Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CCLXX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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Of all that the Master told us, He considered this as the Greatest of Commandments. So much of what we are to understand as aspirants or as believers is found in the precept that we must KEEP HIS WORDS:

“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 12:30-31).

We ask ourselves 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.

We add to this THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST which can serve to both give us an understanding of what it means to Love oneself and how it is that we can Love our neighbor:

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“ (Matthew 7:12).

Our last post finally finished up our work on the words of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians where he tells us the nature of what we call the True disciple, that he is “a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). We repeat this again so that the reality of the High Calling is understood and that we understand our own potential and that goal toward which we strive; it IS here that we fulfill the admonition of the Master who tells us of this same reality and potential saying: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) as He finishes the first part of His Sermon on the Mount and that part that tells us that we MUST look away from the self and look at ALL in Love. Does it not make much sense that since “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) that we will be, in our perfection, Love as well and seeing that this is so, does it not make sense that we should practice this Love above ALL else? And this IS our theme as we approach the Festival of the Christ on Friday, May 24; and here below we include again the words of Paul to the Corinthians and add back those verses that are missing so that we can get a fuller picture of His message and the intent of it:

But earnestly desire the best gifts.

And yet I show you a more excellent way.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,

I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy,

and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,

but have not love, I am nothing. 

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

and though I give my body to be burned,

but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease;

whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;

but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13

We should remember here that this version above is from the New King James Version where the Greek word agape (agapao) is rendered as Love and not as Charity as it is rendered in the original King James Version which is our standard text and this is only important as we look at our own definition of this Love which we borrow from Webster’s early dictionaries as their definition of Charity. In this we should see the link between these two ideas and the universality that was intended from the beginning as regards the ideas inherent in agape and which are detailed without real definition in the words of the Master and His apostles, words that lost in the common understanding of both of these rendered words. Our adopted definition says: 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 NOT a complete understanding of Love as agape we can see in this definition the reality of the Master’s words as He gives them to us in the Great Commandments and in the Golden Rule and the teachings of the Ages as they convey to us the Right Human Relations and GoodWill that have not yet reached their fulfillment in the world of men in form. What prevents this fulfillment is simply the sense of self that is based in the vanity to which we ARE subjected as a race and this we should see clearly in Paul’s words to the Romans that we use so often saying: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). Now in this vanity we do understand the glamour and the illusion that beset the race and we should see here as well the role of Love, the role of agape, in the finality of the apostle’s words here, that we will realize the “glorious liberty of the children of God“; children who ARE as their Father……Love. And we must ever remember that these ideas are fulfilled in the realization in our carnal mind of the Power and the Love of the Soul, the Christ Within: that we ARE in this Love and we ARE this Love as Souls and that it IS our objective to express this through our Life in form thereby overcoming these forces that beset us. In this we can stand and say with the Master “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

As we have been presenting the words of Paul to the Corinthians about Love, we have been focused upon His message that without Love, none of the other so called gifts and virtues of the religious Life matter….he tells us that:

