ON LOVE; PART MCCLXII
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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 of the Master’s words and the words of the Apostle Paul which have been interpreted into eschatological ideas and used to fuel an ever growing church movement that teaches the doctrinal ideas of the ‘end times’. From our perspective far too many doctrinal thinkers dwell on these ideas and this to the exclusion of the Truth of Jesus own words through which one will find True salvation. Not that nebulous doctrinal idea of salvation through atonement and the doctrinal precepts of affirming and confessing, but True salvation through keeping His words and expressing Love, agape, as He has instructed us to DO. The doctrines of men have substituted the unreal for the real as they have convinced themselves that their goal IS heaven and that the way IS through faith and believing according to doctrinal norms.
This IS despite the Master’s clearly stated words to the contrary, words that tell us that the Way to the Kingdom IS to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” and NOT to express such carnal aspects of religion as those that He mentions saying “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 7:21-23). Despite such a clear road map, the doctrinal thinker has created his ‘own’ way to salvation which alleviates his responsibility to keep His words as a man in this world.
But there IS Truly NO escape from the Truth of Life in this world. This Life in form has a specific design which IS to allow the Soul to express himself through the flesh, which IS the body with its mind and emotions, before its demise. This IS the proving ground and the ONLY place of spiritual progress and, at the same time, this whole design IS hidden as the mysteries of Life that each and every Soul must eventually uncover through Life in this world. And this design IS NOT hidden except from those who choose to look another way and here we should understand that the doctrines of men ARE but another way which perhaps offers comfort in the understanding that one can continue in his carnal pursuits while convincing himself that he IS saved. So men believe that they ARE saved by their doctrinal ideas which ARE based in out of context and misinterpreted sayings such as Paul’s words that tell us “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8); it IS this that they allow to set aside most ALL of the Master’s words that show us the True way as we see 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).
Men DO NOT see nor understand that ALL spiritual progress IS based in the focus of one’s Life and that this IS the prima facie reality of the Great Commandments. These great Truths ARE intended to bring the focus of a man off of the self and onto the Greater Whole that IS the reality of God. It IS this sense of focus upon the self that IS the subject of the Master’s teachings and we should try to see here that in moving one’s focus off of the self and the things of the self, one IS finding the Truth of Love, of agape, and coming to understand that one’s expression of agape and one’s change of focus ARE essentially the same thing. We should understand as well that the words of the apostles ARE the same as they clarify and amplify the Master’s words and here again we read the Apostle Paul’s words that tie the expression of agape with the idea of keeping His words, words which will take one’s focus off of the self; he tells us:
“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).
There ARE many places in Paul’s writings where we read of this idea of focus but these ARE relegated to a lower place than than those words that promote the doctrines of men, words such as those above on grace and faith. In the same epistle where we find Paul’s words on faith and grace we also find such sayings as these which admonish the man who has found Christ to “put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). What IS this but an instruction to change the focus of one’s Life, to take it off of the self and “the deceitful lusts” which govern that Life, and put them onto God “in righteousness and true holiness“.
As we discussed several posts back, the doctrinal thinker believes that righteousness has been imputed to him based in his faith as was DONE in the Life of the patriarch Abraham. This IS at best another most nebulous idea that seeks to redefine righteousness into a simple ‘pronouncement’ rather than the actual effect of one’s True faith which IS KNOWING God and then DOING as one IS instructed to DO. This however IS NOT the case in the today’s Christianity where most denominations and sects ONLY call those whose faith and believing ARE according to a doctrinal idea as Christians. But this faith and believing IS NOT that sense of KNOWING that Jesus shows us IS the hallmark of pistis and pisteuo, a sense of faith and believing that enables a man to use the spiritual force which flows in that KNOWING to DO, by measure, those “greater works” (John 14:12) which Jesus promises. The same ideas should be applied to the idea of holiness which IS NOT merely considering oneself to be a saint but to actually express such qualities through the focus of one’s Life on the things of God.
