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).
We ended the last essay with some thoughts on the story of the Master’s interaction with what we call the ‘rich young ruler’ as this person IS referred to differently in the three synoptic gospels. While the story IS NOT considered a parable and indeed contains little in the way of parabolic ideas, the lessons of this story have NOT been grasped by the church from the beginning. Although many DO refer to the Master’s words on riches, few if any take them to heart. The clear message that “a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven” has either fallen upon deaf ears or has been purposefully ignored and we would argue that it IS the latter. This idea of riches IS modulated by much of the church against Jesus’ other words that say “again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God“. Here they DO apply the idea of difficulty for the “rich man” yet even in this they fail to see the reality as they have found clever ways to explain away the idea of “the eye of a needle“.Many consider this to be a low gate into Jerusalem where the camel would have to unload its cargo. While there may be a grain of Truth to this in the idea that one can unload his riches in order to enter into the Kingdom; this too IS NOT a part of the churches ideas about riches. Most ignore the Master’s words to this ‘rich young ruler’ as they manipulate Jesus’ words saying “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast“. The reality here IS that it IS NOT possible for a “a camel to go through the eye of a needle” and, to counter this argument, most lean upon Jesus’ other words saying “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:23, 24,26). Can we see the parabolic reality of the Master’s words here? Can we see that beyond the plain and clear language the Master still leaves us to our own devices to interpret His True meaning?
While the meaning of the Master’s words to this ‘rich young ruler’ should have been clear to ALL who hear and read His words, it has ever been men’s desire, lust if you will, to live as men in this world that has overcome His Truth. Today, parts of the church actually teach men to become ‘rich‘ often claiming that they would have more to give while many of the church leaders themselves live lavish lifestyles. Our point here IS that the Master’s words on riches in this story ARE purposely clear and while there IS NO real space to reinterpret His words the churches have gone far afield in DOING so. And the problem IS NOT restricted to the churches that teach the so called ‘prosperity gospel’ but to most all as they build elaborate ‘houses of worship’ generally on the backs of the parishioner’s tithes and offerings. Yes many DO “give to the poor” as the ‘rich young ruler’ IS encouraged to DO but the giving IS generally a pittance when compared to the wealth. In the last essay we posted the version of this story from Matthew’ Gospel; here we will repeat Jesus’ words according to Luke:
“a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?“
Luke’s version IS largely the same as Matthew’s and Mark’s follows along in a similar manner so that between gospel versions there IS little space for reinterpretation of the Master’s words. The Master’s words against riches ARE much the same as IS the reward for forsaking one’s riches. We should note here that in Jesus’ iteration of the commandments that ARE to be kept, it IS ONLY those that effect one’s expression of Love that ARE listed. We DO NOT see the first commandment that one should Love the Lord and this likely because this IS embedded in keeping those that ARE listed; in our expression of agape Love to ALL IS our expression of agape Love toward the Lord. Also missing IS the commandment regarding the sabbath day as well as those that apply to worshipping idols and taking the Lord’s name in vain. Also missing ARE the commandments regarding the covetous nature of men and this NOT because it IS unimportant but because it too IS found in keeping those that ARE listed making covetousness superfluous. AS to the way that these and others ARE NOT listed by the Master, perhaps we should try to see that these were addressed to the Jews in Moses’ day. Addressed to a population that was exceedingly barbarous and superstitious and which needed the extra commandments for the success of their secularly religious society. Alexander Maclaren, in words that we often cite tells us, regarding the Book of Genesis, that: Nor must it be forgotten that this vision of creation was given to people ignorant of natural science, and prone to fall back into surrounding idolatry12. We apply them here to the history of the Jews in Moses’ time as they provide a reason why so many of the commandments ARE ignored by the Master; we should add to this as well as the many ancillary commandments issued by Moses to the Jews. We should remember here the Master’s reinterpretation of some commandments and, when we add these to Jesus’ pronouncement of the Great Commandments, we should be able to see His intent in so structuring His teaching while leaving out much of Moses’ pronouncements. We should remember here that Moses words ARE 3500 years old and that they have been subjected to many iterations as they were carried forward in time and the influence of men upon these early word ideas should NOT be forgotten. Add to this we should see the errors in translating the original into the many languages that lead us to our current versions; through this ALL we should be able to see that we DO NOT KNOW much about their origination nor their accuracy. We DO KNOW however that the Master intentionally chose to ignore several of the Ten Commandments in His teachings throughout the gospels.
