ON LOVE; PART DCCXLXIV
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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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.
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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).
In the last essay we continued with our discussion of the concept of grace and its relationship to Love as the Master teaches this in the Great Commandments that we repeat above, and in so much of His other teachings and commandments including His words from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John that we have been studying now for quite some time. Here, in His words on grace we find that this IS the reward for the Love that a man expresses for God and we find as well that the very definition of this Love IS that we keep His words, a precept that brings us back again and again to the Great Commandments. We should try to understand here that the Greek word charis which IS rendered as grace IS NOT merely the the common English ideas by which grace IS defined, nor IS this the doctrinal ideas that are taken from its presumed usage, but rather that grace IS ALL things spiritual as they emanate from God. In this broader view of grace we should see several ideas that ARE presented by the Master here in John’s Gospel and in other places in His words; from the ideas that Luke presents in his version of the Sermon on the Mount where we read about the reward for one’s expression of Love to others, to the ideas of mansions and abodes, and manifestation and abiding in our current chapter, there IS the reality of grace. In the Sermon we are able to discern the Truth by seeing the different approachs to the Master’s thoughts from the pens of Luke and Matthew; both ARE speaking about one’s expression of Love and while Luke uses the idea of grace, which IS unfortunately rendered as thank, Matthew tells is that this IS a reward. This goes unnoticed by most despite Luke’s continuation of Jesus words and his own use of the idea of reward.
And so this reward IS grace and it IS offered to the individual man who Loves according to the Master’s teaching and we should understand that one’s reward, which IS one’s grace, IS NOT to be found in the way that many present in doctrine. By example, John Gill, commenting on these words from Jesus according to Luke, “But love ye your enemies, and do good , and lend , hoping for nothing again ; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35) he tells us this regarding the idea of reward: and your reward shall be great: God will bless you in your worldly substance here, and will not forget your beneficence hereafter 8. In this doctrinal idea that there are worldly rewards for keeping His words, many ARE led astray as this idea IS NOT isolated to the reality of Love as Jesus shows us but has been allowed to permeate Christian thinking beyond the quid pro quo that we have here as the reality of keeping His words has deteriorated into the doctrinal simplicity of believing, as men, this and that according to the individual doctrines of men. So many miss the point of keeping His words and especially His point on the reality of the reward of DOING SO and so many miss the reality that ALL of His sayings, ALL of His teaching, ARE His words and ARE essentially His commandments. It IS in this respect that we should see the way that Luke presents the Master’s thoughts on this in that rhetorical question saying “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). As we have discussed, when we can understand this in relation to Matthew’s version regarding the same ideas which says “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), we can see the greater idea of our reward, a reward for keeping His words.
It IS in our current chapter from John’s Gospel that we see that the “will of my Father which is in heaven” and Jesus’ own words ARE the same; we read this as “the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me” which Jesus says to His apostles and then repeats saying: “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:17, 24). It IS in the fullness of His words across ALL of the gospels that we can come to understand the Truth and the doctrinal habit of separating His words and the words of His apostles into single sayings and verses removes much of their True intent and their True guidance. Of ALL of the Master’s words, His words on Love should be seen as the strongest and the most important and, from a view of the world around us, among the most misunderstood; from the Great Commandments above to the Golden Rule, Jesus intent can be clearly seen but He DOES NOT stop there; He defines for us the reality of the neighbor and the nature of that Love for ALL in the Parable of the Good Samaritan and He tells us in most basic terms the Truth of Love from the perspective of grace as we see above an in Matthew’s most succinct view of this Love saying:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” (Matthew 5:44-46).
These ARE the essence of Love on an individual scale and the reality of who IS one’s neighbor; this IS also the Way to the reality of His grace,, His reward, and the ultimate Truth of keeping His words. And, this IS the reality of the “will of my Father which is in heaven” and the greater Truth of “the things which I say“. This point IS made clear for us by the Apostles Paul and James who write specifically to enhance the Master’s words and instructions; Paul tells us “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10) and he repeats this same idea to the Galatians saying: “brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:13-14).
