ON LOVE; PART MCCXXX

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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. 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 additional thoughts on “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai” which ARE the Apostle Paul’s words that ARE rendered in our selection from his First Epistle to the Corinthians as “Agape suffereth long, and is kind” and which ARE commonly understood to mean “Love is patient, love is kind“. For us these ideas barely cover even the carnal side of the apostle’s intent which IS to define that Love which IS agape, and here we should remember that in defining agape, God IS also defined. In the last essay we took the dual ideas that “God IS love” (1 John 4:8, 16) and that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24), that in these we should see an equivalence of terms that tells us that Spirit IS Love and Love IS Spirit. In this we should understand how far beyond patience and kindness the apostle’s words go.

To say “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai” according to the defining ideas of these words IS to say that agape, the ‘God kind of Love’ for lack of a better idea, reaches out from the Spirit of God and man in makrothumeo which IS to be of a long spirit ⁹ as Thayer’s defines this word, and in a way of chresteuomai which Strong’s defines as to show oneself useful ^9a. Vincent tells us chresteuomai means serviceable ⁴….a seldom used word that Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines as: That does service; that promotes happiness, interest, advantage or any good; useful; beneficial; advantageous ¹. From a spiritual perspective this IS again far beyond patience and kindness and the basic intent here should be seen as that True agape, True Love, IS the expression by God and by man of His Universal Love that IS with NO “respect to persons” with the intent of being serviceable to His creation. This was the Life of Jesus the Christ and this IS the intended Life of everyman who seeks to follow Him.

This brings us back again to the most basic question; what IS the ‘God kind of Love’. While this IS NOT a difficult question to answer even in carnal terms, the whole idea of agape IS missed by most ALL doctrinal thinkers who DO NOT yet understand the meaning, the intent, and the far reaching consequences of the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule. Most CAN NOT separate their understanding of Love from the Truth of agape; most CAN NOT see that in the common understanding of Love as that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others and to the things of this world, there IS NO room for the great Truth that “God is love“. Additionally, most DO NOT understand the importance of agape in this world, that agape IS the defining quality of the man who Truly seeks the Lord. Repeating Paul’s words that show the importance of agape for such a man, we read:

“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way“. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not agape, 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 not agape, 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 not agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-3). 

“Agape suffereth long, and is kind; agape envieth not; agape 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. Agape 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 13:4-8).

As we have built upon our understanding of the idea and the intent behind “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai“, we have offered several of our thoughts on just what this should mean in the Life of everyman who Truly seeks the Lord. ALL of our thoughts ARE however connected to the singular idea of the expression of agape in this world of men and here we should see that this expression of agape must be as this IS expressed by the Lord. God sees NO divisions save for the diversity of men’s appearances and we should try to see that through the long course of the history of man, prehistoric and historic, that there ARE natural reasons why some are black, some white, some brown, some yellow and some red. There are likely environmental reasons as well as logistical ones that have caused this diversity and, perhaps we can see as well a psychic and spiritual reason which afflicts the minds of men with prejudices and hatreds that must be resolved through “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai“.

From the teaching of Moses through the words of the Master and to today, the fundamental idea by which men’s view of this diversity IS resolved IS the most straightforward saying that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. In this Truth we have NOT ONLY the Will of God for men but also the Truth of God as He has ever tried to show His own view of His awesome creation. We should understand that while God may ‘see’ this diversity, He DOES NOT react to it nor DOES He react to any ideas of evil and good nor just and unjust which example Jesus uses to show us as He tells us of the Universal expression of agape toward humankind; the Master tells us of the Father that “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

The context of this saying IS agape and this IS an integral part of His teaching on agape as the intended way of man in this world. But most DO NOT see the intent of these words which should be seen as a limitation of the intervention of God in the mortal lives of men from a Transcendent point of view. God DOES NOT favor any one over another and this includes both the individual and the corporate man; whether it be a matter race, of religion, of nationality or whatsoever subgroups have been formed….”there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). This IS God from a Transcendent perspective: His expression of agape IS seen in His Universal ‘treatment’ of ALL men as men in this world and while this DOES NOT address the afflictions of men, the effect of wars, famines and plagues, we should understand that these and other such things ARE neither caused nor prevented by the ‘hand’ of God.

Men ARE born and die according to the natural world and whatsoever pleasure or pain that they may be born into or come to KNOW IS NOT at the ‘hand’ of God; there IS a deeper idea that lurks beneath ALL that can be seen and understood….God Immanent. God Immanent IS the Soul, the spiritual man, the Christ Within; God Immanent IS “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). This IS the reality of the Christ, the anointing according to the meaning of christos; this IS the “unction from the Holy One“, and it IS by a man’s realization of this Truth that he can come to “know all things” (1 John 2:20). We should try to see here that as Souls, as the divine being that IS “this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7), ALL ARE also equal….ALL are syllables in the Great Logos which doctrines interpret simply as the Word, yet another nebulous Christian idea.