In the end the message IS clearly stated to show us those commandments that should be fully honored as well as the act of forsaking our worldly claims, attitudes, possessions and carnal ideas of Love for the Kingdom of God and our realization of “eternal life“. Elsewhere the Master shows us this same idea of forsaking against our achievement of discipleship; we read this in Luke’s Gospel. The Lord tells us “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot* be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot* be my disciple….So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). Between these separated verses IS Jesus’ words on the cost of discipleship or, better, how that our approach to discipleship should be considered. Here again we have church doctrine that simply ignores the Master’s words as many doctrinal Christians claim themselves to be disciples based ONLY upon the book definition of mathetes which IS rendered universally as disciple. The lexicon defines the idea of mathetes as: a learner, pupil, disciple; while the idea IS understood as a learner and a pupil, disciple IS the resultant idea in the minds of men. Jesus however gives us the specific criteria for being a disciple in words that, again, are simply ignored and, from our perspective, because they restrict the ability of men to live as men. We should note here that the word mathetes IS NOT found anywhere but in the gospels and the Book of Acts; it IS not an appellation that any of the epistle writers claim nor offer as the status of themselves or others.
Perhaps confusing the ideas that Jesus IS offering here regarding His criteria for discipleship IS the way that Matthew approaches these same ideas but any focus upon this IS a as an explanation fails. Matthew shows us the idea of being worthy of the Master rather than discipleship; Matthew tells us “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38). Here, while the idea IS one’s being worthy of the Master, the effect IS largely the same as being His discipile and, while it may appear to be an incomplete idea when compared to Luke’s version, it IS NOT. Matthew follows these words with the ideas of duality that we have been discussing; he continues to say “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me” (Matthew 10:39-40). We should try to see here the equivalency between forsaking “all that he hath” and choosing to NOT “findeth his life“. To DO the latter IS to focus one’s Life on “all that he hath” rather than upon the Lord and this IS the antithesis of forsaking “all that he hath“. Matthew’s words ARE the source however of our understanding of the ideas behind the Greek word miseo which IS rendered as hate in Luke’s words. We should of course KNOW that the Master’s reference to miseo here IS NOT a reference to hate as that idea IS commonly understood in this world but, as Matthew shows us, miseo IS a reference to the idea of Loving others less than we Love the Lord. Again we must understand the use of phileo here as this IS the Greek word that IS rendered as loveth. We should try to understand that the idea of loveth here IS a reference to that worldly form of Love and friendship that IS covered by the several derivatives of the Greek word philos; it IS NOT a reference to agape Love. Perhaps the idea should be understood as that the worldly kind of Love that we express for “father or mother” and “son or daughter” should NOT be greater that the agape Love that we show for the Lord and, again, this expression of Love DOES have its own criteria. This criteria, much like the criteria that Jesus shows us IS necessary for discipleship, IS necessary for the True expression of our Love for the Lord; this we read as the third part of our trifecta which we repeat saying:
“If yecontinue 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).
