ON LOVE; PART MCCCXCVI
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
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We ended the last essay with Paul’s words to the Corinthians regarding the way that they had let their religious inclinations divide rather that Unify. In those days there were but few teachers of Truth and many of the converts were Jews who likely selected a teacher who was able to meld their sense of Judaism with the new ideas given by the Christ. We should note here that even the names mentioned took such a personal stance regarding what they taught. To be sure ALL of these were teaching the Master’s words but from their own unique perspective and Paul IS railing here NOT about the teaching itself but rather about the affiliation of what was being taught with the teacher. For the non-Jew the situation was much the same sans the ideas that ARE understood by the Jews and we should note that throughout Paul’s writings there IS a strong leaning from him regarding this same melding of the new with the old. NOT as doctrines per se but as a way to influence the Jews regarding the ‘carrying forward’ of the Jews’ understanding into the new Christian era. Regardless of the reasons behind the various teachings which tended to divide, it IS this sense of division that Paul sees as contrary to the reality that He and the others were presenting and we should try to see that it IS the personal perspective of the teachers that inadvertently IS causing such division. The point here IS that the divisions that Paul IS writing against ARE NOT caused by the teachers but in the minds of the hearers and while we ARE NOT privy to the ideas being specifically taught, we can be sure that they cause some discomfort among the group of men cited in Paul’s words to the Corinthians, words with which he begins his epistle. Paul tells them:
“I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).
In Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians, thought to be written a few years later, he revives this theme of division in his discussion of “another gospel“. Here he IS admonishing the Corinthians who were seemingly being taught a greater variety of ideas and we should try to see that while the apostle IS NOT being specific, there ARE in their presence a number of teachers to which the Apostle John would give the title of antichrist. Paul says “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). Vincent explains the ending idea here saying “Ye might well bear (καλῶς ἠνείχεσθε)” that: Following the reading which makes the verb in the imperfect tense, putting the matter as a supposed case. The Rev. follows the reading ἀνεχέσθε, present tense, and puts it as a fact: ye do well to bear. Lit., ye endure them finely. The expression is ironical. You gladly endure these false teachers, why do you not endure me?4. We should try to see here that there was a continuing erosion to the reality of the teachings that were of the Master’s words. We should try to see that some of these Corinthians were willing to accept teachings regarding “another Jesus“, “another spirit” and “another gospel” and here we should try to understand perhaps a beginning of the various doctrines that would plague the Truth and become the chosen Truths of groups of believers. We should note here as well that throughout his letters the apostle fights against such divisions which can also be seen in such ideas as his words saying “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” (Galatians 3:1).
Far too much of the Unity that IS the deepest Truth of Christianity has been lost over the last 2000 years and we should note here that it was lost from the beginning as men took authoritative control after the deaths of the apostles and those that Truly followed them and the teachings of the Master. It IS Unity that IS Jesus’ singular message and this Unity IS the result of agape rightly understood. The Master and His apostles DO NOT shrink away from writing about agape and the Way that this becomes the realization of the man in this world through keeping His words. We should understand here that His words ARE NOT simply commandments, they ARE the essence of spiritual Life, an essence that IS put into more understandable ideas regarding men’s thoughts and attitudes by His apostles’ clarifying and amplifying words. The things that Jesus commands us to DO ARE fundamental ideas that promote Unity through agape and we should try to see here that His words ARE ever intended to remove the human tendency to regard oneself as the center of one’s Life. His words however ARE NOT seen in this Light; they ARE rather seen as onerous undertakings and this erroneous idea has led many to believe and teach that Jesus DID NOT ever intend that men would heed His words. Too many believe and teach that His words as well as the words of the law ARE intended to show men what they CAN NOT DO, as that what IS taught IS impossible for men to accomplish. They DO so while relying upon their interpretations of Paul’s words which erect that nebulous arena of faith and believing without ever Truly understanding the reality of the spiritual ideas that ARE behind the Greek words pistis and pisteuo. Both faith and believing can be understood on many levels but spiritually these words denote our KNOWING and here the greater reality IS our KNOWING God. We should understand that here IS little space between KNOWING God and Loving God and both of these ideas ARE adequately explained for us by John. Many claim to KNOW God who have literally NO idea of just what the idea of God represents; much of this can be directly attributed to the teachings of the churches which ARE based in ideas from the Old Testament, ideas that were intended for a humanity that was superstitious, barbarous and was lacking in any True understanding of natural law. There were some that were less superstitious and who had some Truer understanding, these were called heretics, their words denied and themselves ofttimes killed. Many of the prophets, both KNOWN and unknown, fall into this class which continues into the Christian era. In the early church there were competing ideas such as those propounded by the Gnostics which were deemed heretical teachings by the orthodoxy, much like the Kabbalah IS seen by the Jews. This designation of such teachings as heresy IS made by men and, to be sure, by men who DO NOT agree with such teachings It IS such men that took authority over the newly formed Christian church and which then erected a theological structure that prohibited giving any credence to any doctrine that deviated from their orthodox positions, arbitrary and hardly scriptural positions as any True research will reveal. Perhaps the greatest harm to the Truth IS the churches nebulous ideas of pistis and pisteuo which have blotted out the search for Truth and those whose emphasis was upon KNOWING God. The Christian idea of God has become as nebulous as the ideas of faith and believing which eliminate the need to Truly KNOW. Our point here IS that it IS the heretics that likely best understand the idea of God and who, in the absence of doctrinal precepts, can see past their carnality through the Truth of the Master’s words.
