ON LOVE; PART MCCCXL
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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).
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Much of the last essay was centered on the ideas of Satan and the devil, on the personalities applied to these entities by most ALL of the church, and the reality of them, according to their definitions, as the adversary and the false representations that ARE the vanity in which everyman lives. When we consider that the spiritual Life of a man, his Life as a Spirit manifest as Soul, IS the intended expression of the carnal form in this Earth, it IS easy to see how that this adversary IS ALL that keeps men from seeing the Truth; this adversary IS his illusion and his glamour….it IS his Life in vanity. Similarly when we consider the defining ideas of this vanity as Vincent shows us saying that this IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4, we can then see the very source of the false representations that ARE fed to the carnal mind by the very nature of Life in this world. The Greek words satanas and diabolos ARE left untranslated and the transliterated ideas of Satan and the devil ARE shown in most every bible translation. Whether this IS the result of the preconceived doctrines of men or the result of there being no concrete translatable word IS unknown but the defining ideas ARE available as concepts in most ALL bible dictionaries. Perhaps we can see this in the same way as we see the translation of christos as Christ in most every translation and application of the word despite the clearly shown defining idea that christos means the anointed. The Christian world has been left to use the ideas of the church fathers in defining doctrine save for the few newer ideas that have been spawned through the breakdown of the one, or perhaps a few, religious views into the multiplicity of denominations and sects that exist today. Much of this breakdown begins with the Reformation where Protestant thought IS introduced against the existing Catholic and Orthodox establishment; nearly ALL however are in basic agreement with the central tenets of the salvation offered by Christ through atonement and the nature of evil as the influence of a being named Satan, himself and as the devil and his minions which ARE called devils and demons. There IS another word that we did NOT address in the last post, daimonion, which IS also rendered as devil(s) in the King James Bible.
Daimonion, according to Vincent, should be rendered as demon and NOT devil and it IS rendered so in most translations. This word and its neuter form daimon ARE defined by mostly doctrinal ideas which reflect the idea of devils as ministers of Satan. Vincent defines daimon and daimonion as: the unclean spirits which possessed men, and were cast out by Christ and his apostles 4, which IS a rather non-specific idea that can lean toward a miscomprehension of the mental and emotional problems of men in a time before such problems were better identified. The lexicon and our other bible dictionaries ARE much more fixed on the doctrinal ideas; the lexicon for example, following in the ideas of Thayer’s, defines diamonion as: the divine power, deity, divinity; a spirit, a being inferior to God, superior to men; and evil spirits or the messengers and ministers of the devil 2a. Strong’s offers us the idea of diamonion as: neuter of a derivative of G1142; a dæmonic being; by extension a deity:—devil, god and of diamon they say: from δαίω daíō (to distribute fortunes); a dæmon or supernatural spirit (of a bad nature):—devil 9a. The KEY ideas taken by doctrines ARE those of demons, supernatural spirits that ARE ministers of Satan; they ARE seen in much the same way as ARE the ideas of devils and ALL have that same aura of personality applied to Satan by most ALL segments of the church. While this whole doctrinal view alludes to the idea that it IS Satan and his minions that ARE in control of the Earth, and some DO teach this specifically, most DO NOT realize that they ARE acknowledging the separation, the opposition to be sure, between the Godhead and whatsoever IS happening in this world. In today’s modern age where the ideas of mental and emotional problems ARE easily identified, the church still sees the idea of demons and devils and Satan as influencing the carnal minds of men. And many blame such entities for the plight of men which, as we said at the beginning of this discussion, IS likely the prima facie reason for such doctrinal assertions that take the blame off of men and place it upon some outward agent of influence. This blame game begins with the ‘fall of man’ so called; it begins with the serpent beguiling Eve in a story that was intended for the understanding level of men 6000 years ago. While it IS presumed that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis, there IS NO certainty to this and in our assuming that this IS correct we should understand that he IS writing about events that happened some 2500 years before. We should understand here that the Christian insistence that the whole bible IS the word of God literally, that it IS written under divine inspiration and IS inerrant, IS yet another part of Christian glamour which IS in turn the result of that same vanity that they have chosen to call Satan. We should try to see Moses in the same way as we see ALL True sons of God of which Jesus the Christ IS the foremost and perhaps the ONLY one in whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). To be sure Moses possess a great measure of this fullness and we should understand here that like ALL sons of God operating in this Earth that he IS a