• Without Love he IS nothing; here we should see the ideas that he is conveying from our perspective as aspirants as we understand that prophecy, and KNOWING the mysteries, and having that faith to move mountains is for naught without Love and here we should try to clarify these ideas. These ‘gifts’ are the reward of the disciple, that he becomes a KNOWER with full faith is the providence of “a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ“ and thereby a True disciple according to our scale. Here we should understand that without Love these things ARE NOT possible for the man in the world and that it IS Love that actually can bring a man to this state of discipleship and that the apostle’s words are intended to point this out from the perspective of IF. Even IF I could do ALL these things, without Love I am still a man focused in the world and, from a spiritual perspective, I am nothing. Now there may be men in the world throughout Christian history and yet today who believe that they have the gift of prophesy and knowledge of the mysteries and great faith but if these men do not practice that Love that the Master teaches, they are but deceiving themselves; and this IS so for us as well as we may believe that we have come so far: if we do not have and practice that same Love that the Master teaches us, we ARE NOTHING  as well. Remember here James’ words: “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
• Without Love his teaching is as “sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” and this is a simple reality for us to see; the words may sound good, except they be offered in Love they are meaningless. Paul’s acknowledgement is that the words of the teacher who does not fulfill the Royal Law are but empty words, noise if you will and, while some may hear and follow, the teacher IS doing them a disservice as he leads them without the True example of His Love. Again we go to James’ writings where we read: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well” (James 2:8) and we should here understand in simplicity that if we ARE NOT doing well, then WE ARE doing poorly.
• Without Love his efforts are profitless as regards the True spiritual Life. The apostle tells us here that the outward appearance of what one does are also of no moment if there IS NO Love behind them. Many give because of the supposed rewards that they are taught about by doctrine, the promises of Abraham and the manifold returns spoken of by the Master which are believed to be of this world; many others give because they have and they believe that in tithing they will reap their reward but, if neither of these give in Love then their giving IS useless, profitless from the spiritual perspective and this IS the apostle’s message. We see this in he Master writings on giving as well; He tells us that giving should be done as a private affair and not broadcast; Jesus tells us: “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:1-4). If we see here that we give for the sake of giving we see much and this IS Love, this IS GoodWill and this IS Right Human Relations. Now it IS unclear what the apostle means by “I give my body to be burned” but let us assume that this is a noble thing that IS beneficial to others. Along then with giving we have this burning and while in and of themselves they are good and noble things to do, if we DO NOT DO them in Love there is no profit, and in profit we should not read carnal reward but rather spiritual collateral. We can look at this in another way which, as we say above, tells us that the realities of True discipleship are not possible without Love. Here we should remember the Master’s words to the rich young man, that if he gives ALL away, forsakes ALL that this act when, added to the the man’s already keeping His words, can bring him to perfection which IS the hallmark of the True disciple. Jesus tell this man: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (Matthew 19:21), In this Light of the perfect man, the True disciple, we can see, if we look, the possibility that this burning is the apostle’s speaking of the Transfiguration, the ultimate of discipleship, which is described by the apostles who witnessed this as: “and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:2) and in this we can see Paul’s sense of burning, with our understanding of the limitations of language and the maintenance of the mysteries. In these ideas of perfection and Transfiguration we can see the same message as we see in the other point on faith, that even if he were able to accomplish these things, without Love they are meaningless and again we clarify in  saying that without Love they are impossible.

And we should understand here that the apostle IS NOT speaking of himself only but he is speaking for all who would believe that they are disciples of the Lord or that they are accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God and, while it has been some time since we have delved into the synonymy of these terms, we should try to remember this fact, that the criteria for the Kingdom IS the same as the criteria of discipleship and the supposed differences ARE but technical; both must be seen in the view that these are the result of keeping His words. There are likely many who would dispute this contention but this is a reality that we have covered in much depth and we should likely note that the disagreement with our understanding if found in those who do not see the Master’s words in their broadest sense but try to narrow it to allow for the presumed comfort that one can hope to find in this world…..and hope here IS that whimsical idea of our common understanding of hoping and wishing that we discussed yesterday in regard to the reality of True faith. We must understand here as well that the teachings on Love by the Master and His apostles show us, if nothing else, the high priority of Love as the primary component of keeping His words and it is in this vein that we continually discuss this highest of ALL ideals and virtues and these words fail miserably at showing the overall importance of Love.

This Love is perhaps the most difficult of ALL the Master’s teachings for the human to comprehend and to accomplish and the reason for this IS of course the sense of self that is fed by the vanity of Life in this Earth and which, while this sense IS the accomplishment of the free thinking and motivated individual which we ALL must be, the divine intent IS that this would be accomplished within the teachings and not without. That is, that we could accomplish the heights of self realization as the spiritual beings that we ARE, as the True self working through form. Now we should see here that the Plan of God that puts us here in this world of illusion and glamour does so with full knowledge of the perils of the self in the world as man is separated from the sense of God and of the reality of the True man but we should see here as well that as far back as we have recorded history from a biblical perspective, the sanctity of Love for one’s neighbor has been of paramount importance and this IS traced for us by the Master back to the days of Moses and, as we premised in an earlier post, likely further back than this as based upon the writings about Noah and Lot in Abraham’s day.

And perhaps it is owing to this difficulty that we are come upon the New Age of Aquarius where Love and brotherhood and harmony are the KEY words. This shows us, if we dare to look, that the entirety of this creation in which we live is ever evolving and this current psychic evolution of the Truth of Love is built upon the successive lessons of the previous ages and in this we should try to see that in the enormity of the created universe, “that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28); and this idea of Love, when viewed from the perspective of the Soul, includes ALL men. So the reality here IS that we can, as Souls, extricate ourselves from this cycle of birth and death but this does require that we have equipment that IS suitable for the times and while this is a difficult thing to comprehend from our perspective and while the Law of Karma has full effect upon our successes and failures, this IS yet our reality. If at once, when we are in position as Souls working through personalities in the world, we can by the sheer effort of both the Soul and the personality see the Truth and work diligently at the process of Transformation, we can achieve the level of discipleship that is required to be finished, the level required to say with the Master that “I have overcome the world“.

This IS as we KNOW difficult and this the Master tells us and, for us as men in the world it IS a matter of forsaking this sense of self and immersing the self in the world in the Truth of Love. Love as Active GoodWill and Love as Right Human Relations which together give us the reality of Love for one’s neighbor as that universal GoodWill without respect to persons; and, the practice of the Golden Rule which we should remember in the way of Emmet Fox who tells us: “The important point about the Golden Rule is that I am to practice it whether the other fellow does so or not”**.

We will continue with out 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 should ever understand that the purpose of our aspiration and of our discipleship is to bring into the world our expression of the Love and the Power of the Soul both as an example of the righteous Life and as a ready aid to our brothers, our neighbors and the stranger who qualifies as both. Our intent should be to serve and in our service to instill in others that same sense that we have; from a spiritual perspective to the spiritual man, and from a worldly perspective to the man who is yet grounded in the world. The Apostle Paul puts it this way for us from his own Life and personal experience:

“for if I may proclaim good news, it is no glorying for me, for necessity is laid upon me, and wo is to me if I may not proclaim good news; for if willing I do this, I have a reward; and if unwillingly — with a stewardship I have been entrusted! What, then, is my reward? — that proclaiming good news, without charge I shall make the good news of the Christ, not to abuse my authority in the good news; for being free from all men, to all men I made myself servant, that the more I might gain; and I became to the Jews as a Jew, that Jews I might gain; to those under law as under law, that those under law I might gain; to those without law, as without law — (not being without law to God, but within law to Christ) — that I might gain those without law; I became to the infirm as infirm, that the infirm I might gain; to all men I have become all things, that by all means I may save some. And this I do because of the good news, that a fellow-partaker of it I may become;  have ye not known that those running in a race — all indeed run, but one doth receive the prize? so run ye, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:16-24).

With this in mind we redo a past Quote of the Day and one that we have been using from very early on in this blog. The sentiment here is the fulfillment of our duty as aspirants and disciples and our duty it to instill these ideas in the hearts and minds of others.

Values to Live By

A Love of Truth—essential
for a just, inclusive and progressive society;

A Sense of Justice—recognition
of the rights and needs, of all.

Spirit of Cooperation—based
on active goodwill and the principle of right human
relationships;

A Sense of Personal Responsibility—for
group, community and national affairs;

Serving the Common Good— through
the sacrifice of selfishness. Only what is good for all
is good for each one.

The world of the future depends on what each one of us chooses to do today.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ** From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc