ON LOVE; PART MCDXIX
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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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The last essay became a discussion on the idea of striving which IS aptly defined for us as to exert oneself vigorously; try hard; and make strenuous efforts toward any goal*. This IS the work of any who Truly seek the Lord and this word, rendered from the Greek agonizomai, should be silently inserted into every attempt at spiritual advancement for everyman. To be sure one DOES NOT gain spiritually without striving toward that goal and here again we cite the most important use of the word in Luke’s report of the Master’s 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“. These words ARE offered by Jesus in the context of His words on the nature of the Kingdom of God and its growth as He uses the analogies of the “grain of mustard seed” and of leaven(Luke 13:24, 19, 21) as examples of that growth in the heart of a man. We take this idea into personal terms because of the final idea that we should strive to attain the Kingdom and while there IS a corporate idea also at play, this IS NOT under the control of any individual or group; this striving toward the growth of the Kingdom Within IS a purely personal enterprise. Matthew DOES NOT include the idea of striving to enter as he reports the Master’s words simply as a command that we should “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). We should try to see that in this command the idea of striving IS inherent as to “Enter ye in at the strait gate” against the odds posted by the Master there must be strenuous efforts toward that goal. In both versions of His words the Master IS showing us the difficulty that IS involved for the man in this world who IS born into vanity and who must strive to escape his “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20, 21), escape his own reality of “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). We should try to understand this idea of striving as reaching toward whatsoever goal we may have and this according to Webster’s 1828 dictionary which defines strive as: To make efforts; to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard; applicable to exertions of body or mind1. To be sure, we must at ALL times understand that our goal IS NOT for the ‘privilege’ of attaining heaven when we pass on from this world; our goal IS to “Enter ye in at the strait gate” here and now. This view of course IS NOT shared by the majority of the church that sees heaven as that place that ‘believers‘ go after death and even in this strictly doctrinal view there ARE variations taught regarding the way that this may happen.
That Jesus tells us that “the kingdom of God is within you” seems unimportant in the doctrines of men that have applied their own interpretations to these words from Jesus which end with this decree. Luke tells us that the full dialogue IS that Jesus “was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). Many doctrinal ‘authorities’ have replaced the King James rendering of the Greek word entos with ideas as that “the kingdom of God is among you“, that it IS “already among you“, and variations of the idea that “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” and it seems that even those that use a text that says that “the kingdom of God is within you” lean toward the other ideas in their teaching. The reality here IS that NONE Truly KNOW just what the Kingdom of God IS and some yet today distinguish between the Kingdom of God and Matthew’s use of the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus offers us a glimpse of the personal nature of the Kingdom in His parabolic words that compare the Kingdom to things that ARE in this world; a “grain of mustard seed”, leaven and the “man which sowed good seed in his field” (Matthew 13:31, 33, 24) with this last idea being perhaps the most revealing. None of these however reveal the Truth of the Kingdom to the average Christian who can ONLY interpret His words according to their doctrinal ideas. Despite this the idea of heaven plays a oversize role in most ALL doctrinal teachings as that place that ‘believers‘ go after death; many ofttimes repeat visionary stories from persons that have had ‘near death’ experiences. Jesus Himself tells us that there can be little understanding of the reality of the Kingdom by those that ARE NOT focused upon the Truth saying to His disciples that “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand” (Luke 8:10). We should see here that it IS the disciple that KNOWS and this according to the first part of our trifecta which we repeat saying:
- “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).
It IS the True disciple that KNOWS the Truth and we should understand here that based on the Life of the Apostle Peter there IS substantial spiritual growth even as the disciple matures. We should also try to see that this growth begins in the Life of everyman who will strive to keep His words which, while a long way off from the dictates of the law, encompass that law insofar as the primary ideas ARE concerned. We must remember to separate the laws that Moses gave to the Jews according to the intent of each; ALL of the law, beginning with the Ten Commandments, can be divided into the Truly spiritual and such carnal ideas as circumcision, the dietary rules, and the whole idea of sacrifice. While these latter laws ARE offered by Moses as ancillary rules to keep control of a barbarous and superstitious population, it IS these that had been adopted by the Jews; it IS this that causes Jesus to say to the religious leaders of the day that they should “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice“. The Jews’ view of the law encompassed the whole but concentrated upon those things that were easier on the human psyche. Rather than live by those parts of the law that dictated the relationships between men and God and between man and man, their concentration was upon the mundane parts, the sabbath, the dietary laws, circumcision and sacrifice plus ALL else that Jesus rails against in His confrontations with the Jews. It IS easy to see the difference between the intent of the law and the Jews practice of it in the way that the Master confronts them throughout the gospels and especially in His list of woes. We should note that Jesus words against their traditions highlights for us the disfunction of the Jews religion as He tells their leaders that “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do….Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:7-9). While the Master DOES allude to the idea that the Jews believed that they were keeping the commandments, He DOES NOT say so directly; we should however see from their attitudes that they believed that they were righteous before the Lord. And it IS NOT this tradition ONLY that kept the Jews from the Truth, it IS also the way that they altered the intent of the law. Jesus points this out in the same context as we see in Mark’s Gospel; we read in Matthew of Jesus asking “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition“. Jesus concludes this encounter with the same words as we see in Mark saying “in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:3-6, 9).
The point that the Master IS making IS rather clear as He tells the Jews that in the practice of their religion they have confused the carnal with the spiritual as they ignored such ideas of as mercy, a component and expression of agape, and concentrated upon the self serving ideas from the ancillary parts of the law. It IS against this that Jesus tells the Jews “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). It IS the way that the Jews approached the Lord that Jesus speaks against and perhaps the best example of the error of their approach IS found in the Master’s list of woes where we read: “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). Overall we should be able to see that while the Jews believed that they were righteous and were following the law, they ignored the reality that the law was intended to reveal; a reality that the Master shows us in the Great Commandments of which He says “There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31) and, in the same context, that “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). We should note that it IS this same description that Jesus gives to His explanatory note regarding agape, the Golden Rule, saying “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). It should be rather easy to see the Jews’ errors in the practice of their religion and, to be sure, these errors ARE seen and understood by the doctrinal thinkers and their teachers over the centuries. However, this observation of the Jews’ error has never been seen in Christian terms as the “doctrines of men” have continued to rule from the beginning. And here IS our point: just as the Jews believed in their own righteousness despite the Master’s words of correction, so the Christian also believes in his righteousness and ‘salvation‘ in spite of the clearly pictured words of scripture. While these ideas regarding the Jews may seem far from our starting point of striving, there IS actually a direct connection to both the ways of the Jews in Jesus’ time and now and the ways of the Christians who perhaps unknowingly have made the same errors. Neither have strived toward the Truth; neither has taken the time to seek after the Truths that the “doctrines of men” purposefully avoid; neither has seen the Power of agape as it IS reflected in both the Old and the New Testaments.