Our point here IS that the same apostle’s writings which help to fuel the doctrinal positions of men also show them that they must become “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 2:9) albeit that he shows these things in a more subtle way. Perhaps it IS his subtleness, if we can use that idea here, that has allowed for the misinterpretation and misapplication of his out of context words and for their use in formulating doctrines that assure men of their destiny and cause them to look NO further. We should try to see here how that those ideas that ARE NOT misinterpreted and misapplied ARE relatively ignored and sparingly used ONLY to support the doctrinal approach of the teacher; this can be clearly seen in such sayings as: “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” (Romans 12:1-2)
These words from Paul DO show us the overall intent of the True focus that IS required by a man who Truly seeks the Lord. The whole idea of presenting oneself “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” IS for the man who has been awakened to the Truth, the man of whom the apostle proclaims “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:8) , to focus more fully upon the things of God. We should try to see that to “present your bodies a living sacrifice” IS to look past one own self and into the Truth which that self IS intended to express as one then can Truly “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. In this idea of proving we should try to see discernment as we have discussed in past essays but the idea DOES NOT end there; it IS the mind that IS Transformed that can have such discernment and such Transformation IS ONLY possible when one’s focus IS fully turned toward those things which ARE that Truth.
To renew one’s mind there must be a different flow of thoughts entering into it, a change from being conformed to the things of the world which IS the product of one’s Life in this vanity enhanced by one’s nurturing, indoctrination and experience, to the mind being informed by the Soul, the spiritual Inner Man which the Apostle John calls for us the unction. This IS the point of ALL scripture and one that has be subverted to the doctrinal ideas of the church which substitutes their several ideas of doctrine as the end result of such Transformation. To sacrifice one’s body IS to give up ALL that IS related to the world in favor of those things that ARE of God and perhaps the single largest detriment to this idea IS the doctrinal assertion that the mind, the will and the emotions ARE somehow a part of the spiritual man….that these ARE the Soul.
We should understand here that the Soul IS NOT such; the Soul IS that part of the human experience that garners the fruits of one’s Life here, especially insofar as one’s ability to effect the Life of the carnal nature, while the mind, the will and the emotions, as these ARE understood, ARE part and parcel of the body nature which IS to be sacrificed. It IS the Soul that carries ones spiritual collateral, the sum-total of the Soul’s ability to influence and work through his carnal self once he has been able to awaken himself through his realization of some measure of the Truth through a measured “renewing of your mind“. John tells us of the unction and if we can see this as the Greek word chrisma it IS later rendered, as anointing, we can then perhaps see the reality of the Soul in the Life of a man.
If we can look away from the doctrines of men and see that Jesus the Christ IS Jesus the Anointed we can perhaps extend this idea to everyman. Doctrines have severely altered the meaning of the anointing and the anointed and many have made it a common idea in the church where many believe that they have such anointing, usually of the Holy Spirit, as believers. If however we look deeper into this idea and relate it to Christ we can perhaps see what the apostle IS saying as he tells us “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). If Jesus IS the anointed and everyman has this anointing, then what IS the True meaning. Unlike Paul, John DOES NOT write to a specific group of people whom he KNOWS, he writes a general epistle that IS intended as a teaching vehicle, to express “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life“.
The apostle continues to say “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1, 3) and in this we should see that his epistle IS his declaration of what he has come to KNOW as the Truth. A part of this Truth IS that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” and here we should understand that while this IS a great Truth, it IS NOT a Truth for the man who has NOT yet realized it. Jesus has full realization of the Truth as a man in this world; His mind and His emotions ARE governed by this Truth that comes from the Soul and IS the anointing. This IS the meaning of Paul’s words saying “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9); this fullness has overcome ALL carnal instincts and influences from the world and from any nurturing and indoctrination that he had received.
John’s words then must be seen in perspective; the Soul has and IS that anointing and as a man in this world one DOES have a Soul and thereby that anointing. This IS NOT however active in the Life of that man in the world because he has NO realization of this Truth, a Truth that comes according to our trifecta….through keeping His words. In the fullness of this idea of keeping His words one can have the same fullness of anointing as DID Jesus and here we should understand that this comes upon us by measure which in turn IS the result of one’s striving toward that goal. Does this mean that everyman can have that same, have “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily“? Absolutely and this the Master tells us rather clearly 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).
While the doctrines of men DO NOT see this Truth and teach against this idea of “greater works“, the Master shows us equal ideas as He teaches us how that we can move the mountain and cast the sycamine tree into the sea. He tells us that these things come with “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Luke 17:6) and that they come to the man who will “have faith, and doubt not” (Matthew 21:21); the man who “shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass” (Mark 11:23). ALL these ideas ARE synonymous and agree with the deeper meaning of “He that believeth on me“; ALL these things ARE the fruits of that KNOWING that comes in keeping His words.
The doctrinal thinker however CAN NOT see these Truths through his diluted ideas of pistis and pisteuo and their nebulous doctrinal meanings as faith and believing. These ideas ARE however rather simple and this IS especially True if one will believe what the Master says rather than forge doctrinal ideas to circumvent His intent. Vincent tells us that to “believeth on me” IS NOT: mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them 4, and in many instances even the mere acceptance by doctrinal authorities IS missing.
These words, clear as they may be, are reinterpreted into such ideas a we read from John Gill who says: meaning, not greater in nature and kind, but more in number; for the apostles, in a long series of time, and course of years, went about preaching the Gospel, not in Judea only, but in all the world 8. After writing about God working through the apostles Mr Gill adds that: perhaps by these greater works may be meant the many instances of conversion, which the apostles were instrumental in, and which were more in number than those which were under our Lord’s personal ministry: besides, the conversion of a sinner is a greater work than any of the miracles of raising the dead for this includes in it all miracles 8.
Can we see the dilution of the Truth that Jesus attaches to such “greater works” in these ideas? An internet article by J.D. Greear Pastor, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina paints this idea in a similar way saying ‘Greater works than Jesus’s? That’s a little hard to believe. Have any of us ever preached with greater clarity, healed the sick with greater power, or prayed with greater compassion . . . than Jesus? No one in their right mind would claim that. But, because of the Spirit, our works are greater in two ways‘ *. Can we see the manipulation of the Master’s intent here and the intent of the entirety of the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel? The pastor goes on to identify these two ways; the first IS ‘When we preach the gospel and sinners believe, we are doing the greater work‘ and the second IS ‘that they are greater in their range. When Jesus was on earth, the Holy Spirit focused his ministry in and through Jesus. But now he is on every believer, and the collective impact, Jesus says, of ordinary Christians filled with the Spirit would be greater than if even he himself stayed to lead the church‘ *.
From the church’s perspective these may seem to be valid interpretations of Jesus’ words but in the real world these ARE but the imparting of the various doctrinal precepts to others without the foundation of the Truth of the Master ‘s words. The reality of His words needs NO interpretation by doctrines; the Truth needs ONLY an understanding of what it Truly means to “believeth on me“. Vincent tells us first that this IS NOT mere acceptance of His words, an idea that IS sorely lacking in the church, and second that this IS: to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. This IS the KEY that opens up ones access to such Power that IS necessary to Truly DO such “greater works“….this IS keeping His words. While the church DOES NOT subscribe to this idea, the tenor of it IS found throughout His words and we should note here that the context of this idea of “greater works” IS the works that Jesus Himself DOES. The Master presents this ALL saying:
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:10-15).
There IS much here that should show us Jesus’ intent as He tries to explain to His disciple a rather unexplainable idea that has been morphed into the doctrinal ideas of the Holy Spirit being a Power that the believer has, NOT the man who DOES Truly accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4, but the believer according to the doctrinal norms established by men. And while the doctrinal approach DOES NOT grasp the relationship between keeping His words and the True Power of the Spirit that IS the True man, they DO accept, without understanding, the idea one should “ask in my name“. Doctrines DO NOT see that this idea carries also the same weight as DOES “believeth on me“; they have rather converted this to a tag line used in prayers for whatsoever they seem to desire at any moment….they simply add the words ‘in Jesus’ name’ and expect some magical resolution.
