Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCXXXIV
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:18-23).
We finally did get into our sayings above in the last essay having discussed the first two verses. In so doing we realize that our approach is a bit uneven as the perspective of the Apostle Paul in writing this is difficult to put into words and we will try to correct this as we continue today. We must understand that when the apostle here speaks of God from his perspective over 2000 years ago as the ONE God as understood by that culture, we speak of that same God from the perspective of the God Within and we should try to see here that Paul KNOWS this but is likely unable to express it in terms that would be understood by his ancient readers. The God Within and the Universal God ARE the same from our perspective yet there are not many people proportionately that will understand this yet today and few see the reality of our approach to God being through our own God Within and in that same Kingdom which the Master tells us IS within us as well saying “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). We have spoken on these words many times in our posts and it is unfortunate that even in this day and age and even with the Master clearly saying these words, that this IS NOT yet understood. Despite this saying and despite the apostles’ words on this idea there is still little understanding of this great and important Truth in the world today; citing but a few examples of this revelation from the apostles we read:
- “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 21:26-27)
- “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. (Romans 8:9-10).
- “But if our gospel be hid , it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:3-7).
For us there is a clarity here but only because we understand the Truth of the Master’s saying above. In not understanding nor believing that the Master Truly means that the Kingdom is within each and every one of us, it is difficult to then rightly understand the idea set forth by Paul and the other apostles; it is easier to think along with doctrine that when a man ‘gives’ himself to Jesus that Jesus comes to live within him. The problems here are that the very sense of ‘giving’ oneself to Jesus is flawed at best as it does not consider the Apostle James’ words nor the reality of the Master’s teachings which are ever so clear; we read:
- “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
- “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” (John 14:23).
In this second point is a saying that feeds the common understanding that if one ‘gives’ himself to the Lord, that Jesus or Christ or God will come and live within but what is missing for the many is the reality of keeping His words….the reality of keeping ALL his words in one’s heart and striving to accomplish ALL in Life. This keeping His words is of course the Way to the Kingdom and we KNOW from above that this Kingdom is Within. Can we understand here why this is so confusing to so many? Can we understand as well that this confusion dissipates as the man actually comes to keep His words? The reality here is clear from our perspective and this is that the Soul, the God and the Christ Within are in EVERY MAN regardless of any worldly separating factors such as race, nation, culture, religion or beliefs; this God Within is a reality for EVERY MAN. The difference IS, as we ofttimes say, the realization of this Truth in the waking consciousness; a realization that may begin as a glimpse given by hearing the prompting of the Soul, a realization that grows in the consciousness of a man as he heeds the prompting and begins to see the reality grow as his focus changes to the things of God. As we have said, this is the first stage of one’s journey to the Path to God, this IS Repentance.
Here, more than 2000 years later, there is still confusion on these matters and the doctrines of the churches have not changed so that the availability of this Truth is only to them who can break away and search for it and this is likely only to those like us who can not find satisfaction in the teachings of doctrine. In Paul’s time then we can see this reality of not KNOWING the Truth of the God Within, the Soul that IS the True man and hence in his speaking to them he offers his words in a way that can be understood by those whom he is teaching while at the same time offering the greater Truth to those who can accept it. And this IS our point, that when the apostle tells us that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” we see the God Within revealing through that established channel that IS formed by our focus upon the True Life and in this saying we should try to see that the revealing happens in ALL instances but is only KNOWN by those who can and do listen. This is of course contrary to the more common understanding that the apostle is speaking about God as the Universal, Boundless and Infinite Presence being angry with the man in the world. John Gill in his Exposition of the Bible tells us on this verse that: By “the wrath of God” is meant the displicency and indignation of God at sin and sinners; his punitive justice, and awful vengeance; the judgments which he executes in this world; and that everlasting displeasure of his, and wrath to come in another world, which all through sin are deserving of, some are appointed to, God’s elect are delivered from, through Christ’s sustaining it, in their room and stead, and which comes and abides on all impenitent and unbelieving persons……8. Now perhaps this understanding is as the apostle intended from the perspective of the casual reader of his words but for those that he is writing to, aspirants and disciples, there is a deeper message that Paul does not hide nor cover and one that is only discernible to those who look for the greater reality.