This idea IS however diluted and changed by the doctrines of men and we can glimpse this in the basic Christian teachings that are shown here by Mr. Gill who accords the first idea of “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another” to fellow Christians and even the uses the idea of saints as this should apply to ALL believers; we read: Saints ought to love one another as such; to this they are obliged by the new commandment of Christ, by the love of God, and Christ unto them, by the relations they stand in to one another, as the children of God, brethren, and members of the same body 8. While he then properly sees the idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour“, he diluted and changes this saying: but this is not, nor can it be done perfectly, which is evident, partly from the impotency of man, who is weak and without strength, yea, dead in sin, and unable to do any thing of himself; and partly from the extensiveness of the law, which reaches to the thoughts and desires of the heart, as well as to words and actions; as also from the imperfection of love, for neither love to God, nor love to one another, either as men or Christians, is perfect; and consequently the fulfilling of the law by it is not perfect: hence this passage yields nothing in favour of the doctrine of justification by works 8. And this IS the dilemma of the doctrines of men who see the Truth of the words of the Master and yet change them to suit their own needs while using Paul’s misunderstood ideas to justify their diluted ideas. When we can understand the idea that grace IS offered to the man who keeps His words, when we can see that this grace IS His reward and that ALL things from God are spiritual and NONE ARE carnal, we can then come to a better understanding that it IS His words that tell us of Love and that His words CAN NOT be changed to suit the inadequacies of men….the Truth remains as “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” IS the man who “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven“. And this IS the reality of the words that we have been studying; the Master’s words saying:
- “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” (John 14:21).
- “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).
Jesus tells us of the difficulty in attaining the Kingdom of God; He tells us of the strait gate and He tells us that we must strive. It IS in the view of accomplishment in a single Lifetime that makes these ideas seem impossible. But they ARE NOT to be seen as impossible by the man who can see the depth of His words as such seeing, as well as one’s desire to follow the Lord, are likely clear signs of previous accomplishment; in any given Lifetime then the task IS possible for most. It IS in the carnal focus of men that failure IS found and it IS unfortunate that doctrines promote this failure rather that the positive part of His words saying: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in , and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24). Here while many may fail, others will succeed and this IS the greater Truth for the man who Truly seeks God. The Apostle Matthew offers us this same idea as a part of His dialogue leading up to His words that we cite above on who IS accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God, that it IS the man who “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. So the right view IS that it IS in keeping His words that a man can have His Presence and that this man “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven“; these ARE His Truths. And in the intersection of ALL of these ideas we should see the reality that grace and Love and His Presence ARE all the same and that these ARE the reward for keeping His words; we should understand here as well that this sense of Love IS the accomplishment of keeping His words and that in striving to Love ALL men one IS striving to keep His words as we read in Paul’s words above. James expands upon this idea as he shows us that ALL men must be treated in the same way; we read:
“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons , ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (*James 2:8-10).
In the Greek word kalos we should see the deeper idea of good and not merely that “ye do well“; and we should view this idea of good in the context which it IS offered, the context of keeping the second of the Great Commandments which, as we see in the Apostle John’s Epistle below, IS tantamount to Loving God. It IS in this combination of Loving God and Loving ALL men that the whole of the reality of keeping His words is ensconced, if we can say it this way, which IS yet more than the individual ideas offered by the apostles’ rendered language. James ties this Love for ALL men to the idea of its equanimity, that there can be NO “respect to persons” in this sense of Love while John shows us how that this Love for God IS impossible unless there IS the corresponding Love ALL men which IS Love of “one another“. It IS in the combination of ALL of these separate thoughts from the Master and His apostles that the greater Truth IS revealed and the habit of men to separate and take their ideas out of context has rendered this combined view moot in the minds of many. While ALL of John’s words here have this effect of showing us how that the Love for ALL men IS of great importance, the whole of it is summed up in the last words, the “commandment have we from him“; we read:
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect , that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen , how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:7-21).
And we can tie together additional thoughts from the Master and His apostle John as we read Jesus words below on how that He Himself honors the commandments of the Father and that He DOES so to show us the Way of Truth and to offer us His final words on grace, on the Presence of God in one’s Life, as He ends His discourse. He tells us of the reality of the Spirit of God, how that this same Spirit that IS in Him IS in us and that it IS this Spirit that “shall teach you all things” and, among these things, will show us the reality that the flow of grace comes ONLY to the man who keeps His words. While most may wander off into the more meaningless points of this dialogue regarding the “prince of this world” and the allusions to the crucifixion and His resurrection, the reality IS in the Power of the Spirit and in the idea of His example; we read:
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence” (John 14:26-31).
Here the Master shows us that He too keeps the word of God, He too DOES the commandments, and while the idea of God’s grace flowing ONLY to those who keep His words IS discerned across the entire chapter and the totality of His words, it IS in these last words here that we see that they also apply to Him who earlier tells us that “the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). And it IS this reality that we should see in the apostle’s words saying “as he is, so are we in this world“; here we should try to see the dual ideas possessed by this phrase. On the one hand that we are the same insofar as DOING; that to maintain the grace of God we must keep His words and on the other hand that we are able to DO those “greater works“, that in His words that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12) we ARE “as he is“.
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.
We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
