ON LOVE; PART MCDXXXII
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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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We ended the last essay with some words from the Apostle Paul on agape, on the Power of our expression of Love as it serves to allow us to keep His words. We see this as an unrealized Christian idea that IS NOT shown in the doctrinal approach of men to God and this largely because the reality of agape has NOT been understood since the beginning. The apostle tells us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) and here we should understand that this reference to the law IS NOT to the Jews’ understanding of what had become their mitzvah but rather to the reality of those parts of the law that concern the relationships of men with their brothers and neighbors; those parts that ARE amplified by the Master and expanded in scope as we discussed in the last post. We have often discussed the way that the reality of agape was NOT totally lost in the Jews’ religion as IS revealed in the way that at least some understood the depth of the Great Commandments even while practicing their religion according to their own doctrines rather that the Truth. As Jesus expanded the scope of Moses’ commandments and made them His own, He chose out of their mitzvah men’s ideas regarding those commandments that were misapplied and misunderstood; among these ARE such things as animal sacrifice, circumcision and the sabbath, ideas that dominated the Jew’s religious practices and against which the Master ofttimes spoke. Throughout His own ‘ministry’ in this world Jesus emphasized two main points that ARE intimately related; keeping His words as we highlight through our trifecta and our expression of agape which idea colors most ALL of His teaching. It IS both of these ideas that Paul IS promoting in his words to the Galatians above and in his words to the Romans saying “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” (Romans 13:9).
Both of these sayings from Paul embody the Way of the True Christian who through Repentance and Transformation allows the Love that IS the Soul, the agape that IS the Lord, to influence and ultimately control his expression as a man in this world. Paul IS telling us something that yet remains hidden from view in the churches today as most ALL have chosen other words, out of context words to be sure, to represent the Christian journey; words in which the idea of agape IS ill understood and has become but a ‘talking point’ rather than a Life’ mission. Paul IS simply saying that when we can overcome our own selfish natures and see ALL men with NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9), that we can then Truly embrace agape as the singular Way to the Truth, the singular Way to keeping His words. It IS in keeping His words that we can then have realization of the Truth, the Kingdom and the True Presence of the Lord in our lives; it IS this that Jesus shows us in our trifecta which we repeat here 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).
Jesus’ words here represent the True promises to us for keeping His words while the church has concentrated their idea of rewards in carnal terms. We often insert the Apostle Peter’s words into this conversation to show us the reality of the promises, that they ARE NOT those things that men long after. While the doctrinal ideas come from such sayings as “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4), we should try to see that such Old Testament ideas ARE among those that ARE deemphasized by the Master as He promotes the idea of selflessness in worldly affairs. Add to this the way that Jesus’ words on Life intersect with this idea of selflessness and we have the most basic reality of the Life achieved through keeping His words. Jesus tells us such things as “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25) but His parabolic tone IS NOT understood in spiritual terms. In these words we have the epitome of focus understood as a spiritual tool; our focus upon our mortal lives IS addressed by the Master in such words as “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Matthew 6:25); His meaning however has been altered to suit the mortal lives of men. The duality of Life has been lost from the beginning and this despite Jesus’ attempts to explain the idea albeit parabolically. It IS focus upon the self and the things of the self in this world that prevent men from understanding the depth of His words saying “Take no thought for your life“. It IS this idea of taking thought that feeds into His words above where the end result IS stated as “He that loveth his life shall lose it“. It IS this idea that IS amplified by Paul who tells us to “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8). Paul shows us the idea of focus as a choice here and Truly it IS. Peter however shows us the rewards for “he that soweth to the Spirit“, he that can change his focus through Repentance and Transformation. The apostle tells us “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to[b] glory and virtue: 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 1:3-4).
Peter’s words here intersect with the Master’s as the apostle defines for us these ideas of losing one’s Life and keeping “it unto life eternal“. On the keeping side of this equation we should see those “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” while on the losing side we should see that we DID NOT escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. It IS unfortunate that such ideas have NOT permeated the Christian doctrinal approach to the Lord, an approach that DOES NOT include the need to escape, which idea should be understood in terms of Repentance. The Master tells us that “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19) in regard to the whole of His teaching and we should try to see that these words have the same effect on the spiritual lives of men as DO Peters; it IS the man that has “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” that IS keeping His words. As Peter’s words ARE our guide to the “exceeding great and precious promises“, Paul’s words, when viewed in context and without doctrinal ideas, tell us much the same things. Paul tells us that “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” As Peter and Jesus, Paul here shows us the dichotomy between the carnal Life and the spiritual and then continues to show us that “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” (Romans 8:5-7, 13). While there is for us an undeniable admonition to keep His words throughout the New Testament, in the words of Jesus and of His apostles, the doctrinal church DOES NOT see this need as they wrongly equate the idea of keeping His words with Paul’s words on the “works of the law” (Romans 9:32). words which should be seen in a totally different context.
Returning now to the Master’s words that amplify and clarify the Old Testament commandments we come to Jesus’ words that ARE perhaps the summation of ALL that IS His teaching. Jesus tells us “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, 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 5:43-44). These words ARE the True crux of Christianity as we apply them to the Truth of agape and we should understand this idea in two ways, both of which ARE a part of the defining ideas for crux. We should note here that the word has a third meaning which IS simply a cross, a very appropriate Christian term to use here. First the word crux means: a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point* and in this definition from today’s dictionary we should clearly see how that agape IS such to the whole of the True Christian movement. Agape IS the most vital and basic aspect of the Master’s teaching; agape IS a most decisive idea as whensoever one DOES embrace agape it becomes a Life changing enterprise; Paul shows us this saying “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. In this regard agape IS the singularly most important pivotal point and here we must remember the words of the Apostle John who tells us that “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8, 16). The final definition of crux offered by today’s dictionary IS perhaps a defining idea regarding the Way of Love, the Way of agape, over the last 2000 years. This definition tells us that this crux of Christianity IS: something that torments by its puzzling nature; a perplexing difficulty*. The whole idea of agape has Truly become a perplexing difficulty for men in this world who through their self-centered nature CAN NOT see the True effect of this expression of Love nor how that it NOT ONLY changes the comportment of a man but can also have world changing effects. The puzzling nature of agape should be evident as the idea IS bandied about by religions and people but never understood apart from the idea that it IS the ‘God kind of Love’; a meaningless refrain at best. Agape IS most often equated with the common idea of Love which also has NO standard of meaning and generally refers to men’s mental and emotional attachment and attraction to others and to things and ideas from their experiences in this world. Can we see how that this idea that agape IS the crux of Christianity applies and how that agape IS in many ways the cross that must be borne by ALL who Truly seek His Kingdom? In our saying from Jesus above we should be able to see the True intent of agape, that our expression must be to ALL as the idea of neighbor IS ALL encompassing, and that agape IS to be expressed NOT ONLY those who ARE close to us but to enemies, to those that may curse and hate us and to those that may persecute and use us despitefully. It IS in this regard, and NOT ONLY in regard to Earthly status or station, that we should see James’ words saying “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10).
The reality of having NO “respect to persons” IS a defining quality of True agape and it IS here that many CAN NOT fathom the idea of Loving a stranger, regardless of Earthly station or status, in the same way that one Loves one’s own child or parents or spouse. Jesus’ commandments here regarding agape ARE NOT the idle words that they have become, words that ARE NOT doctrinally explained nor expounded upon without excuse. Jesus commandments here, as well as those that reflect the necessary meekness of the disciple, ARE those that He speaks of when telling us of those that “shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so” and we should understand that it IS in keeping His words that we “shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven“. While the idea of His saying here seems to be limited to the view of men who DO or DO NOT keep His commandments, the greater reality IS told us in the next verse where the Master tells us more clearly that “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Of course we should note here that in Jesus’ heavenly view the “scribes and Pharisees” ARE NOT righteous and that in our striving to keep His words we ARE then more righteous than the “scribes and Pharisees“. This striving however IS NOT to KNOW and understand our chosen doctrinal approach to the Lord; this striving IS to KNOW and to Love the Lord which idea IS clearly presented in our trifecta as “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. We should try to see that our striving must center around our expression of agape and our understanding of the entire concept IS a necessary ingredient to our success. Here we must come to understand the idea that our expression of Love must be with NO “respect to persons“; we must be able to see that the intent here clearly equates ALL persons so that our expression of agape IS universally equal to our family, our friends and to strangers which ARE covered under the idea of neighbor. We should understand here as well that James’ words on having NO “respect to persons” ARE but an amplification and clarification of the Master’s words that we ARE discussing plus those ideas that He offers us regarding our expression of agape as disciples of the Lord. We should understand here how that this expression with NO “respect to persons” IS the cure for most ALL of the that ails humanity in this world; in this expression of agape there CAN NOT be prejudices or hatreds and the veils of religion, nationality, culture, race and appearance fade from view and ARE eliminated in the attitudes of men.
We pause here to reflect upon the attitude of the churches regarding this limited understanding of agape through John Lennon’s song Imagine where His words ARE still misunderstood as many in the church decry the unifying thoughts engendered by his words. Our point here IS that there can be NO prejudices and hatreds in the True expression of agape and any that offer divisive ideas regarding other races, religions and cultures, especially in promotion of one’s own, IS far from the reality of agape; such attitudes are steeped in the carnal ways of men in this world. In the opening lines of the song the ideas of heaven and hell ARE questioned in his lyrics saying “Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us, only sky“. If we can see how that such ideas ARE the creations of men in the first place, perhaps we can see the greater point. There IS NO biblical version of what men believe regarding heaven and hell, there IS NO place in scripture that tells us of a heaven that ‘believers‘ will go to when they die; nor IS there a scripture regarding hell as the biblical idea is more tied to one’s burial place. In Hebrew the idea of hell IS hades or the world of the dead9a according to Strong’s with NO distinguishment between believers and non-believers. In Greek the idea IS from the word geenna which Strong’s tells us IS the: valley of (the son of) Hinnom; ge-henna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem, used (figuratively) as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment9a ; here we should understand that the figurative use IS formulated by men based in their interpretations of the words used in the New Testament. Vincent tells us that: The word Gehenna, rendered hell, occurs outside of the Gospels only at James 3:6. It is the Greek representative of the Hebrew Ge – Hinnom, or Valley of Hinnom, a deep, narrow glen to the south of Jerusalem, where, after the introduction of the worship of the fire – gods by Ahaz, the idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children to Molech. Josiah formally desecrated it, “that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech” (2 Kings 23:10). After this it became the common refuse – place of the city, into which the bodies of criminals, carcasses of animals, and all sorts of filth were cast. From its depth and narrowness, and its fire and ascending smoke, it became the symbol of the place of the future punishment of the wicked4. Again, there IS NO direct biblical reality to the doctrinal understanding which places religion as the way to avoid hell; and such ideas of heaven and hell play such a large role in moving people into doctrinal religions through their indoctrination.
Believing that such ideas ARE erroneous as we DO IS likely Lennon’s motivation to lead his song this way and perhaps the idea IS better expressed in the Catholic Act of Contrition which begins with “O my God, I am heartly sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell“. With NO heaven and NO hell there IS NO dread which idea can play a large role in human thoughts, attitudes and behavior. Closing out these first words the lyrics say “Imagine all the people, Livin’ for today” and here we should try to see the idea that in “Livin’ for today” we DO NOT suffer from the dread of worrying about our doctrinal future place of eternity. Lennon’s next words ARE words for Life in this world; he tells us to “Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion, too“. While it IS the reference to religion that the churches react to, they DO so without thinking through the way that it IS religion that causes much of the disharmony in this world yet today. From the Crusades to the Reformation wars to the conflicts in Northern Ireland and the various forms of jihad, there have ever been wars that center on religion. The others ARE based in the idea of countries and the way that too many seek to impose their will on others; a human failure that IS still occurring in several parts of the world. Can we see the point here? Can we see that it IS the division of the world into countries and religions and other forms of separation that prevent men from “Livin’ life in peace” which IS from the next lyrics saying “imagine all the people, Livin’ life in peace“
So then what ARE we imagining? The end of wars and the death and destruction that they bring can be possible in the absence of men’s views on religion and on national origins. Note that we ARE NOT advocating the end of countries and neither IS Lennon who IS asking us to imagine the effect, an effect that can be possible by the altered views of mankind. In religion the idea that each one maintains IS that it IS the ONLY True religion IS the biggest motivator toward religious confrontations. When we can see the different religions as but different paths to the same goal however perhaps the interreligious animosities can end. Similarly the idea of countries, of national superiority, must fade away and some strides have been made in this through the globalization of trade and travel. These have been enhanced by international consortiums formed under political and economic similarities of purpose and here perhaps the greatest consortium IS the United Nations although the results have at times been rather disappointing. Lennon’s chorus invites us to see the results as we eliminate the dread of living for an afterlife status, eliminate the constant wars and international confrontation and eliminate the divisiveness of religions and national prides. He says “You may say, I’m a dreamer, But I’m not the only one, I hope someday you’ll join us, And the world will be as one” and to be sure his dream IS fully aligned with the Master’s eternal Truths. The next part of Lennon’s song Imagine IS in regard to sharing which IS also, a topic that IS centered in True Christianity but ignored by most ALL. Jesus tells us that to be His disciple, His True disciple, we ARE to keep His words; He says “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). This Path to discipleship IS further elucidated by Jesus words on discipleship in Luke’s Gospel where we read “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). This IS perhaps the guidance for Lennon’s words saying “Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people Sharing all the world“. Clearly most ALL ARE NOT able to DO this nor ARE men taught this most important precept from the Master. “A brotherhood of man” while a high ideal, IS become but a platitude, as has the idea of sharing although there has been much movement in men’s ability to give to those in dire need and in times of calamity. Again, this idea of brotherhood IS perhaps the highest bar in a True Christian expression, this idea of “A brotherhood of man” IS the reality of our expression of agape. Lennon closes his song repeating the chorus as he invites us again to join in every effort to move the goalposts to a place where “the world will be as one“.