From Paul’s perspective here we should see that he puts forth these words in a matter of fact way and our understanding of this is expressed in the last essay which in short says that there is a displeasure ‘felt’ by the Soul who sees his Life in form captivated by the illusion and the glamour and is proceeding in actions that are done in “ungodliness and unrighteousness“; this IS a matter of fact and this displeasure is revealed to the consciousness in form through conscience. That a man hears or heeds the promptings of the Soul through conscience depends on the ‘spiritual’ state of the man in form and this is not to be seen negatively but simply as a matter of fact. Can we understand here that ungodly is just focus on things other than God and unrighteousness is not living in His word and these afflict most ALL men? The apostle also makes this personal to the reader who is purportedly an aspirant or a disciple, one who claims this distinction but who at the same time falters and believes that in his faltering that he is yet righteous. Perhaps speaking of these same faltering men, he makes this next statement, again a statement of fact, to remind them of their inherent spiritual nature as he says “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them” as there is little of benefit here to the casual reader who has no understanding of the Soul or the God Within. To those who do understand the apostle is telling them that they KNOW these things as the Soul, the God Within, who KNOWS these things and has revealed them to the consciousness and here the choice of words is more the personal translated as shewed. Here we can take the idea that in revealed there can be that unresponsiveness of the consciousness which does not see nor hear the prompting of displeasure while in shewed we have the idea that the consciousness does see and hear and so our premise that the apostle IS speaking to the aspirant and the disciple directly which premise we also take from his opening statement which addresses his words to “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” (Romans 1:7). Now we can see as well that Paul is speaking to the aspirant and the disciple about those who are yet focused in the ungodly and the unrighteousness and this part is clarified for us by the next verse.
Having given these words intended to clarify our thoughts on the apostle’s sayings, we continue now to the next part: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made“. Here again we have the apostle making a statement of fact; more factual for those who can see and hear the Soul’s promptings but at the same time apparent to ALL who choose to look. These invisible things are those spoken of by the apostle in different places as he tells us “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16). Now we are hard pressed to understand what Paul means in these words and the interpretation of these are generally of a carnal nature as referring to men in the world, and we should see here that the apostle qualifies these things he cites as among the “visible and invisible” and the idea here is similar to what we are looking for in our subject verse; ALL things are made by Him and we can see the reality of the invisible by observing the visible but this IS NOT only speaking of the the concrete things of the Earth. For example the very laws of nature are “created by him, and for him” so that the gravity that keeps our feet on the ground can be seen as among those things created but at the same time this is invisible and yet can be seen by the evidence of its existence. So we should not take this saying to mean merely those things that we see but other powers and forces that make Life here possible and the apostles thought here is that we can see God in these things so that the Awesome Cohesive Power of this creation can be seen by the gravity with which we deal here on earth.
We should understand here that the purpose of this saying in the context that it is offered is clarified for us in the last part of this verse which tells us: “even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse“. Here we have the argument that in seeing the awesomeness of His creation, how can one deny God as the Eternal Power that created it. This qualifies further His earlier sayings so that they effect those who do not see and hear the promptings of the Soul as well as those that do for even in not seeing or hearing, even in focus upon the world only, one must get the idea that there is a Greater Power behind it ALL which CAN NOT be denied. We can look at this from the perspective that the apostle is speaking of certain types of men and this is the way that doctrine views this but we say that this is spoken to ALL men who have not attained the Kingdom of God, who are yet ungodly in some or all ways and who are unrighteous the same way. And, at the same time we should see the reality of his words as he speaks of those “who hold the truth in unrighteousness” which we understand as ALL who believe that they are righteous but yet do not keep His words and we should try to see that this, like so many things spiritual, works by degree. We should note also that this is further clarified by the next verse which tells us: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened“.
Again, and at the risk of offending those who believe that following doctrine is the same as keeping His words, we should understand that this as well as ALL that we have said so far pertains to those of us who ARE NOT doing so but who by way of doctrine and belief think that they are and in this we remind again of the words of the Apostle James saying “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). The first part of this next verse is likely targeted toward some in Rome who understand the preceding ideas, they can see in their own way the reality of God by seeing His creation before them but at the same time they do not change their understanding of Life but rather maintained their focus on the self and self in the world. In saying this we should understand that there is likely a target for all of the apostle’s remarks here but as we note at the beginning, Paul seems to be expressing his thoughts from a variety of perspectives and here the perspective is clearly toward the man in form grounded in the world while prior he seems to be speaking of the more spiritual. Overall he is speaking however to us ALL and it is we as men in the world who should take to heart his understanding which can be seen from most all human perspectives and includes ALL who, KNOWING God by any means, do not ‘glorify’ Him as God but rather as they see Him, and, from the perspective of the religious person, as doctrine sees Him. The rest of this goes to our ongoing point regarding the differences between what the Master actually does teach us and the way that doctrine interprets His teachings and we can see in the multiplicity of denominations and sects that vain imaginations are at work as the Truth of His words IS exchanged for those ideas that are convenient for men. We can see as well that in the centuries that have elapsed since Jesus was with us, man has allowed His Truth to be diluted and changed to suit the needs of men and in this the result can be seen as “their foolish heart was darkened“; and this can be apparent to ALL as we look at history and look at the state of the world today as well..
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect of God |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
We are again at a time of year that includes the three Spiritual Festivals which are yet largely unrecognized by the Christian churches except for the one that recently past called Easter. We know about these festivals through the teaching and the efforts of the Master’s of the Wisdom who we should see as advanced disciples of the Christ, a group which may yet include those Souls that appeared with the Master as His Apostles, disciples and others who aided and assisted in His Great Mission such as the Baptist and His natural mother Mary. Each of these festivals is celebrated at a Full Moon and the cycle begins with Easter which is celebrated on the Sunday following the first Full Moon of Spring. At the Full Moon of May, which occurs on the 5th day of the month, is the Wesak Festival which is the Festival of the Buddha and at the Full Moon of June, which will occur on the 4th of June, is the Christ Festival also known today as World Invocation Day. As we progress toward the Wesak Festival we will post Quote’s of the Day that are, in our view, conducive to the view of the Buddha and the Christ as regards the spreading of Love and GoodWill throughout the world; we begin with the Affirmation of the Disciple.
I am a point of light within a greater Light.
I am a strand of loving energy within the stream of Love divine.
I am a point of sacrificial Fire, focused within the fiery Will of God.
And thus I stand
I am a way by which men may achieve.
I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand.
I am a beam of light, shining upon their way.
And thus I stand.
And standing thus, revolve
And tread this way the ways of men,
And know the ways of God.
And thus I stand.
We repeat again what we had previously said of this Mantram:
Today’s Quote of the Day is called the Affirmation of the Disciple and is spoken from the perspective of the Soul and not from that of the man in form. It is the Soul that we are in this life on Earth, housed in this ‘temple’ of flesh and it is the Light of the Soul that must flow through this ‘temple’ in order that we may say with the Christ “I have overcome the world“ (John 16:33) which is our goal and our destiny. Speaking then as the Soul we affirm our reality and true existence in God and in His Three Aspects of Light and Love and His Will. As this Light and Love and Will flow through our conscious personalities and forms we, as disciples, take on the nature of the second stanza being able to offer to the world a better way through our service and our Love for all, encouragement to righteousness through our strength of purpose, and the Light which shines in accordance with the Master’s instructions to “Let your light so shine before men” (Matthew 5:16) and illuminates the Path. Finally we realize that we are standing in this world and walking as men but, as conscious Souls in form, we know the way and the ways of God and are able to say with the Christ that “I am not of this world” (John 8:23).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