This equality is different however; this IS an equality of every Soul being part and parcel of God, the very substance that IS the Godhead, the Soul KNOWS the Godhead and that he IS destined to bring a Life in this Earth to the point of “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“; and this by being made free “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. Why, we DO NOT KNOW, nor can we even glimpse at the reason for men to be born into this “vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:23, 21, 20), a vanity that IS further compounded by years of nurturing and indoctrination into the ways of this world. There ARE several things then that make men different aside from the physical diversity; there IS the quality of the vehicle, the body of everyman, there IS the quality of the unformed personality, the mind and the emotions, and there IS the spiritual effect of whatever spiritual collateral one may bring into this Life.

These things set men onto different levels, different paths and with different innate abilities which, should they be seen as by the ‘hand’ of God, would make the idea that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) moot. If we can see that the God Within, the Logos, the Christ Within, IS the same in everyman save for his accumulated ability to somewhat express himself through his form in this world, we can then see the basis for agape as the expression of the Soul in this world; and expression that IS ONLY possible by the man who has “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4), and by measure the man who strives to “know the truth” that will “make you free” which, as we read in our trifecta, IS the result of striving to keep His words; we read again Jesus words 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 as Souls that ALL men ARE equal and it IS in the understanding of the man who glimpses this, the understanding that while he may see a glimmer of the Truth that NOT ALL men DO, that we find the prima facie evidence of the Truth of agape. Jesus, in His teachings that ARE recorded in the gospels, shows us the Way that men should live, that their focus should be upon the things of God and NOT the things of men and here we should remember that He IS speaking at men’s level of understanding and according to the times, still barbarous and superstitious times to be sure. He teaches this in His words on what treasure men should seek but the force of His words saying “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) IS NOT Truly understood as even the doctrines of men encourage seeking “treasures upon earth“.

While these treasures may include material wealth, the deeper reality IS found in the idea that ALL that IS the focus of a man IS his treasure….ALL carnal and ALL Truly spiritual pursuits. And while the purveyors of the doctrines of men may believe that they ARE focused upon the things of God, they ARE, at the same time focusing upon building churches and schools that teach their doctrine and often under their own name as many ARE focused upon their own legacy. The Master offers a long dissertation on this idea of seeking after the things of the world over the things of God and He puts much into such simple terms as “What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?“. These of course ARE normal human functions that Jesus tells us to be less concerned about as He implores us to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:31, 33).

Here too the doctrinal force IS missing as the world of things overwhelms most everyman and this despite Jesus’ admonition that men should “Take no thought for your life” and it IS perhaps in this that we can see greatest point of His teaching: that this worldly Life must be subservient to the Life of the Soul. It IS when one can “take no thought” regarding the carnal that the spiritual can become one’s True focus. These words however ARE relegated to the idea of worry and taught as men ought not to worry or be anxious about this or that, an idea that IS originated in the doctrines of men who see this rather than the deeper Truth. Vincent gives us a glimpse of the True meaning of the Greek word as he tells us that: The cognate noun is μέριμνα, care, which was formerly derived from μερίς, a part; μερίζω, to divide; and was explained accordingly as a dividing care, distracting the heart from the true object of life, This has been abandoned, however, and the word is placed in a group which carries the common notion of earnest thoughtfulness. It may include the ideas of worry and anxiety, and may emphasize these, but not necessarily ⁴.

Aside from the many verses that include the idea of “take no thought“, whether these be as above or in regard to Jesus’ teaching to His disciples that they need NOT even think about what they will say, which we should try to see as that the Inner man will speak over the carnal mind, the Greek word merimnao IS rendered in terms of care. Most ALL doctrinal thinkers see the idea of anxiousness and worry in these words of which Vincent first gives us his better idea and then offers his own doctrinal slant saying: It is uneasiness and worry about the future which our Lord condemns here, and therefore Rev. rightly translates be not anxious ⁴. If we could see that in the idea of simply placing one’s earnest thoughtfulness upon “treasures in heaven” rather than “treasures upon earth” we can then understand the seamless instruction on the focus of the Life of a man; that this IS NOT to be in regard to the carnal Life but to the spiritual.

Jesus brings this point to us again in the Parable of the Rich Fool where the message IS clearly NOT in regard to greed but in regard to focus. Here the rich man’s focus IS upon his carnal Life and his future in this world and for many this focus IS all consuming. In this parable we read that “God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” and this just before He “said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on“. Here in these words from Luke’s Gospel we have the same point of “take no thought” as from Matthew’s but, because of the parable, with a different perspective, and it IS in the final line that much misunderstanding has evolved; Jesus says “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20, 22, 21).

There IS little understanding of the role of wealth as this IS portrayed in the words of the Master and the confirming and amplifying words of His apostles; so much so that the idea of wealth being God’s ‘desire’ for believers has spawned the so called prosperity gospel and the churches that teach this most carnal philosophy seem to be the fastest growing segment of Christianity. While most of the Master’s words on wealth and possessions ARE quite clear, it IS the unclear that ARE used to promote these doctrines along with select ideas on wealth from the Old Testament and here, in the teaching of this philosophy, we should most clearly see what Paul calls for us “another gospel“. In their glamour and their illusion however those that teach and believe this philosophy DO NOT see that Paul IS speaking of them as he says: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).

To be sure, this IS NOT the ONLY Christian philosophy that can be counted in this idea of “another gospel“; ALL religious philosophies that DO NOT teach the fundamental Truth of agape and of keeping His words which amplify the heart of the law ARE but “another gospel” and have been since the beginning. But NONE see this nor DO they choose to see themselves as apart from the True teachings of the Master as they base their own sense of Truth in the misunderstood, misapplied and out of context words of His apostles, words which were NEVER intended to be seen as the sparks of new doctrines. Few there ARE that have awakened to the Truth of agape and this despite Paul’s stark admonition that men should awake to this Truth; repeating the apostle’s words we read:

“Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another: for he that agapao 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 agape thy neighbour as thyself. Agape worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore agape is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed”  (Romans 13:8-11).

This admonition to “awake out of sleep” IS NOT seen by most in the context of agape where it IS found. While Paul IS telling us to Love, to express agape, he IS telling us this in the context of giving ALL men their due and this especially in regard to the ‘rulers’ of the people. In his words saying “Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another” there IS a clear message that IS muddled by the doctrines of men: ALL that one ever owes to another IS found in his expression of agape according to the Master’s teaching on Love and according to the apostles defining ideas on just what this Love IS. It IS this to which men must awake; it IS this expression of agape to which men have ever been asleep. This IS True before Christ and this IS True as Paul teaches us to correct this failure; and this IS True yet today because the whole idea of agape IS NOT understood apart from the carnal ideas of Love.

The idea of owing as this IS rendered from the Greek word opheilo should NOT be confused with monetary issues; this IS seldom the point of this word in the New Testament. The meaning IS better understood in terms of indebtedness, that the one who ‘owes‘ IS the debtor, and here the idea IS that it IS one’s debt to ALL to Love ALL as this IS written in the Great Commandment. Vincent shows us this idea in his commentary on the first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans where we read “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise” (Romans 1:14); here, quoting Godet, Mr. Vincent says: Debtor (ὀφειλέτης) All men, without distinction of nation or culture, are Paul’s creditors, “He owes them his life, his person, in virtue of the grace bestowed upon him, and of the office which he has received.” (Godet). Debtor here IS rendered from opheiletes, the noun form of the verb opheilo.

The Master has much the same sense of indebtedness which idea should come through in His words and His example. It IS in the reality of both of the Great Commandments that Jesus, as the Great Soul which lived His Life 2000 years ago, both taught and lived by. The One Transcendent and Immanent God was the One to whom Jesus expressed the deepest sense of agape as He DOES “agapao the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” and He DOES so through His total commitment to the Plan which IS both of God and IS God. Even unto His death the Master Life expresses the Truth of agape as He sees ALL things in God and God in ALL things.

Jesus lives His Earthly Life in full accordance with the Truth of the Law as He teaches men to DO the same and, if we were to watch and listen to His carefully constructed words, we could see how that He discerns the spiritual parts of the Law from the carnal parts which ARE the given as the law in Moses’ day and for Moses people. Most ALL of the ceremonial parts of the law have little to DO with the spiritual lives of men; they ARE rather tribal rites, rituals and ordinances much the same as the social and moral ideas that have followed them to this day. Jesus’ teaching IS in the heart of the law, in the Truth of agape, and when one Truly understands the True meaning of agape, he would be hard pressed to find admonishments in the spiritual parts of the law that ARE NOT about our expression of agape.

Jesus tells us that “he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29) and this in the same teaching to the Jews in which He offers us the Way to discipleship and to the Truth as we read in our trifecta. Here in the idea of pleasing Him IS the reality of agape and Jesus brings this to ALL men in His words saying “If ye agapao me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). We should see here that Jesus’ pleasing God IS NO different than our pleasing God as an expression of agape; In our trifecta we cite His words saying “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“; here we should easily understand that Jesus has the commandments of the Lord and He “keepeth them” and we KNOW as well that these ARE the Father’s because Jesus tells us so saying “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me”.

The Master’s indebtedness then can be seen as His duty and which IS become His attitude of service of which He says “I am among you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27). In Paul’s words saying “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1) we should see this same idea of the duty of everyman to overcome the ways of the world and to express the Way of God….the Way of agape. There IS NO greater service to perform as a Soul than to express the Truth of agape through one’s Life here in this Earth and there IS NO greater example of this than the Master’s death and resurrection which we read in His own words saying: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-18).

This IS the essential message of Easter from the perspective of the Soul: that we serve our fellow man in agape. Jesus’ example may seem extreme and so it IS but at the same time it was necessary to give us the message that this Life in form IS NOT of importance, it IS the Life of the Inner man, the Christ Within, which IS resurrected without True form for the Christ and for the man who has achieved “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). We should remember here that “as he is, so are we in this world” (John 4:17) and if we can somewhat overcome the vanity in which ALL men live, we can have a measure of that Presence of God and come to KNOW the Truth of who and what we ARE “in this world“.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

HAPPY EASTER

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

Quote of the Day:

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
• ^9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
• ⁹ Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
• ** From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.  

Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher