ON LOVE; PART MDXXXIII
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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 again ended the last essay with our trifecta of the Master’s sayings that show us the Power of keeping His words as we discussed again the most important idea of our expression of agape. We should ever remember that it IS in this expression of agape that we DO keep His words and, according to Paul, we keep ALL the law. Paul tells us clearly that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) and we should remember that there IS NO disconnect between keeping His words and keeping the law. The source of both His words and the law IS the Godhead and the Master shows us this saying such things as “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:24). The link between keeping His words and keeping the law IS indelible yet the church decries the idea of keeping the law and this through a lack of understanding and a most human desire to allow men to live as men in this world. In fact, there ARE many denominations and sects that also decry any effort to keep His words and this based upon their interpretations of out of context ideas from the Apostle Paul; far too many rely upon such ideas as “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). In accepting these words as the way to the Lord the Christian world has lost the True Way and have effectively lost their own way as Souls incarnate in this world. And, as they accept the doctrinal interpretations of Paul’s words that for them show some sense of ‘salvation‘ they ignore other words from the same apostle that ARE contrary to the ideas that they have accepted. This brings us back to Paul’s words to the Corinthians that basically define agape by showing us the results of our failure to express this ‘God kind of Love’ as the church defines this most important word. Paul tells us:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charityagape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling 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, and have notcharityagape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have notcharityagape, it profiteth me nothing.charityagape suffereth long, and is kind;charityagape envieth not;charityagape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.charityagape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8).The changes that we make to the King James’ text ARE important and we discussed this in some detail in the last essay as well as throughout our blogposts whensoever we cite the ideas that Paul IS bringing to us through his First Epistle to the Corinthians. Paul’s message here should be clear, it IS NOT however because the idea of agape IS considered by most to be the common understanding of Love in this world; most ALL apply our interpersonal relationships to be the idea behind his words. His words however have naught to DO with the common idea of Love as that emotional and mental attachment and attraction that we have for others and for things in this world. And, as we have said, this IS likely the reason that the King James Translators, as well as others, chose to render agape as charity. At the time that the King James Bible was being written, the idea of charity was much closer to the reality of agape than was the word Love and while this IS NO longer True; charity has taken on carnal meanings as well. The defining ideas that we find attached to charity in the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary DO serve us well in understanding agape in term of benevolence and GoodWill. While we can look at the idea of GoodWill as the will to DO good, the idea is much deeper than that. As a word GoodWill IS NOT defined for our purposes because the primary defining ideas ARE: friendly disposition; benevolence; kindness*. While these ARE good traits in a personality, they DO NOT reach out to the reality of agape as the expression men in this world. We often use the phrase ‘GoodWill IS Love in Action’ and it IS from here that we should begin to try to understand how that our expression of GoodWill can be our expression of agape.
There ARE many ideas that can be seen as Love in Action. Mercy IS perhaps the best example from Christian scripture but here again we must be careful to understand the biblical reality of this word. It IS NOT as dictionaries portray the idea as: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence*; this IS NOT the way that the idea IS portrayed in the New Testament. The common defining ideas go on to tell us that mercy IS: the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing; the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty and an act of kindness, compassion, or favor*. None of these relate to spiritual matters, they ALL reflect the merciful dealings of men in this world and the ONLY tie to the reality of mercy IS the idea that ALL ARE somewhat benevolent. Our dictionary adds one more defining idea saying that mercy IS: something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing* which can perhaps show us the biblical intent of the idea. Biblically there ARE occasions where people will call upon the Lord saying “Master, have mercy on us“; these words ARE uttered by lepers in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 17:13) and by two blind men in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 9:27). These men ARE NOT seeking carnal favor of any kind; the ARE asking for the Master to heal them through His spiritual healing power and, in DOING so, in having mercy, the Master IS expressing agape to them ALL. It IS this sense of agape Love that IS the the healing power of the Master and it IS this sense of agape Love that IS be the healing Power expressed by His apostles; this sense of agape Love can be our healing Power as well. This expression of mercy by the Master IS His expression of GoodWill and we should remember here that there IS NO such word as GoodWill at the time; there IS ONLY the combined power of the two words good and will.
Mercy from the Greek word eleos IS spoken about by Jesus as He chastises the Jews for their carnal attitudes saying to those who complain about the Master’s treatment of the sabbath and their persecution of those that DO NOT honor the day as doctrines require that: “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says in a similar context where the Pharisees ARE commenting on the way that Jesus IS eating and drinking with ‘sinners’ that they should “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). The Master also speaks about mercy as He chastises the Jews through His list of woes saying “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23). Here the point IS that while the “scribes and Pharisees” ARE performing according to their doctrines, they have ignored “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith“. We should understand judgment, from the Greek krisis, as justice or as “righteous judgment” (John 7:24), mercy as the expression of agape and faith as KNOWING God as these ARE the spiritual connotations that ARE implied by the context of the New Testament.
Today, because of the dilution of such words as mercy, faith and Love, we should try to look past the carnal implications. This IS difficult in conversations such as our blogposts and to counter this dilution and misunderstanding of these words, we offer them as GoodWill, KNOWING and agape as these ARE the words that will help us to understand the Master’s message and those of His apostles. With mercy as GoodWill and GoodWill as Love in action, we should be able to see that these ideas ARE intimately tied together from a spiritual perspective. Mercy IS our expression of agape Love in this world and while there ARE virtuous ideas attached to the common idea of mercy, these ARE part and parcel of that expression. We could say that whensoever a person shows mercy as they understand the idea that they ARE acting on a spiritual impulse of agape Love. At the same time when one shows mercy as an action that IS expected or they diminish even the idea of mercy in their actions, there IS likely NO spiritual impulse to the Good, the Beautiful and the True. As we have said throughout our nearly nineteen hundred blogposts, the Soul, the Christ Within everyman regardless of his religious affiliations, IS constantly prompting the carnal man to DO good and to be Truly righteous. That this prompting IS heard by a man as mercy, in the form of his expression of mercy, IS a testament to the working out of the Soul’s purpose in this world. However, in the absence of some carnal action that requires one to ponder the Good, the prompting of the Soul IS seldom heard over the din of daily living. It IS in this vein that the Master tells us that “Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:25) as it IS our constant thinking about ourselves and our plight or our desires in this world that contribute to this din, this constant noise that keeps us from hearing our own hearts if we can use that idea here. Jesus tells us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21); in this IS the secret, the mystery if you will, of bringing the prompting of the Soul to bear upon one’s Life in this world.
Thus, the way of the heart depends upon one’s focus. it depends upon what we treasure and this idea IS NOT ONLY aimed at whatsoever material wealth we have or desire, our treasure IS ALL that occupies our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions; our treasure IS ALL that we may hold dear. That our treasure IS defined ONLY in terms of wealth by the church IS yet another factor that inhibits us from a True understanding of the Master’s words. We have discussed this whenever we discuss the Master’s words from His Sermon on the Mount and we should understand that treasure, mammon, Jesus’ words on the eye, evil or single, and His conclusion that we should “Take no thought for your life” ARE ALL in reference to the entirety of one’s Life in this world. And while His words ARE clearly leading us to that conclusion, most ALL in the churches DO NOT see our reality. Again, the Master tells us clearly that men should:
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 5:19-25).
Jesus’ words here ARE our guidance, our Path if you will out of the doldrums of daily living and to a place where we can see clearly the Truth of scripture rather than the interpretations of men. We should remember that it IS these interpretations that ARE the Master’s reference in His saying that “this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). Again, the clarity of the Master’s words IS ignored; it IS shelved along with ALL of His admonishments that would require men to Repent and Transform in order to see their ‘salvation‘ as the much of the church has tied their view of ‘salvation‘ to faith and believing and accepting the idea that one IS saved by committing oneself to a doctrinal path. Other parts of the church rely heavily upon rites and rituals and adhering to a different set of doctrines as one’s path to ‘salvation‘. In the end men must try to see that the True Path IS in the Master’s words and NOT in “the commandments of men” that ARE the doctrines of the churches. And while ALL of this IS True it IS at the same time ignored by those that ARE so enamored by their doctrinal approach as to see it as the True Path and by those that specifically prey upon people to enrich themselves; it IS these latter that ARE the True “false prophets” (Matthew 7:15) but the former ARE also teetering on that same edge. There IS but One Truth and it IS found in the words of the Master who tells us about the Way through Truth and agape Love.