Despite the high Christian ideals embraced by Lennon in this song the church at large has been overly critical of both the lyrics and the intent. Perhaps it IS the single line including “And no religion, too” into the possibility of “Nothing to kill or die for” that became the idea that his lyrics were anti-religion. However, as we cite above, it IS ONLY men’s separative and divisive views of religion that IS the target of Lennon’s distaste for the status-quo inherent in religions and countries. Most ALL Christians DO NOT understand that the ultimate goal of ALL human existence IS and has always been the expression of agape and the sense of unity that such expression provides; this IS evident in such ‘Christian’ comments against Imagine as:
- “Imagine all the people. Living for today. John Lennon promoted, like Karl Marx, the “closed world” view of life. There is only today and what can be seen”; https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/imagine-marxist-legacy-john-lennon.
- “Lennon’s vision is taken to be the antithesis of a “religious” or “Christian” hope because it is totally focused on “this world”, not the next”; https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/faith-and-reason-imagine-really-atheist.
- ” ‘imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky…‘ I find the above one of the saddest thoughts ever put to music. Unfortunately this song has become the Humanist theme song”; https://blogs.bible.org/imagine-theres-no-lennon/
- Perhaps the clearest Christian view can be found in this excerpt: “The song wasn’t entirely accepted. The opening line “Imagine there’s no heaven” and later lyric “and no religion, too” incensed American Christian leaders who already disliked Lennon. These were the same people who burnt Beatles records after Lennon proclaimed the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus now” just five years earlier. In the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, the song was added to US mass media corporation Clear Channel’s “do not play” list, reportedly because of the “no heaven” line”; https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-04/imagine-50-years-john-lennon-beatles/100238128.
We should note that some of these articles ARE NOT as anti-Lennon or anti-Imagine as the excerpt may portend and ONLY a full reading can show the True intent of the authors. Our point however IS that the Christian world IS clearly antagonistic toward the lyrics and the author without ever realizing the deep Christian Truths that ARE embraced by this song. This song that IS a clear revelation of the result of the expression of Love in this world rather than the divisive and separatist ideas engendered by men’s understanding of religion, countries, heaven and hell and the role of possessions through the non-stop desires and lusts of men. In the end it IS the disciple that Truly comprehends the role of agape in ALL worldly affairs and relating this to the Apostle Paul’s ‘prayer’ from his Epistle to the Ephesians we should try to see how that Paul IS showing us the innermost ideas of being a disciple of the Lord. Paul prays “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19). It IS the disciple and the saint that IS “filled with all the fulness of God” which idea links the disciple to the Master of whom Paul writes that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). It IS this point that IS missed by the doctrinal thinkers of the world, most of whom rely upon Paul for their doctrines; few if any will admit to the reality that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). We should note that these words from John ARE written in the context of agape, how that “God is love agape“; we should try to understand here that as “God is love agape“, “so are we in this world” as True followers and disciples of the Lord. Jesus Himself tells us this saying “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). It IS these words from Jesus that comport with His other sayings that show us the possibilities of True discipleship, how we “shall know the truth” and have the capacity to understand and to accomplish His words 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).
It IS in discipleship that we understand that the reality of being a believer IS: not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts4 as Vincent shows us but rather 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 life4. Too many in the church today have minimized the ideas of believing and faith; these ideas have become so nebulous that the deep reality of pistis and pisteuo has been lost to generations of men who perhaps would otherwise Truly understand their intent. And the Master shows us the reality of our minimizing the Truth behind pistis and pisteuo as He asks that rhetorical question “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). The Christian answer to this IS muted by their doctrinal acceptance of their interpretations of Paul’s words and the idea that Jesus’ words were meant for the Jews; that the new covenant with the Christian world lies in the church interpretation of the death and resurrection of the Master and that in His death and resurrection there IS a new covenant that renders moot most ALL of His words. Most ALL of this IS tied to the doctrinal theories that Jesus death was substitutionary, an atonement for the sins of men and much of this doctrinal belief IS based in the Old Testament ideas of sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews offers us the idea that “without shedding of blood is no remission” and it IS this out of context idea that has served as a foundation for the need for a sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, to ‘lawfully’ pay for the sins of men. The subject of this section of the Book of Hebrews IS the sprinkling of blood according to the law and while the law IS held here as an important factor, it is eschewed in most other references based in the doctrinal interpretations of Paul’s words. The full verse from Hebrews reads “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22) and of this Vincent says that: The historical facts are summed up, emphasizing one point – cleansing by blood4. This IS the intent of the phrase which motivates much Christian thinking regarding atonement despite the disclaimer that tells us that “almost all things are by the law purged with blood“. Our point here IS that while there IS a doctrinal preference for the ideas of atonement as a gift from God for the salvation of men who believe, the greater reality lies in the Truth that the Master’s sacrifice, His death on the cross, provides for humanity the idea of at-one-ment based in agape for those who will accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 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
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