While little IS KNOWN about the chronology of the gospels, we DO KNOW the each writer of the synoptics and John have put the Master’s words into their own order thereby establishing sometimes distinctively different contexts. We should try to see that each apostle arranged their writings according to their own view of importance along with their own view of the context into which the Master’s words ARE placed. Matthew for example keeps the fullness of what we KNOW as the Sermon on the Mount together while Luke separates the Master’s words over several chapters of his gospel. Mark, the writer of the third synoptic gospel misses the Sermon entirely although some of its precepts ARE included in his text. The Apostle John writes in a very different manner which concentrates more on the experience of the apostles being with the Master and on much of His specific instructions to them which ARE NOT included in the synoptics. Here we should look at the context that Matthew offers us regarding the Master’s words that we cite above as he shows us steps of Truth that build upon each other; our focus here IS striving from the seventh chapter. Jesus starts out this chapter speaking about judgement and while His words ARE KNOWN by many and often used, few really understand the force of His intent. The Master tells us to “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:1-2). It IS the Greek word krino that IS rendered as judge here and the Strong’s meaning of this word IS: properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially)9a. John Gill, representing doctrine for us, says of this judgement that: This is not to be understood of any sort of judgment….but of rash judgment, interpreting men’s words and deeds to the worst sense, and censuring them in a very severe manner; even passing sentence on them8. Mr. Gill sees ONLY the harshest judgement as being the Master’s subject. In the idea that “with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged” IS the more perplexing problem with Jesus words and while many believe that it IS the Lord that will judge the judger, this IS NOT the Master’s intent. The whole of this idea of judgement should be seen as an outward expression against the ways of others and perhaps we can see here that to be one who judges others invites others to look at judgmentally at the judger. We can add to this that whatsoever measure the judger uses will likely come back to him in similar measure; this IS human nature. The KEY to these words on judgement comes to us in the following words which ARE an example of the kind of judgement that Jesus IS addressing as He tells us “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3:5). Can we see the idea of judgement here and can we understand the way that this explains His words on judging?
Two points here; first that this whole idea of judging and beholding one’s brothers faults IS contrary to the message of agape and second: the whole of these ideas IS to show us that their contrariety leads men in the opposite direction from striving toward an expression of Truth and Love. It IS the same human nature that sees other’s faults without measuring them against our own and we should understand that it IS this seeing that IS our judging whether we take action or NOT. In the end the judge of others IS always a hypocrite as the Master shows us and this IS based in our ‘inability’ to judge ourselves honestly. Mr. Gill offers us a saying which may be helpful from Hillel, a Jewish sage, foremost master of biblical commentary and interpreter of Jewish tradition in his time3, who writes “Do not judge thy neighbour, (says he,) until thou comest into his place” and while the whole of the Master’s words ARE more than this, this adage IS ever a good start. We should understand as well that faults ARE NOT the only judgement that men make under the influence of that vanity to which ALL ARE subjected by birth and into which we ARE nurtured and indoctrinated. There IS also the matter of appearance and this comes in many shades from the color of one’s skin to one’s size and demeanor, to ALL things that cause our sense of prejudice to be evoked. The ideas here ARE directly related to the the Way of Love that James shows us saying that “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10). This IS an important point that both clarifies and amplifies the Master’s words on both judgement and the way that we may behold another but, unfortunately, it IS a point that has been missed in the doctrinal teachings seemingly from the beginning. This idea of having NO “respect to persons” IS a part of the very nature of agape and this especially when we see this dynamic Love in the Master’s terms from the Great Commandments saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mark 12:31). It IS this same nature that Jesus offers us a few verses on saying “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
We should understand that this reality of human nature, this reality of placing oneself above others in one’s carnally oriented mind, IS an integral part of that “bondage of corruption” that afflicts everyman through the vanity to which he IS subjected. Paul tells us this 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 from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21) and while this IS doctrinally attributed to the ‘fall of man’, the result IS the same human nature. In Jesus instructions, His commandments if you will, it is this sense of human nature that must be overcome by the spiritual forces that emanate from the Soul and ARE accepted by the man that Truly seeks, an idea the Master covers in some detail later in this chapter. It IS the man that seeks the Truth that can identify the “bondage of corruption” in his own Life and it IS he that can understand Peter’s confirming words saying “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” (2 Peter 1:4). It IS in our escape from this corruption caused by our desires to ‘be’ that puts us in a position to Truly have NO “respect to persons“. While James presents this idea of having NO “respect to persons” in terms of our view of the poor verses the rich or, as the apostle frames this as “if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment” (James 2:2), this IS but an example of the type of ‘respect‘ that one can show to either. The point IS of course that we should NOT distinguish between these in our approach and interaction with such people, rich and poor, but should be as the Master who had both in His audience and He “healed them all” (Luke 6:19). This precept IS shown us in the Master’s examples of interacting with the people and we should understand that it IS in the Power of agape that He says such things as that “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13) which IS the underlying purpose of True religion. We should remember here that it IS the very nature of the Godhead to see ALL in the same way and the Master shows us this saying that for us to express agape, to express this Universal idea of Love, that we should “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect“, the Father who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:48, 45). This IS the precedent for our having NO “respect to persons” and it IS this that IS amplified and clarified by James in his most direct appeal to men who yet today fail to understand this precept.
