allow and perpetuate such thinking. ALL of this IS founded in the original idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“, an idea that IS elevated by Jesus to a state of importance that IS above the Ten Commandments that have ever been men’s more ready focus. Jesus calls these words a part of the Great Commandments and, as we discussed recently, it IS upon these and the Golden Rule that ALL of the law and the teachings of the prophets rest.
Of the Great Commandments, which are again at the top of our essay, we read that “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40); and of the Golden Rule, which Matthew gives us as “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“, we read that “this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). In these ideas we should have the True vision that it IS these defining ideas of agape that ARE the summation of ALL of the laws given by Moses and ALL of the teachings of the prophets and, were we to look at these in this way, we could surely see the Truth of the Master’s words. But men have ever chosen to pick and choose Old Testament sayings in such a way as they would benefit their own doctrinal viewpoint, and this rather than to see their summation in Love.
We should try to see here that while the idea of Love, of agape, IS seemingly hidden in the Old Testament, it IS voiced loud and clear in the New….both by the Master and by His apostles. In the Old we have the quid pro quo that shows that the promises of God ARE given to the Jews….IF. This IS shown in many places including Moses, speaking as Jehovah, saying “if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 28:1:-2). The long list of promises follows here, a list that should be interpreted as promises to the nation as a whole. For the individual there IS of course his due, His grace, which IS NO different than the promises of the New Testament that ARE clearly seen in our trifecta which we repeat 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).
The promises of the New Testament ARE NOT those of the Old which were offered to a nation; the promises of the New ARE found here in these words of our trifecta. These ARE His grace: that we should have the Truth and KNOW the Truth through the revelations and the realization that ARE the privilege of the man who, as Jesus tells us, “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. The Master tells us clearly here that to the man that will keep His words comes the Presence of God and here we should understand that while God IS Immanent in His creation and in everyman as the God Within which the Apostle John calls for us the unction, this IS NOT realized except by the man whose focus IS upon the things of God.
Such focus DOES perforce cause one to strive to keep His words and it IS in this that revelation and realization flow; revelation of the Truth by the unction and realization of such Truth by the mind of man. It IS this realization that causes one to “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” (Romans 12:2). John tells us that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20) and in this we should understand that this IS the nature of ALL men and that this anointing, as this same word chrisma IS later rendered, IS the source of ALL KNOWING which Jesus frames for us saying “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26).
We should remember here that the Greek word chrisma IS another form of chrio which IS the root word for this and for christos and that these words essentially mean the same thing. While christos IS always rendered as Christ in the King James Bible, the meaning of the word IS anointed which IS the same idea we get from both John’s words on the unction and then from his use of the same idea of chrisma saying “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 2:27). The anointing and the unction ARE the same thing; they ARE from the same word which IS the noun form of the adjective christos; both ARE from the verb chiro and ALL with reference to the idea of anointing.
We have discussed these ideas previously and DO so again today to highlight the idea that this unction, this anointing, “from the Holy One” IS the source of ALL True KNOWING and the reality of hearing from God in embedded in this idea. What the doctrinal church DOES NOT see here IS that this unction IS the Soul which IS the Truth of everyman, his True spiritual being, which has been lost in the vanity of Life in this world….lost in the illusion and the glamour which begins with one’s nurturing and indoctrination and continues unabated until a man can acknowledge that there IS a greater Truth than he had KNOWN. It IS this acknowledgement that IS the purpose of ALL scripture.
What IS this acknowledgement? It IS simply a man’s measuring the prompting of his own Soul against ALL that he had previously KNOWN and then realizing that there IS so much Truth that he has missed. It IS this realization that causes a man to leave off of those things into which he was indoctrinated and nurtured and to seek what he sees as a greater Truth, a Truth that IS NOT clearly seen but which IS advertised by countless groups, most ALL spiritually oriented, that claim to have it. This can be another sect or denomination, another religion, or some esoteric organization which attracts the carnal mind in answer to one’s realized spiritual question. Few seem to realize that the True answer IS hidden away in the clarity of the Master’s words which have unfortunately been supplanted by the doctrines of men.
Our point here IS that it IS the Soul and the prompting of the Soul which IS faintly heard over the clamour of Life in this world that gets a man’s attention and causes him to seek a greater Truth. And our greater point IS that this Soul, this anointing or unction, IS the Christ Within, the God Within and the Holy Spirit and it IS his message that IS revealed to ANY who will Truly seek it, this IS a process which begins as one sees the reality of striving toward the Truth which IS ever found in agape. The Apostle Paul tells us about this unction in different terms which, through the volume of his words, DO show us the same thing; the apostle speaks of “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” and it IS this mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27).
Doctrinally this idea IS much misunderstood and this lack of vision begins in one’s believing himself to be a saint based in conformance to one’s doctrinal approach to the Lord. On the latter idea we have said much as we try to show that the words of the Master against the Jew’s religious leaders ARE NOT intended for them alone but for ALL who act in similar ways….disregarding the Truth of His words while leaning upon their own sense of doctrines for ‘salvation‘. This reliance upon doctrine IS the cause for the misunderstanding of Paul’s words here regarding the most simple idea of “Christ in you“. It IS doctrines that teach that this IS ONLY True in the Life of the man who IS “born again” according to doctrinal precepts as they take to themselves an outcome that they DO naught to earn.
To have “Christ in you” according Doctrines IS to have the Godhead and some measure of its Power in one’s Life and here we should remember that the Master Himself tells us how that this idea can be accomplished. In the third part of our trifecta we have this clearly stated: this Presence of the Lord IS the privilege of “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. Jesus repeats this after being questioned on how this IS so and He repeats His answer saying “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” and, so that there would be NO confusion, He repeats this again from the negative perspective saying that “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings“.