personality living and acting in a time that IS unlike anything that we can understand today. The Book of Genesis IS but history to Moses who draws upon his measure of fullness to relate a patchwork of stories and poems to a barbarous and superstitious generation. We should understand here as well Moses intent IS on teaching the reality of the One God to a nation that DOES continually fall back into surrounding idolatry as Alexander Maclaren tells us in his dissertation of the first chapters of Genesis. This English non-conformist minister, whose more than 1500 expository sermons include an analysis of the creation story, shows us Moses motivation saying: Its purpose is quite another, and far more important; namely, to imprint deep and ineffaceable the conviction that the one God created all things 12. The comparison here is to the science of his day, 18th century science, that pitted the church against scientific evidence much the same way that it does yet today.
The doctrinal belief that the serpent beguiled Eve IS earlier evidence of the way that men DO NOT take responsibility for their own actions although, in this story, they ARE forced by God to DO SO. The natural action of vanity causes Eve to blame the serpent and then Adam to blame Eve and this IS NOT unlike that Christian attitude by which men blame Satan and his minions yet today. Our point here IS to show how that it IS the vanity to which ALL men ARE subjected that IS the ONLY blamable principality or power that Truly exists; this vanity IS but the natural way of the carnal man in this world. It IS this vanity that IS men’s “bondage of corruption” and it IS this vanity that must be escaped by the conscious action of men; Peter shows us this 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). The Christian however believes that he has such promises as ARE outlined in the Old Testament and the New without such an escape; most ALL believe that though their idea of imputed righteousness that they magically inherit them while NOT understanding at ALL just what these promises Truly ARE. In IS in this same attitude that we should understand the Master’s words to the religious of His day saying “Verily I say unto you,That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31). The point here IS that these religious leaders and their followers DID NOT believe the Truth that was presented, the same Truth that IS yet presented today to a religious audience that refuses to see it. Here the subject was John the Baptist and while the Christian world ‘believes‘ in John, they pay NO more heed to his sayings than they DO the Master’s. We DO NOT have much of the Baptist’s words but we DO have this from the Apostle Luke’s Gospel:
“the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answeret and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:2-14).
We should see in the Baptist’s words the same tenor that we find in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Both John’s words and Jesus’ Sermon however ARE ignored by the church as too many teach men that such ARE works that need NOT be DONE so long as one ‘believes‘ as each denomination and sect prescribe. Add this reality to the church’s several variations of the role of Satan and his minions as the cause for men’s failures and we have the state of religion yet today. And we should understand that it IS NOT against the Master’s Sermon nor John’s words that express agape that the church sees as men’s failures; they see ONLY those ‘sins‘ that ARE fundamental to their individual denominational beliefs and much of that IS NOT covered at ALL by the Master’s words. While there IS an ‘official’ list of sins that can be compiled from the New Testament, ALL offenses can be and should be understood to be derivatives of the Great Commandments; ALL True ideas of sin are the thoughts, attitudes and actions of men against these most important precepts. Clearly stated by Jesus in the synoptic gospels while being framed differently in John’s Gospel these Great Commandments ARE NOT new ideas offered by the Master but rather age old precepts that likely date back to times before Moses uttered them for us. Jesus tells us “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). It IS against these commandments that men should judge their ideas of sin but this has never been the objective of the church that has taken on crusades against such doctrinal sins as homosexuality, abortion, and even contraception which, while perhaps NOT right morally, ARE NOT attuned to the Great Commandments except by stretching the ideas into rather abnormal realms. Can one be a homosexual and still Love God? Likely NOT but NOT any less that the heterosexual that DOES NOT put God ahead of ALL carnal thoughts and attitudes. While Paul speaks against fornication, we should try to see the duality in his words; first against the carnal act which IS but a manifestation of the spiritual idea that shows that ALL that DOES NOT conform to the first of the Great Commandments IS fornication. We should also note the apostle’s words against marriage which ARE framed toward a similar end as he says “He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:32-33). Can we see how that in this sense even the married DO fornicate against the Lord? Of course we must understand that the apostle IS speaking to those that ARE following the Lord to some degree and NOT to the purely carnal man who, being married or NOT, conducts himself contrary to the commandments. For both the homosexual and the heterosexual it IS one’s focus upon the things of God that brings the reality of ‘salvation‘ and both can equally strive from their sexually oriented positions.
And what of abortion? It IS ONLY when the church introduces the idea that Life begins at conception that abortions become murder. Where does this idea come from? NOT from scripture except for the interpretations of obscure passages that attest to such ideas as “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5); ideas which DO NOT Truly speak to the viability of an embryo. Neither DOES that oft cited New Testament passage that says “when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost” (Luke 1:41); here we should remember that Elisabeth was six months pregnant which has naught to DO with the doctrinal idea that Life begins at conception. While there IS a point of viability that can be generally ascribed to most ALL pregnancies, NONE of this points to conception nor any point in the first trimester yet the church fights on and demonizes those who perform the service as well as those that take advantage of it. This demonetization IS itself contrary to the second of the Great Commandments while the church’s fixation upon abortion in general IS contrary to the first. Finally we have contraception which IS deemed a sin by a large segment of the church and a sin that separates the church from its people who by instincts of self-preservation DO use it. Further, without contraception we could likely greatly multiply the incidences of abortion. Again, there IS NO scriptural reference to contraception save such obscure ideas as the Lord’s words in Genesis that men should “Be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:22) or the incident with Oman, Judah’s son, who “spilled it on the ground” rather than “he should give seed to his brother” with his wife Timnath (Genesis 38-9) and which caused the Lord to slay him. The whole of this story IS an oddity including the acts of Judah who later, thinking Timnath was a harlot, impregnated her with twins, one of whom IS Pharez. We should note here that this story that results in the birth of Pharez IS perhaps left for us to fill in the genealogy of David much in the same way as DOES the Book of Ruth; both then ARE a part of the genealogy of Jesus. Through these obscure ideas regarding abortion and contraception the church has devised doctrines against both, doctrines which ARE paramount in the minds of many doctrinal thinkers and which alienate millions of people rather than bringing them closer to the Truth. In this the church has ‘outlawed’ sex outside of a marriage and again with little scriptural reference. In the Old Testament most marriages were accomplished by the very act of sex and the rampant sexual excursions of the patriarchs created virtual harems for many. It IS with little understanding of the purpose of such ideas as fornication and adultery, that these ARE tenets that ARE more against the bond between a man and the Truth of God, that the fixation on sexual matters have permeated the thinking of the church for many centuries. One must wonder what IS the meaning of the commandment that “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) which IS ordered in a time when those who ARE the patriarchs and spiritual leaders, those held in highest regard in the Judaeo-Christian religions, never thought seriously about fornication as the church defines this. Nor did they see the church’s idea ofadultery as this IS considered against today’s refrain that ‘marriage IS between one man and one woman’. The singular example here IS perhaps Solomon, a pillar of the Judaeo-Christian faiths; we read of Solomon that “he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines” (1 Kings 11:3). Can we see the point here?
Our point here concerns the fixation of the church upon these ideas of abortion and homosexuality, ideas which ARE NOT the real subject of any part of the bible save for Paul’s apparent aversion to the latter. The church claim that Life begins at conception DOES NOT mean that this IS a human Life as this should be understood and if we could see the embryo as the embryo of the animal, the human animal to be sure, that will host a Soul, we can go a long way toward understanding the reality of our lives and our True relationship to both the world and the Lord. While we CAN NOT say with any certainty when an embryo or a fetus becomes endued with Soul, we can say that it IS much closer to the time of birth than the time of conception and, in saying this, we DO NOT detract from any of the sayings that the church relies upon to support their pro-Life stands. To the pro-Life ideas that we cite above we can add such writings as “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb” which IS used in its more pro-Life rendering as “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). The sentiment here IS as True according to our view of Life which idea IS NOT understood against the doctrinal assertion of the infallibility of the bible as God’s word rather than the reality that such words reflect the personality and the beliefs of the writer who IS this case IS presumed to be David. In the end the idea of abortion IS wrong in most ALL cases where it IS used as a method of birth control but it IS NOT so wrong as to alienate millions upon millions of women plus those that may support them; this IS NOT the message of Christ; the church’s message IS divisive and hateful and offered with little understanding of the Truth of Life here in this world. Abortion IS a personal choice when done early enough in a pregnancy as what IS being aborted, regardless of a heartbeat, IS but the animal shell that can someday host the Soul that IS the True man. While we seek to protect this embryo we go about killing millions upon millions of other animals using the human concept that these ARE NOT human; they ARE however Life. And the idea of Life has been extended by many in the church to encompass the sperm in sperm banks, the fertilized egg in a woman and ALL of this with NO support from the scriptures that they rely upon. This whole struggle that pits the church against the realities of Life IS but another example of the Master’s words saying “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). Further, we should understand that as the church attempts to make their view public policy and law they have NO answer for the millions of additional children that would be born to a parent that could or would NOT care for them; add to this that the political affiliation toward which most church leaders lean has been openly aggressive against ALL ideas of welfare and assistance for those who come in need.
Most important here however IS the reality that the church has given itself authority to be the arbiter of what IS right and wrong and while they lean on their literal interpretations of scripture to justify their position on many matters, there ARE NOT real scriptural positions that can be Truly seen as contrary to the right of a woman to abort a pregnancy. Perhaps it IS with this in mind that the courts have come to the conclusion that it IS viability of the fetus that matters and while the church may call a fetus a child, that DOES NOT make it so. The True answer to ALL of this IS found in Paul’s expansion of Jesus’ words that ARE our selection from his Epistle to the Romans. In the simplicity of the idea that we should “mortify the deeds of the body” IS the answer to ALL such daunting questions regarding human morality as regards the focus of one’s Life in this world of vanity that DOES NOT see the reality of God. While the church has built their doctrines of morality and while they KNOW that most regarding sex ARE untenable save for their doctrinal views, most ALL plod on because it IS the course that they have chosen. But this IS NOT the course that the Lord chose for His apostles and His disciples; the Master DID NOT say that the church should teach the “commandments of men” that have become their doctrines. The Master tells us clearly that we should be “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). We should understand here that the Master’s commandments ARE clear and that most of them ARE NOT interpretable into church doctrine; most ALL revolve around the singular idea of keeping His words as we read in our trifecta of spiritual Truth. The Master tells us:
- “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).