They also DO NOT see the idea of reward as the reality of the entirety of the teachings from Moses to Jesus….they DO NOT see the quid pro quo that IS the requirement. And what IS this exchange? It IS as this IS presented by Moses saying: “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2); and it IS presented in Jesus words 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” as we repeat in most every essay. These of course ARE NOT ALL such references, there ARE many; but men DO NOT see the quid pro quo in them.
A quid pro quo IS simply something for something, one thing for another according to our modern dictionary. Webster’s 1828 defines quid pro quo as: an equivalent; something given or done for another thing; mutual consideration and performance 1 . In both of these ideas we should try to see that the values ARE set by the parties; things that ARE NOT equal are made equal by the agreement. This IS the point to be seen in our words from Moses and from Jesus above; keeping the law becomes the equivalent of the blessings garnered for one’s performance just as keeping His words garners His Presence in the Life of a man. Similarly, to have the Truth one must perform as the Master instructs 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“.
Despite this clarity, the doctrinal thinker believes that he has this Truth and that he has the Presence of God without ever Truly performing his part; in fact most deny that there IS a quid pro quo in their ideas of salvation at ALL. Most ALL doctrinal thinkers DO NOT see that the whole intent of Life here in this world IS to overcome it as Jesus DOES which He tells us saying “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33); and what IS this overcoming but to relegate the human attachment to the self to its proper place and to become the expression of that Truth and Love that flows from the Soul in the Life of everyman who performs his part. This IS the reality of which Paul speaks when he tells us to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service“.
To “present your bodies a living sacrifice” IS simply to perform everyman’s part of the quid pro quo which IS the True covenant between God and man; but this message has been manipulated to agree with the tenets of the various church doctrines. We should try to understand here that it IS in DOING this, in presenting oneself as a “living sacrifice“, that one can begin to realize “the renewing of your mind” and be Transformed from the state of men whose Life interests ARE for the self and the things of the self into the one whose interests ARE on the things of God. For us the True message IS rather clear and the context of these words reveals the most basic Truth of overcoming; Paul goes on to say that a man should “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 12:3).
When we look at these words from Paul we should see that the theme here IS to leave off of one’s carnal approach to Life which IS to “present your bodies a living sacrifice” and to allow this to change one’s whole view of Life; from the self and the things of the self to the things of God. We should also see that the apostle goes on to show men that NOT ALL ARE equal in this regard, that NOT ALL can accomplish the same things spiritually….NOT ALL can be renewed and Transformed in the same way nor at the same speed. Here we come back to the idea of spiritual collateral; here we should try to understand that as Souls ALL ARE equal and that it IS in regard to one’s garnered ability to express the quality of the Soul through a form in this world that makes men different and unequal in their appearance in this world.
Again it IS the Soul that carries one’s spiritual collateral, the sum-total of the Soul’s ability to influence and work through his carnal self once he has been able to awaken himself through his realization of some measure of the Truth through the measured “the renewing of your mind“. It IS this that Paul shows us as he goes through his list of ‘gifts‘, ALL spiritual to be sure, that come in grace, and through “the renewing of your mind“. We should understand here that there IS spiritual prophecy that comes from the Soul and there IS feigned prophecy that IS the product of the personality of a man whose focus IS yet on the self and we should note here that much of what IS considered as spiritual by men IS in Truth carnal and based in their desires which DO include religiously oriented ideas.
This IS the meaning of the apostle’s saying that men should “prophesy according to the proportion of faith” which should be understood as the measure of Truth that IS KNOWN by a man; to exceed this brings carnal ideas. Paul goes on to show us several points of grace and how that they should NOT be exceeded based on some whim from one’s own personality which can be easily confused with Truth by the carnal minds of men. He lists next ministry which should be seen as service and NOT pigeonholed into a doctrinal religious setting….there ARE many ways of service which IS ever one’s expression of Truth and Love.
Paul goes on to list teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling and the expression of mercy and in ALL of these we should understand that the objective of them ALL follows in the apostle’s words saying “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Romans 12:6, 7, 8, 9). Such expressions ARE the Truth of overcoming and regardless of one’s individual abilities to express the fullness of Truth, ALL can overcome their carnal instincts.
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 |
Quote of the Day:
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- * https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/greater-works-than-jesus–2
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