While many doctrinal thinkers accept these ideas as Jesus’ words, they DO NOT seem to accept them as the Way to have His Presence in one’s Life; for this they rely again on their doctrinal views which soundly contradict the Master’s words. We should remember here the simple logic of being “born again” as well; this idea IS spoken by the Master in regard to the Kingdom of God….that to ‘enter‘ or even ‘see‘ the Kingdom one must be “born again“. Taking the idea of the Kingdom of God as the Master shows us in the second part of our trifecta we can see the Way to the Kingdom rather clearly and, when we look at His words in their context, we can then see ever more clearly that He shows us that the doctrines of men ARE NOT a substitute for keeping His words or, as He frames this, a substitute for DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
The doctrinal view seems to put ALL of these sayings to rest on the Jews in Jesus’ day; doctrinal thinkers seem to see themselves apart from His words and, to be sure, this IS NOT the intent, this IS NOT what the writers purposed their writings to achieve. But this IS the way of men in this world, the way of vanity, the way of illusion and glamour, and few there ARE that can see through these debilitating effects of men’s carnal view. In the fullness of Jesus’ words we should see the True state of the doctrinal man who refuses to see His Truth; the Master says “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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).
This Way to His Kingdom and to His Presence IS NOT however the doctrinal way but there IS little that one can DO to convince the doctrinal thinker that in these words IS the crux of being “born again“. It IS ONLY when the doctrinal ideas begin to fade and the Truth begins to emerge that the church of today will come to understand the deeper ideas found in Paul’s words saying “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). If we can tie this idea to the Apostle John’s words from the prologue to his gospel, perhaps we can catch a glimpse of the Truth that eludes the doctrinal world which believes that one can have “Christ in you” ONLY by way of their doctrines.
John tells us first, speaking of the Christ, that “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” and here we should begin to see the Universal idea that IS intended. The apostle goes on to say, again speaking of the Christ, the Logos as this IS written, that He “was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:4, 9). Can we see here the Christ Within? Can we see the “Christ in you“, that this IS NOT a special reward for doctrinal conformance? Can we understand that His being “the light of men” means ALL men and that “every man that cometh into the world” means everyman?
If we could see and understand that in these ideas we have a foundational statement of Truth by which men should see themselves, we could then see the deeper Truths that ARE the Master’s words and the Truth behind the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles. The problem has ever been that men DO NOT see nor understand these Truths which ARE obnubilated by the vanity, by the nurturing and indoctrination, and then by the doctrines of men which ARE formed by men yet trapped in that same vanity, that same illusion and glamour of Life in this world. We should try to understand here that the Truth of these ideas IS the mystery of which Paul speaks, a mystery that “hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints“.
This then brings us back to the way that men, through their vanity which IS compounded by their nurturing and indoctrination and then their doctrinal ‘experience’, believe themselves to be saints. The Greek word hagios which IS rendered here as saints IS most often rendered in terms of holy and if we can see the idea of saint overlayed with the meaning of being holy, perhaps we can see that to be one, to be a True saint, IS a rarity and NOT a doctrinal commonality. Strong’s defines hagios as: from ἅγος hágos (an awful thing); sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing), saint 9a and here we should be able to see how the doctrinal thinker may fall short.
The issue here IS that when one believes such things he IS far less likely to seek additional Truth. Because he believes that he IS saved, because he believes himself to be the saint and the apostle, and because he believes that he has, through his doctrine, the KEY to the mysteries of Life, he will NOT readily become a seeker and this because he believes that he has already found. Paul touches upon this idea of the mysteries in our selection from his First Epistle to the Corinthians but here again it IS the vanity of Life that keeps men from seeing the fullness of the apostle’s point which IS missed on several levels; we read his 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).
We can approach Paul’s idea from two perspectives; first that to say “I am nothing” in regard to this list of spiritual virtues, to prophecy, to KNOWING the mysteries, to having ALL knowledge and that “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Matthew 17:20) should show us that one DOES NOT Truly have such virtues without agape, without agape being one’s expression in Life. Secondly we should be able to see how that to claim to have such things in the absence of agape IS to NOT have them at ALL; in the absence of agape one can at best have carnal representations of spiritual ideals.
The potential for having such gifts however IS real; it IS based in the reality of the Christ Within, the reality of “Christ in you” as the unction and the anointing that “lighteth every man that cometh into the world“. It IS in keeping His words that one can have a realization of the True gifts which ARE, and ARE IN, one’s realization of the Presence of God in one’s Life. But men DO NOT see these things through their doctrinally colored vision; they see ONLY those things into which they ARE nurtured and indoctrinated and most importantly they DO NOT see that the Master’s words ARE NOT ONLY intended for the Jew but for ALL men; they ARE warnings, cautions and corrections to the way that men have ever been “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7).
And it IS this same doctrinally colored vision that prevents men from understanding the spiritual Power and Truth of agape which they see in carnal terms of Love. In this view men have defined Love and they understand agape ONLY in such carnal terms despite trying to see what IS a ‘God kind of love’ through their doctrines. It IS through this same doctrinally colored vision that they fail to see the yet greater Truth of agape: the mystery by which one’s expression of Love becomes equivalent to keeping His words as we read again in our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans saying:
Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another: for he that agapao 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 agape thy neighbour as thyself. Agape worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore agape 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).
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
- 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