It IS this same Universal idea of Love that IS expressed by the other apostles’ telling us that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) and “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). There ARE several sayings in the New Testament that confirm this nature of God and to see this from a personal perspective as James presents, we need look not further that the Book of Proverbs. In Proverbs we read “These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment” and “To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress” (Proverbs 24:23, 28:21). We should see that while the idea of “respect to persons” IS used in the Old Testament mostly in terms of administering judgements, the reality stretches far beyond this and into the reality that this IS the very nature of the Godhead which must become our nature as well. It IS ONLY in this regard that we can “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). We should remember here that both being perfect and being merciful, which IS the expression of agape in this world, ARE given us by Matthew and Luke in the same context and according to their own view of these two ideas. While the differences between Matthew’s and Luke’s perspective on the Master’s word thoughts IS never extreme, we should note that they each have a different view of Jesus’ message. It IS evident here in the difference between being perfect and being merciful; it IS evident in the way that the nature of God IS expressed in Matthew’s telling us that He “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” as a sign of the Lord’s equanimity while Luke tells us of the Lord that “he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35) to show the same point. And it IS evident in the way Matthew describes the disciple in terms of worthiness saying “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” (Matthew 10:37) while Luke shows us the same idea saying “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” (Luke 14:26). We should NOT see these differences as such however; what we should see IS the relative synonymy of the ideas expressed by each apostle. We should KNOW that that there ARE few who qualify for either being His disciple or being worthy of Him based in the precepts set forth in the gospels; our attachment to family reigns supreme across the world of men and while it IS based in the vanity to which ALL ARE subjected, it IS seen as a basic human instinct.
In the idea of being “worthy of me“, Matthew IS less expansive in his description while Luke, referring to being “my disciple” includes an extended view of the family and also one’s Love for his own Life. In both apostles’ view however the idea that IS the first of the Great Commandments IS the basis and IS the apostles’ amplification and clarification of the Masters citing of the first precept of Truth, that “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” (Mark 12:30). Can we see the point here? Can we see and understand that one’s attention must be fully on the Lord and the things of God if one IS to Truly be “worthy of me” and be His disciple? And, can we see how that the Master ties this to the reality of keeping His words as we read in the first part of our trifecta; that it IS ONLY those that “continue in my word” that Truly ARE His disciples?
While ALL this is part of the Master’s message in the gospels, the precepts ARE ignored as Christians claim themselves disciples and count themselves among the worthy. Similarly the idea that men Love the Lord IS also but a hollow claim when measured against His words from the third part of our trifecta. There Jesus expands upon the idea that He puts forth earlier saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” as He tells us that to keep His words IS the KEY to having the Holy Spirit in one’s Life saying that for those “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:15, 16). ALL of this IS tied to Love for the Lord which IS expressed through keeping His words and the Master clarifies this in our trifecta showing us the fullness of the Presence of the Lord saying “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“. We should understand here that the verbiage used by John IS according to his understanding of the way that the message would be accepted by the reader and NOT necessarily his own understanding of the deep spiritual ideas that he IS relating to the world. Nonetheless, the message here and those of Matthew and Luke above are NOT a part of the Christian doctrinal approach to the Lord as men continue to profess their ‘spirituality’ while DOING little or nothing that IS required for True spirituality. We must here recognize the power of the ideas that we ARE presenting; ideas that can Truly make of men “partakers of the divine nature”. This IS the Power of agape through the Power of keeping His words that ARE His commandments and that the church DOES NOT recognize this Power nor its inner source DOES NOT detract from the Master’s Truths. While this IS again a seemingly harsh assessment of the church and its doctrinal approach, the intent IS NOT to be harsh but to expose the way that Jesus’ words ARE too often laid off to the idea that He IS speaking to the Jews. These words on discipleship and worthiness CAN NOT however be so laid off on others; these ARE deeply personal instructions on the reality of agape and the need to Truly follow Him which IS defined for us by Thayer’s saying: to cleave steadfastly to one, conform wholly to his example, in living and if need be in dying also9. Can we Truly say that we DO follow the Lord without DOING so in this way?
In the last essay we compared Thayer’s defining ideas for following Him to Vincent’s words on “believing in” and “believing on” the Master which ideas have been so diluted by the doctrines of men that they ARE become rather meaningless. Vincent tells us that to Truly “believe in” and “believe on” one must: accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4. It IS ONLY in this sense of believing that the Power of it can move the mountain or plant the “sycamine tree” in the sea; it IS ONLY in this sense of believing that one can achieve those “greater works” (John 14:12) that ARE promised by the Lord. None of this IS within the reach of the nebulous sense of believing held by the church which holds out faith and believing as the KEYS to ‘salvation‘ without regard to the Master’s words or intent. And so too with the idea of following Him, an idea that the Master puts forth several times with criteria. Jesus tells His prospective apostles whose carnal Life was as fishermen to “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19) in which we should see that to follow Him IS to leave off one’s carnal endeavors. He tells “another of his disciples” who sees the need to bury his father to “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:2, 22), again showing them that they should leave their worldly cares behind. While the idea of taking up one’s cross may seem unclear, we should note the Master’s words saying “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23) where the idea that he should “deny himself” shows us the Truth of following Him and leaving one’s carnal thoughts, attitudes and actions behind. This disassociation from one’s carnal path IS made clearer in Jesus saying to the rich young man seeking “eternal life“; the Master says “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:17, 21).
There IS little difference between Truly “believing in” or “believing on” and Truly following Him based upon the defining ideas from Vincent and Thayer’s but unfortunately their words ARE seldom understood as the principal behind the New Testament usage of the Greek word ideas. The common understanding of faith and believing has become that nebulous doctrinal idea that fails in ALL respects save for the ‘comfort’ that men may find in asserting their belief and ‘trust‘ in the Lord. Similarly the idea of following Him has been so diluted that anyone professing that they ARE a ‘Christian’ of any stripe considers himself to be a follower of the Lord. Most ALL fall far short of the criteria set forth in the Master’s words and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles; few understand the force of believing as to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4 and few there ARE that see following the Lord as to cleave steadfastly to one, conform wholly to his example, in living and if need be in dying also9. It IS in searching out the intent of the Master and His apostles that we can best understand the Truths of these ideas and it IS perhaps this searching that Jesus refers to in saying “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9). Finding the Truth has ever required that we filter out the noise of vanity; that we filter out those ideas into which we ARE indoctrinated by the worldly approach of men. Our searching for the Truth requires that we understand two things that ARE of the utmost importance to the Truth of our salvation. The first IS that we keep His words, that we strive to see the Truth in His commandments and mold our carnal lives around them according to the Apostle John’s words saying that “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). And second that we understand the intent of the Great Commandments which require that men DO deny themselves as individual actors while striving to express the essence of agape Universally to ALL which IS the reality Truly Loving the Lord. It IS in our Truly “believing in” the Lord and Truly following Him, that we can unlock the Truth that IS inherent in our own Souls; the Truth that will bring men to True Repentance, Transformation and Redemption here in this world where it matters.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 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
- 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.org
- * 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