This brings us back to our discussion on the meaning that we should try to see in the Greek word agape, a word that IS rendered as Love and charity, both of which have little or NO spiritual meaning in todays vernacular. Agape IS GoodWill in Action IS the view that we should take going forward. We can think about GoodWill as the Will to Good; this may help us to understand the idea better. Jesus tells us, regarding the idea of Good, that it has a special meaning saying “Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God” (Luke 18:19) and while this DOES NOT define the idea, it DOES show us the importance of it. The Master tells us here that Good IS a defining word for the Godhead along with another word, agape, and we should see here that there IS an indelible link between these word ideas; John tells us that “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8,16) in a phrase that IS accepted by most ALL of the Christian world. Good IS an attitude that we should take on in ALL our interpersonal dealings, it IS an attitude that epitomizes our expression of agape as men in this world. The word Good has broad meanings but most ALL can understand that in its relationship to the Godhead, Good takes on a very special tone. Basically the idea of ALL should be that there IS NOTHING bad in the idea of Good and this IS A universal reality. In the last post as we discussed the idea of charity as the rendering of agape in some parts of the King James Bible and the Webster’s 1828 definition of charity. There we read that: 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 good1. As a defining idea for agape, we see both the idea of GoodWill and DOING good and here again we should see the indelible link. DOING Good then IS a worldly expression of agape which IS perhaps equivalent to our expression of mercy. Let’s take this from the perspective of the Master’s words saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“.
In this world ALL men want ONLY Good for themselves and this regardless of how that they define the idea of having Good. The biblical edict which the Master amplifies for us tells us simply that we, wanting Good for ourselves, should want Good for ALL men, for ALL of our neighbors seen and unseen. As an attitude this IS a good beginning but it must be turned to action in order to comply with the Master’s words; we must actively want Good for ALL. This must of course begin with our attitude toward others; we CANNOT maintain our prejudices and hatreds of any persons or groups of persons; such must be Transformed into the reality of agape where we see ALL men as we see ourselves. This may be for some a difficult idea, seeing ALL men as we see ourselves, but it IS the first requirement in our expression of agape. Yes it IS True that we CANNOT have such vision based on the appearance and attitudes of others but this IS NOT the objective; the objective IS that we see ALL men as Souls on the very same journey that we ourselves ARE on. To be sure this requires some spiritual thought; we must be able to understand that we ARE essentially spiritual beings incarnate for a time in physical form with the express intent that we will overcome our vanity and have realization of our own Truth as part and parcel of the Godhead. This IS NOT contrary to the doctrinal pronouncements of the many denominations and sects of Christianity; most ALL seem to understand on some level that we ARE both in God and that God IS in us. In this we should try to see that as we ARE both in God and that God IS within us, this same IS True for ALL men and from this perspective we should be able to understand the idea of treating others as we would want to be treated by others. Simply, we ARE ALL the same as men who in a way ARE garbed in different attire, we may be black or brown or white but this IS simply our worldly attire. We can look at ideas of custom, nationality and religion in much the same way, as Life ideas that we clothe ourselves with. Can we see the point here? We should try to understand that as we try to see that we ARE both in God and that God IS within us that this IS in reality a spiritual idea and NOT a carnal one. We ARE NOT the form that we take in this world. We ARE NOT the garb with which we ARE clothed and we ARE NOT the custom, nationality nor religion that we profess. These things ARE of the world and ARE ofttimes the singular hinderance that we, as Souls, face as we try to overcome the world.
Jesus tells His disciples “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14-16). In these rather cryptic words IS a most basic Truth regarding the relationship between Spirit and the world. That Master IS “not of the world” IS a most basic spiritual fact as IS the idea that His disciples also “are not of the world“. Here, despite the wranglings of the churches regarding such ideas, we should see that the subject IS in regard to the relationship between Spirit and the world and we should try to understand this as the relationship between Soul and form, between our True selves and the appearance that we make in this world. In Western religions this IS NOT an oft taught concept as it IS in the deeper teachings of the Eastern religions and because of this the Western World (not geographically) DOES NOT see these Truths through their doctrines. In a word, the Master IS a spiritual being as ARE ALL mortal beings. What separates Him from the rest IS that He came among us having full control of His physical form which includes His personality. Surely when He was a child there were reminders of His spiritual mindset but other than such things as this from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus was likely a child much like how we ALL begin our time in this world. We ARE ALL subjected to nurturing and indoctrination but while most ALL accede to what we ARE subjected to, the Master maintains in some way His preordained spiritual orientation. Luke tells us that:
“And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:42-52).
What we should take from this IS that His parents ARE Jews who nurtured Jesus in the ways and the religion of the Jews and that this IS NOT likely what he spoke of in the idea that, “in the midst of the doctors” Jesus astonished them with “his understanding and answers“. This little tidbit of the Master’s childhood IS about the ONLY clue that we have as to His individual personality as a child but we should add one thing. It IS written that “being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matthew 2:12-15). Of course there IS much conjecture regarding the time that the child Jesus spent in Egypt and there IS NO certainty as to when He went or returned and, to be sure, there IS little factual information regarding these times. We KNOW that in Luke’s story the child “was twelve years old” and, if we believe such writings as the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ we could then see that perhaps He was there for some time learning from scholars that ARE NOT constrained by the Jewish religious dogma against which He later speaks. Surely through His nurturing, and indoctrination into the Jews’ traditions and doctrine, the Master IS well versed in the way of the Jews and we should add to this the KNOWLEDGE gained in His own studies as well as the Truth that flows from His own Soul, His own Christ Within. We should remember here the Apostle John’s words saying “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). The church takes this idea to mean that those who ARE ‘saved‘ according to their various doctrines can be “as he is” but this IS NOT the intent of the apostle’s words. The subject here IS NOT doctrinal adherence, it IS agape Love. While we say that ALL men ARE “as he is….in this world“, we can modify our ideas by adding in the idea of the realization which comes to those that DO express agape in their lives. The church stretches this idea into doctrinal adherence based upon a previous verse saying “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15). Here the idea of confession IS a translational idea that partakes of the doctrinal ideas of the Translators and we should note that most ALL translations agree with some calling the idea as declaring. The word itself, homologeo, however DOES NOT require any outward ‘confession‘ or ‘declaration‘. It requires ONLY a realization of this Truth which idea can be taken from Vincent’s defining idea that homologeo IS: From ὁμός, one and the same, and λέγω, to say. Hence, primarily, to say the same thing as another, Here we can see our idea of realization as the mind comes to agree, say the same thing, as DOES the Soul. Realization then DOES NOT come from the church’s teachings but rather from one’s own Christ Within. Of course, this IS contrary to ALL doctrinal teachings which hold the Master above mere humans despite His own words that show us that we ARE “as he is“. The Master tells us that “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord” (Matthew 10:24-25).
We get a clearer picture of this idea from Luke’s Gospel where he reports the Master’s words as “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). Here the idea requires that one be perfect to be “as his master” and this IS a Truth; NO man can claim Christ likeness without this sense of perfection which IS biblically defined as keeping His words. This IS the essence of our trifecta, this IS the reality that for those that DO keep His words; the rewards for so DOING flow; to ALL that keep His words will come this realization albeit by measure. The noted rewards of our trifecta ARE the Truth and its freedom, the reality of being His True disciples, having access to the Kingdom of God and having realization of His Presence in one’s Life. These rewards have naught to DO with the doctrinal ideas of the churches, they have ONLY to DO with the teachings of the Master, His words if you will. Repeating our trifecta we read:
- “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).
We should understand here that the apostles also show us the idea of these rewards and while they may NOT specifically say that these ARE for keeping His words the idea IS implied in the texts. Peter shows us that we can become “partakers of the divine nature” saying clearly that “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 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” (1 Peter 1:4). Here we should see that to obtain “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” we must first KNOW God, a KNOWING that IS ONLY possible through our Repentance and Transformation. We should understand that this KNOWING comes to us by measure as DO ALL spiritual rewards and this according to the Master’s words saying “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2); this idea of measure IS a universal reality. And Peter gives us the Way that we can become “partakers of the divine nature” as he tells us that we must have “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust“. While the words “keep His words” ARE NOT in Peter’s text, his words ARE nonetheless the same as escaping “the corruption” as we separate ourselves from our heretofore lives of acceding to our desires and lusts for the things of mammon.
Paul offers us a similar Way saying that “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” (Romans 8:10-14). We should try to see here the reality of our keeping His words as it IS this that leads us to have True realization that “the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you“. This we should link to the third part of our trifecta where we read that it IS to those that “will keep my words” to whom the Master says “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“. We must again remember that the reality here IS True realization of the Christ Within actively working through the heretofore carnal man allowing him to, by measure, escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust“; allowing him to “through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body“. We should NOT forget here that our primary topic IS our expression of agape in this world and it IS when we can see that this IS the result of keeping His words, and synonymous with it, as we strive toward our greater glory, that we can reach our ultimate goal. We should also see in Paul’s words the reality of the Soul, the Christ Within, at work as the apostle tells us that it IS the Christ Within that will “quicken your mortal bodies“; it IS the Christ Within that IS “his Spirit that dwelleth in you“. We Did NOT get to Paul’s words to the Corinthians in this post but we will pick up with this in the next as we try to discover the reality of our expression of agape in this world.
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 |
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.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.or
- * 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