In these words we should be able to see and to understand that NOT only must our sense of agape for the Lord exceed our phileo for those close to us but, at the same time, this agape must be accompanied by our striving to keep His words. We use the idea of striving here to accommodate the staunch desire that must be applied to keeping His words as we understand the complexity of this task. This complexity IS emphasized by the Master’s words that tell us that those that DO NOT keep His words or strive to DO so “loveth me not“. While this IS clear to us, it DOES NOT generally resonate with most ALL of the church yet today where it IS the “commandments of men” that rule. Here we should remember the Master’s caution regarding doctrines as He tells us “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“. While much of the church denies that the meaning we apply to Jesus’ words here IS what He means, they offer NO real alternative ideas save for the idea that these words ARE directed solely at the Jews in His time. The examples that Jesus offers in both Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels ARE but that, examples; the crux of the idea IS founded in the way that the “tradition of men” (Mark 7:6-7, 8) has supplanted the Will of God which IS His commandments. To think that the doctrines of the Christian churches over the last 2000 years ARE any different that the “tradition of men” established by the Jews IS but folly and we could argue that the latter IS much more the problem than the former. The simple point here IS that NOT striving to keep His words makes the Master’s point regarding Loving “father or mother” and “son or daughter” less that Him IS rather moot. In so striving we would be understanding the underlying point of the gospels which IS our expression of agape Love to ALL. As the Apostle Paul tells us, our expression of agape Love IS the virtual KEY to keeping His words; Paul tells us “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). While we use these words frequently to show the ability of our expressionof agape to accomplish ALL that IS covered under the Master’s words saying “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“, most ALL of the church considers the idea that we should “keep my words” as Jesus frames this as works and many go out of their way to shun the idea.
That men DO NOT understand the reality of agape IS the greatest hinderance to their ability to DO as the Master instructs us in our trifecta. We CAN NOT have the Truth that sets us free; we CAN NOT be His disciples, we CAN NOT “enter into the kingdom of heaven” and we CAN NOT have the realization of the Presence of God in our lives. This IS the message of our trifecta and we should understand that the ONLY modifier to these words IS the reality that Paul shows us in saying “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). Through these words the Power of agape IS amplified and clarified by the apostle in such simple terms that few there ARE who can Truly say that they DO NOT understand Paul’s intent in both this saying and the similar idea expressed to the Galatians. Here then we refer back to a familiar theme in our essays: that the crux of the problem IS men’s confusion regarding the rendered word from agape….Love. The crux of the problem lies yet today in the way that the idea of agape has been understood in terms of the common understanding of Love; it IS generally understood as that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others and to the things of this world. This IS NOT agape and we should understand that we were never left to see agape in this way. The very framing of the idea of agape by the Master explains just what His reference IS. And, while so much of the modern world IS fuming about such ideas as ‘woke’, it IS the very essence of this idea that can bring us ever closer to the reality of our expression of agape as a civilization. In the last essay we said that: we should understand here that this new attitude, this ‘woke’ attitude to use a current way of looking at this, sees past the differences among men and sees ALL as spiritual beings struggling with their individual level of vanity and the carnal motivation of their lives.
While we see the reality of our expression of agape in the words of the Apostle James who tells us that “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9), this saying ONLY amplifies and clarifies the words of the Master in the gospels. It IS in His words and His example that we should be able to see the Power of agape over the vanity that IS the lives of men in this world. And Jesus’ words ARE extremely clear and point ONLY to the right Way of seeing both the world and our selves. Luke’s Gospel shows us this as clearly as DOES Matthew’s which IS generally our source for the Sermon on the Mount; here we will cite the clarity of Jesus’ words according to Luke. We read:
“I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 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. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:27-36).