This IS what the church should be teaching rather than their own mitzvah, their own developed doctrines that DO NOT encompass the reality that Jesus shows the Jews saying “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). Understanding that Jesus’ words, His commandments, ARE NOT convenient has led the church, from the beginning, to seek out doctrinal positions that DO NOT require men to perform such inconvenient things as “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. It IS this that IS the KEY to ALL Truth and this that the Master expands upon along with His apostles so that the the reality of what He commands IS unmistakable. This reality IS however a difficult one to perform while in the grasp of the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, of this world and, while the doctrinal approach IS the easier path, it IS itself unprofitable and ONLY serves to lead men DOWN wrong paths. We should understand that while there IS benefit to the nebulous ideas of faith and believing that the church tells us ARE ALL that ARE needed for ‘salvation‘, their ONLY view of that ‘salvation‘ IS founded in the promise of an eternity in a place called heaven; yet another idea that has NO True scriptural backing save for some out of context and misapplied ideas. Since so much of the doctrines that ARE intended to replace the Truth of the Master’s words have NO real basis in fact, the church has continually focused upon ideas of sex and the occult to stake out positions that ARE defensible to their followers. While the ideas behind their ‘moral objections‘ to sex ARE based in the tenor of the apostles’ writings, such ARE but sidebars that ARE found amid the greater Truths on which the apostles’ write. It IS these sidebars however that have taken up nearly the entire attention, the focus if you will, of the church yet today. A church that teaches ideas of ‘salvation‘ through affirmations and confessions that ‘lead’ men to faith and believing, and through rites and rituals passed down from the origins of the non-apostolic church. While the apostles’ may speak out against fornication, we should understand that there IS a duality to this idea as we discuss above. And while there ARE specific ideas offered that ARE clearly speaking about the sexual fornication, these ARE better tied to the focus of a man upon the things of God over the things of the flesh than they ARE upon the act itself. We should understand as well that the interaction of the sexes IS as much a natural biological function for men as it IS in the entire animal kingdom, a function that CAN NOT be legislated against in religion nor in the secular world. It should be clear in this that there will be pregnancies and that many of these ARE unintended and unwanted and while the church’s ideas on abstinence may work for the few, they ARE NOT a panacea; the pull of vanity IS much too strong. At the same time the same forces of religious thought that ARE opposed to abortion ARE also opposed to sexual education. They ARE also opposed to the alternate sexual interactions between men and women and boys and girls that ARE NOT likely to lead to pregnancy. Generally, the church IS simply opposed to sex outside of a marriage but DOES NOT offer teachings and explanations that ARE based in the Truth of the Master’s words and the teaching of His apostles. There ARE NO easy answers to the sexual dilemma that IS so based upon the natural biological functions of people and we should add here that the divisiveness of the churches teachings on such matters, along with abortion and homosexuality, will NOT help change those dynamics that they seek to change. ONLY teaching the Truth of the nature of man and his relationship to God and his fellowman can begin to erode the self-centered ideas into which most ALL ARE born, the vanity, into which they ARE then nurtured and indoctrinated.
The way to prevent abortions IS to prevent pregnancies but the church IS also against contraception. There IS NO valid reason for this save the attitudes of men, attitudes that ARE NOT founded in scripture nor in the reality of Life. To put the reasoning for the churches opposition upon the biblical idea of “be fruitful and multiply” IS a stretch of the saying’s intent and to compound this with the story of Onan which we cite above IS but foolishness which IS NOT founded in a story which serves an entirely different purpose. While it may seem a stretch for us to wander into this discussion of abortion, homosexuality and fornication from our starting point of the reality of Satan and the devil, it IS NOT. We should NOT see these human failings, abortion, homosexuality and fornication, as anything but the results of the vanity into which men ARE born. Vanity IS difficult to overcome and to this end we have the Master’s words that tell us that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Perhaps the place to begin IS to recognize this Truth against the doctrinal belief that the ‘believer‘ has already found this narrow way, a belief that IS founded in that same vanity, that same illusion and glamour, that obnubilates the Truth and keeps the church ever so far from that Life which Jesus says can be “life….more abundantly“. In the fullness of His words saying “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10) Jesus shows us the difference between the carnal, the thief, and the Spiritual, the Lord. In the end the solution for the sexual dilemma IS found in Paul’s words that ARE NOT seen by the church as a necessary accomplishment and this because they believe that they have already achieved or DON’T need to “mortify the deeds of the body“. We close today repeating the apostle’s words saying:
“they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in
hope, Becauseexpectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:5-23).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 2a New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
