ON LOVE; PART DXL
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“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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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
In the last post we completed our discussion of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew which represents the first third of the Sermon on the Mount. This chapter ends with the Master’s admonishment to ALL that they be perfect, a word that has taken on doctrinal meanings that were NOT the intent of the Master in this saying nor in others that point us to the same reality. Here in the Sermon Jesus IS telling us that it IS in our expression of Love that we can become perfect, that when we can see ALL men the same as the Father DOES, we CAN “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect“.
- The Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible tells us this: Be ye therefore–rather, “Ye shall therefore be,” or “Ye are therefore to be,” as My disciples and in My kingdom. perfect–or complete. Manifestly, our Lord here speaks, not of degrees of excellence, but of the kind of excellence which was to distinguish His disciples and characterize His kingdom. When therefore He adds, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect–He refers to that fullorbed glorious completeness which is in the great Divine Model, “their Father which is in heaven” 8.
- John Gill tells us: Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father; This perfection is to be restrained to the subject Christ is upon, love to men, and not to be referred to any, or every other thing; wherefore, in ( Luke 6:36 ) it is, “be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful”; and regards not a perfection of degree in that, but objects and quality: that is to say, not that men may, or can, or ought to be as perfect in love, as to the degree of it, as God is; that is impossible: the “as” here, is not a note of equality, but of likeness: such, who profess God to be their Father, ought to imitate him, particularly in their love to men, which ought to be extended to the same objects, as the divine goodness is; that, as he shows regard in a providential way to all men, good and bad, just and unjust, and his tender mercies are over all his works; so ought they to love all men with a natural affection, and hate no man, no, not their enemies: for he that loves only his friends, and not his enemies, loves imperfectly; he does not take in the whole compass of objects his love is to extend unto; and as God loves sincerely, and without dissimulation, so should they. To be “perfect”, is to be sincere and upright: in this sense is the word often used, and answers to the Hebrew word (Mymt) , which signifies the same: see ( Deuteronomy 18:13 ) which is the passage Christ seems to refer to here; and the sense is, be ye sincere and upright in your love to all men, as your heavenly Father is hearty and sincere in his affections to them 8.
- The Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (consicse version) offers this which is a part of those same ideas that we looked at regrading neighbor: While many will render good for good, we must render good for evil; and this will speak a nobler principle than most men act by. Others salute their brethren, and embrace those of their own party, and way, and opinion, but we must not so confine our respect. It is the duty of Christians to desire, and aim at, and press towards perfection in grace and holiness. And therein we must study to conform ourselves to the example of our heavenly Father, 1Pe. 1:15, 1Pe. 1:16 . Surely more is to be expected from the followers of Christ than from others; surely more will be found in them than in others. Let us beg of God to enable us to prove ourselves his children 8.
- The Scofield Reference Notes tell us this: 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. perfect The word implies full development, growth into maturity of godliness, not sinless perfection. Ephesians 4:12 Ephesians 4:13 . In this passage the Father’s kindness, not His sinlessness, is the point in question. Luke 6:35 Luke 6:36 8.
There are other commentaries but these should suffice to show the doctrinal interpretation of the Master’s words which, while they do see a glimpse of reality, seem to turn it upon itself in denial of the Truth that IS in these words. Scofield tells us that this word implies maturity and this is the general consensus of doctrine but there IS a failure here to define this maturity as complete as we would see in the completeness of discipleship and the state of the Apostle Peter in the end. He also notes that it is the Father’s kindness, not His sinlessness and in this we should see that he DOES NOT make that connection of perfect Love and sinlessness and then between perfect Love and the simplicity of the Master’s definition of it; that we “love thy neighbour as thyself“. In this sense, when a man can Love as the Master instructs ALL other facets of keeping His words are included as the Apostle Paul tells us saying: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14).
There IS a failure in Christian doctrine to allow a man to become as Christ or as God and the basis of these ideas IS NOT found in scripture itself; here we should try to understand the Master’s own words that tell us of our relationship to Him. Jesus speaks of the disciple and perfect in this single saying which IS a part of the Apostle Luke’s version of this same Sermon: “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). Here, while these commentators above lean upon the Master’s other words according to Luke saying “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36) as their reasoning for the idea of perfect not Truly meaning perfect, they fail to see that other saying that DOES point us to that idea of being “perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect“. Of course there is commentary regarding every one of these ideas and while it IS not our intention to go there in this essay, we should try to see the lack of True understanding of the Master’s words against the human fear that this perfection CAN NOT be accomplished by a man. The Truth for us IS however that this perfection CAN BE accomplished by the man who Repents and Transforms his Life and the focus of it away from the world to the things of God; perhaps if there were a greater realization that this perfection IS the Way to the Kingdom of God and to the completeness of discipleship, there would be a greater impetus to actually keep His words and to become then “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
We DO NOT mean to be harsh here but rather realistic and succinct regarding the Master’s own words; that they DO mean what it IS that they say and that in this Love IS the answer to ALL. As we cited a few posts back, Matthew Henry finds a piece of our own reality here although he does make a doctrinal turn with it; he says Surely more is to be expected from the followers of Christ than from others and in this IS a Truth; not followers of Christ as this is commonly understood however, but those who DO keep His words. The Commentary Critical also see the reality of being as IS the Father but they leave this as words that relate to the degrees of perfection versus the kind and they substitute excellence for the Truth of perfection. While we KNOW that there are degrees of perfection, which are degrees of discipleship, there IS as well an end point and this endpoint IS to be “perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect“. Finally we see the ideas of John Gill who takes these words from the Master and tell us that it IS impossible to do this, to be perfect first and to be perfect as IS the Father as well. He does tell us however that it should be our goal be be like Him and in this we should see his own contradiction as IF we strive to be like the Father, then we will become perfect.
The reality of Jesus’ words IS definitely tied to Love and to the reality of equality, or our vision of equality, in ALL men; that IS that we see ALL men in the same way and follow the lead of the Father; that we should have no respect of persons individually or corporately just as “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). This means that there IS NO prejudice of any kind against any one or any group in any way; that we recognize that we ARE ALL the children of the One Father. And here we should add our own ideas regarding this recognition; that it IS much easier when we can understand the Truth that we ARE NOT these men in the world who ARE lost in the illusion and the glamour of Life in form but we are the Souls that give them Life and consciousness and who are ever seeking a way to express this Truth to the world. Hidden away in every man is this very same wellspring of Love and of perfection. The further Truth IS that it is this expression that makes one an aspirant and then a disciple and it is this expression of Love through one’s Life in this world that makes one accounted worthy of His Kingdom. Scofield cites some words from Paul in his commentary above and here we should try to see the apostle’s intent, that this IS this same message of perfection as we hear from Jesus and not as IS commonly understood; we read this in its context:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
Here we should see the diversity of the stations that men can occupy in this fledgling church and ALL these words are likely seen differently in those days; we should see that each of these stations serves a purpose: “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry“, and that the objective IS that “all come in the unity of the faith“. Here we should not see faith as it is generally understood, as believing by mental and emotional assent, but rather as the Truth of God, the KNOWING, the conviction found in keeping of His words. This is the Pathway to the “perfect man” which is the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. This idea of faith is not appreciated for its succinct and True meaning which IS revealed for us by the Master who says ever so clearly that “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20). We have discussed these ideas many times over the course of our blog posts and it IS this reality of KNOWING without doubt that IS the True meaning of faith. Unfortunately most DO NOT see this reality nor the reality of perfection but rather get wound up in their own sense of doctrine and of believing that somehow by assenting to the fact of Christ Jesus and their ideas of atonement, that a man is accounted worthy of His Kingdom; this IS NOT the intent of any of these words.
And this IS our reality as aspirants who see and understand that the words of the Master are clear insofar as what a man must do to be accounted worthy of His Kingdom and this IS simply to keep His words. In this we must understand that of ALL of His words He considered His words on Love to be of paramount importance and we should see this in the reality of the Greatest Commandments that still grace the top of our daily essay. Discipleship and His Kingdom are the goal of men and there does come a time when a man will see this Truth and then be faced with that decision that ALL must eventually make; is the Kingdom of God worth the perceived sacrifices that the man in the world must make to attain that High Calling of discipleship. And this likely crosses the mind of the more religious with more frequency as he may glimpse the Truth of His words over the doctrines that he has learned and understand that it IS in DOING that one can and does achieve; here again is that same decision; is being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God worth the perceived sacrifice of whatsoever one may have or think that he has in the world. And we should ever remember that it IS NOT only those things of the world, those possessions and wealth, that one must forsake; it IS the thoughts, the attitudes and the actions that keep a man bound by the illusion and the glamour, the vanity of Life in the world.
The words that we have been carrying as our Quote of the Day for many days now are a picture of the thoughts, attitudes and their resultant actions for the man who would be a disciple and although these ARE NOT from the bible, they ARE nonetheless True and the ideas behind them can be found throughout the New Testament. We read:
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship. Remembering that the True man IS the Soul, we can see the reality of these ideas as that the Soul’s purpose IS, from the perspective of this Life in the world, to express the Love and Power of the Soul through form. The power of the Soul can be seen in the reality of those greater things that the Master tells us that we CAN DO or, rather, WILL DO, as He tells us 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); here we must understand the True nature of believing as that to believe on Him IS to keep His words or, as Vincent tells us, it IS to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. The will of the Soul IS of course the Will of God of which ALL Souls ARE part and parcel and this will IS to accomplish the purpose which will release the power of the Soul in the world. It IS in the accomplishment of these things that one IS liberated and these idea are the same as those that Paul offers us in those words from Romans that we had been writing on but have interrupted until we can see the end part more clearly. From those words we read: “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). Here we have the nature of Life in the world, lost in the illusion and glamour, the vanity as Paul calls it, and destined to be delivered by the purpose, power and will of our own Souls; liberated into that “glorious liberty of the children of God“: this is our individual and our corporate destiny.
In the second verse we have the reality of the Master’s words in this part of the Sermon on the Mount as it IS by our example in Loving as He instructs us that we can be that example of Love and Truth that can foster this same sense of Love among the sons of men, our brothers and neighbors and the stranger who qualifies as both. In the expression of the Life of the Soul through form in the world IS the expression of Love which IS the Way of the disciple.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
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.
Staying on the theme of Love we repeat again the sayings of the Apostle Paul that puts this Love into perspective.
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. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-3,13 (New King James Version)Regardless of our daily theme, the underlying theme of our posts and of this entire blog is Love. In these words from Paul we should be able to see the overriding importance of Love in the Life of each of us. This is a common theme throughout the gospels and the other writings of the apostles and a theme that is not nearly understood. As in the ideas above from Sermon on the Mount and our comments on the affirmation that had been our Quote of the Day, these words from Paul impart a better understanding of the reality of Life, the Life of the True man as the Christ Within, the Soul, through a True understanding of the power and the purpose of Love and we should note here as well that this expression of Love IS the Will of God and this we should see clearly in the Truth that “God IS love” (1 John 4:8).
We repeat here what we said about these verses in a prior post: Today’s Quote of the Day from the Apostle Paul is his testimony to the power of Love. After speaking at length about the gifts of the Spirit that one should desire in order to be of service to the Lord, he says plainly that Love is a more excellent way. Love in the context of these verses is not the sentimental or affectionate kind that we ordinarily think of but rather 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. This
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