This IS the Master’s view of the reality of agape and it IS clear and understandable save for in the minds of men who ever seek to hold on to their own visions of Life in this world. We begin of course with “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you“; these words ARE well known in the churches but have been made moot by the attitudes of men. First there IS the confusion regarding the very meaning of agape; how can we “Love your enemies” when we understand Love ONLY as that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others. The simple answer IS that we CAN NOT and it IS this confusion that has halted men’s understanding of the Master’s intent. The reality of “agape Love your enemies” relies upon our expression of agape which we often refer to as mercy; NOT mercy as it IS commonly understood but rather mercy as the application of agape by men in this world. In True agape we DO NOT see friends nor enemies, we ONLY see men as we see ourselves; struggling to both live and live in this world. We understand that ALL men ARE Souls on the very same journey as we ourselves and in this we look past whatsoever vanity has encumbered the lives of others. It IS this idea of looking past others carnal behaviors that IS the cause for the next phrase saying “unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other” as this IS a sure sign that one holds NO ‘evil’ intent toward one’s carnal foes. Matthew’s version of these words offers and even clearer look as Jesus’ intent; we read “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38-39). In the vanity of men these words ARE extraordinarily difficult to see ourselves DOING but, this IS at the crux of the idea that we should “Love your enemies“. Men’s confusion regarding the meaning of agape brings us to this problem where we ever seek retribution and revenge despite the clear words of the Master. When however we see ALL men in the same Light, as the same as we ourselves ARE and as the same as was Jesus of whom the Apostle John writes “as he is, so are we in this world“, we can then perhaps use this defining idea of agape to definitively “love thy neighbour as thyself“. This commandment DOES NOT differentiate between friends and foes or between those close to us or others that we DO NOT KNOW; this commandment IS inclusive of ALL men. Finally, we must understand that these words from the Master that we should “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” ARE as well His commandment.
That the church teaches this commandment ONLY as words that ARE offered by Jesus with little or NO emphasis on the reality of agape nor the Master’s intent IS perhaps the single most apparent reason that the ideas have NOT taken hold in any part of the church; for most they ARE NOT an ideal that one should even strive toward. This IS of course the result of the vanity into which ALL men ARE born coupled with their nurturing and indoctrination into the ways of the world; this statement stands regardless of one’s doctrinal religious upbringing or conversion. ALL fall far short of this commandment whether in or out of the churches. We should remember here Paul’s words saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). The changes we make in these verses ARE well documented in our blogposts and we will NOT address them here again. This idea of vanity shows us the state of men in this world, that their state IS one of vanity and bondage to the carnal lives that they lead. Remembering this IS fruitless however without a better understanding of just what this vanity IS and for this we again go to Vincent who tells us that our vanity IS our: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4. This IS the state of the unawakened man in this world, the man who has yet to Truly Repent and Transform himself according to the reality of these ideas.
And there IS a reality in Repentance and Transformation; first we should understand that among the first things that the Master publicly tells the world of men IS that they should Repent. This IS NOT ONLY to repeat the refrain of John the Baptist as recorded in the gospels but also to emphasize the importance of Repentance as the singular Way out of our “bondage of corruption” and our vanity and into “the glorious liberty of the children of God“. That we may believe that we ARE in this “the glorious liberty” IS meaningless in the absence of our True Repentance. The Master tells us that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15) which IS to say that 2000 years ago the time to Repent had come. And, perhaps His admonition that we should “believe the gospel” was Jesus’ first effort to tell the Jews that they must move past their own doctrinal relationship with the Lord. In the Christian world however the idea of Repentance has lost it definition and has become somewhat of a mea culpa attitude rather that the change of course that IS indicated by the word. The Greek word metanoeo which IS rendered as Repent IS shown by the lexicon to mean: to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent; to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins2. While this definition has the seeds of Truth in it showing that to Repent IS to change, this idea has NOT taken hold over some other uses of the word that simply show it to be a form of sorrow for what one may have done. This IS reflected in today’s dictionary definition of Repent where the idea IS framed as: to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude*. The defining idea from Strong’s and Thayer’s reflect a similar idea as the common one today; while they DO cite the idea of change, this IS diluted by ideas of sorrow and self-reproach9, 9a. Again we must go to Vincent for a greater insight into the Master’s intent in saying “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Vincent tells us that to Repent IS defined as: Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice4. Mr. Vincent adds that: Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word4.
When we say then that it IS the unawakened man in this world, the man who has yet to Truly Repent and Transform himself according to the reality of these ideas, it IS this defining idea that we ARE speaking of. It IS this change in the life and practice that IS the signature of the man who has begun to change his focus off of the carnal and mundane and onto the things of God. When we look at this as a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose we should try to see that this alteration IS at the direction of the Soul, the Christ Within, as a man allows for the beginnings of his Transformation through the “renewing of your mind“. In fact, we should look at Paul’s words to the Romans as his own admonition that we should Repentand Transform. The apostle tells us “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). This IS the crux of our Repentance and our ensuing Transformation; this IS our awakening to the greater ideas of Truth and Love that abound in this world unseen. Vanity afflicts ALL that ARE in the world, vanity IS our normal way of living in this Earth, a way that must be changed through our Repentance and Transformation if we ARE to DO what IS expected; if we ARE to “be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. Can we see the point here? That so many in the church claim to be so free reflect empty words built in men’s desire to be ‘saved‘ even though there IS NO real definition for this idea.
Again this vanity IS our: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4. This vanity IS continued focus upon the carnal and the mundane things of this world. This vanity IS our self-absorption in our own little lives as we continually seek to gain more and more as men in this world. It IS against this latter idea that the Master tells us very clearly to “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” (Matthew 6:19-21). That the church has downplayed these words IS of NO consequence save to keep men in their perishable and decaying condition. Many contort this idea to allow for men to accumulate “treasures upon earth” by claiming that so long as they give liberally to the poor that they ARE living according to His will. But this IS NOT what the Master’s words say and His interaction with the ‘rich young ruler’ that we discuss above should have been more than enough to allow for the proper understanding of Jesus’ intent. It IS NOT however as both citations ARE manipulated to the benefit of men in this world. We should understand that it IS our vanity that dictates the ways of men and this IS as True in the church as it IS out of the church; the secular and religious communities ARE NOT so far apart when it comes to seeking their own benefit in this world. John Gill DOES show us the idea from a doctrinal perspective in words that we have cited several times over the course of our blogposts. Mr. Gill tells us regarding the idea that men should “lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven” that: either be concerned for, and seek after heavenly treasure, the riches of glory, the joys and glories of another world, which infinitely excel everything that is valuable on earth; and which can never be corrupted, or taken away: or rather, lay up your earthly treasures in heaven; that is, put them into the hands of God in heaven; and this is done, by liberally communicating to the poor; by which means men “provide themselves bags which wax not old, and a treasure in heaven that faileth not“, ( Luke 12:33 )8. We should understand that the former reason IS rather undefined and IS perhaps the goal of some but most ALL believe that the latter argument IS True.
We should add to this Mr. Gills commentary on the Master’s saying that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God“. Here, after a lengthy discussion of other’s works that cite such impossibilities Mr. Gill says: All which show, that there is no need to suppose, that by a camel is meant, not the creature so called, but a cable rope, as some have thought; since these common proverbs manifestly make it appear, that a creature is intended, and which aggravates the difficulty: the reason why instead of an elephant, as used in most of the above sayings, Christ makes mention of a camel, may be, because that might be more known in Judea, than the other; and because the hump on its back would serve to make the thing still more impracticable8. What we should see in Mr. Gill’s commentary however IS perhaps NOT what he intended; what we should see IS the impossibility of “a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God“; but NOT as a proverb…..rather as a fact. To this we should add the doctrinal idea that IS linked to Mark’s version where the Master says “the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24). This idea of trust IS used by many to allow for the accumulation of riches by those who will continue to believe that they ARE saved. Again, NONE of these doctrinal assertions IS Truly founded in the Master’s words; these assertions ARE men’s “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
Aspect of God
Potency
Aspect of Man
In Relation to the Great Invocation
In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father
Will or Power
Spirit or Life
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN
Life
Son, The Christ
Love and Wisdom
Soul or Christ Within
Heart of God
Truth
Holy Spirit
Light or Activity
Life Within
Mind of God
Way
2 New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.or
12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