In the turning away from the Truth of the Master’s words men have established many an “another gospel“, and many “another Jesus” and “another spirit“, ALL of which ARE contrary to the Truth in varying degrees. The Unity that IS Christ IS gone for most ALL of Christianity which IS contrary to Paul’s admonition “that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you“, the church has furnished a yes answer to the apostle’s question “Is Christ divided?“. The reality of this Unity of God and of ALL Life IS founded for us in KNOWING God and, as we say above, there IS little space between KNOWING and Loving the Lord. John tells of KNOWING God that “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4) and while the clarity of these words should be obvious to the doctrinal Christian, it IS NOT. This IS largely because the doctrinal Christian professes that he DOES KNOW God despite that he has literally NO idea of just what the idea of God represents….nor DOES he keep “his commandments“. In our selection John tells us about Loving God saying “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” and while this example IS based in common sense, it IS also steeped in Jesus repeatedly commanding us to DO the even more ancient idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). While the doctrinal Christian proclaims that he KNOWS God, he professes at an even deeper level that he Loves God where the ONLY evidence of such a Love IS as scripture notes above, that one must Love his brother and his neighbor which we should equate to Loving everyman. If these ideas from John and Jesus ARE the valid evidence, most ALL of the world fails to either KNOW God or Love God and we should ever remember that this Love, this expression of agape, requires that one keep His words as shown us by Jesus’ own words that conflate these two ideas. It IS this conflation that we should see in the third part of our trifecta which we repeat here 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).
There can be NO separation of these ideas of Loving God and KNOWING God which ARE both the result of keeping His words and while we cite here Jesus and John, this same reality can be easily found in the writings of ALL the apostles albeit perhaps NOT as directly stated. But it IS the directly stated ideas of the New Testament that ARE those that ARE the most ignored in the doctrinal approach of men who DO NOT see (DO NOT want to see IS the better view of this) the need to keep His words despite the clarity. In a previous essay (In the Words of Jesus Part 1755) we likened the doctrinal thinker to the prodigal’s brother and there ARE several reasons to make this analogy in Jesus’ parable. We also showed how that the brother’s attitude was laissez-faire which IS defined for us as: a philosophy or practice characterized by a usually deliberate abstention from direction or interference especially with individual freedom of choice and action* according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It IS this attitude of deliberate abstention from direction or interference especially with individual freedom of choice and action* that leads men to deflect the need to keep His words and to substitute such action with their presumably easier but nebulous ideas of faith and believing. The reality here IS that men have ever chosen mammon over God and those “treasures upon earth” over the spiritual True “treasures in heaven“; few realize the impact of the Master’s words here and in His saying that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:24, 19, 20, 21). It IS without any personal or corporate action according to the Master’s words that men still proclaim to Love God and to KNOW God. And we should understand here that these ideas of men that ARE taught in the churches ARE then justified by totally spurious arguments such as the idea that the law and Jesus’ commandments ARE given to show men that they CAN NOT ever save themselves. But there IS a still more harmful justification prevalent in some parts of the church which IS the idea that there IS a new covenant in the words of the Apostle Paul that supersedes the words of Jesus and whether this IS called grace, mercy or the “free gift” of God, the premise IS the result ONLY of “commandments of men“. We should try to see how that the degree of indoctrination endured by the average ‘Christian’ has resulted in the way that even such words as “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7) ARE understood as addressed solely to the Jews while their interpretations of Paul’s words ARE become their gospel….”another gospel” to be sure.
The True essence of the New Testament IS found in its teachings on agape. While this idea of Love was at the heart of the Ten Commandments, save for its reference to Loving the Lord the idea was left for men to discern through those commandments that directed them in their interrelationships with others. We should remember that the whole of the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses, ARE written to a superstitious and barbarous race of men who ARE wholly ignorant regarding the natural laws of the Universe and ARE motivated by their emotional responses rather than critical thought. Despite this the ideas of agape, the ideas of the Great Commandments, ARE interwoven into the greater teachings along with the story line of the Exodus and the subsequent history of the Jews’ nation under the auspices of One God which we should try to understand as the primary focus and teaching. Alexander Maclaren shows us this in his exposition of the first chapter of Genesis where we read that: We are not to look to Genesis for a scientific cosmogony, and are not to be disturbed by physicists’ criticisms on it as such. Its purpose is quite another, and far more important; namely, to imprint deep and ineffaceable the conviction that the one God created all things. 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 idolatry 12. The message of Moses then was twofold; first to imprint deep and ineffaceable the conviction that the one God created all things and second to intersperse the idea of agape more specifically within the fabric of his writings. It IS this idea of agape that IS then shown us by some of the prophets as the necessary motivation for religious living as several offer the Jews the idea that this agape IS of more spiritual value that the rites, and the rituals of the Jews and especially the role of sacrifice; a tool deemed necessary to slowly bring the people out of the surrounding idolatry and into an understanding of their relationship to their one God. The seed of agape IS planted in the Old Testament writings of Moses and the prophets along with the ofttimes fantastical stories of the Jews’ supremacy and we should try to see that the spiritual ups and downs found in the historical books are based in the Jews’ allegiance to their one God or the lack thereof. Both the nation’s ups and downs ARE based in the role of the appointed kings who ARE classed yet today as good, allegiant to the Lord, or as bad, those who cause the nation to fall back into surrounding idolatry.
Most ALL of this IS missed through men’s literal reading and interpretation of the writings of Moses and the prophets and it IS unfortunate that much of the prophets teachings ARE found in the historical texts which themselves ARE NOT quite reliable pictures of the past. The Christian seeks credence from the Old Testament writings to support their various doctrinal views and in so DOING the churches have picked and chosen those ideas that they see as pointing to Jesus and those that can supplement their fixation upon the end times, upon their eschatological ramblings. In the insistence of many that the whole bible IS in some way written by God, a belief based mostly in their nebulous ideas of faith, many of the most fantastical bible stories ARE deemed irrevocably True and the visions and dreams of the prophets ARE seen as factual pronouncements. Interpretations of these visions and dreams, including those of the Book of Revelation, vary widely among Christian denominations and sects which seek to relate unrelatable sequences into a theological view that for many seems ALL consuming. ALL of this folds into the man-inspired doctrinal approaches to the Lord which, in their varieties, ALL presume that their interpretations ARE the valid Truths despite that reality that few groups agree. Few understand that their interpretations ARE just that, interpretations sprung from their carnal minds, sprung from the personalities of men. Most importantly, in the doctrinal zeal to set forth their own sense of doctrine most ALL have missed the Truth of the New Testament which IS found in its teachings on agape. It IS this failure over the last 2000 years that IS also the cause of men’s ignorance regarding agape, what it IS and how it works out in this world of men. Several posts back we used the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians to define agape as the single most important aspect of Christianity as we sought to better understand the apostle’s revelation of Truths that ARE seen by most in a purely carnal way; according to the common understanding of the rendered word Love or, as the King James sometimes translates agape, charity. Over the course of our discussions on Paul’s words we tried to show his view of agape as the singularly most important aspect of True Christianity and we should remember here that he DOES show us how that ALL human religious endeavors ARE for naught without one’s expression of agape. It IS important to keep this in mind as we continue with our next selection from the Apostle John’s First Epistle which we repeat saying:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4).
Having discussed the idea of antichrist, we should be able to understand that this idea IS NOT as it IS painted by the doctrines of men but IS rather ALL that IS contrary to the teachings of the Master. That this word antichrist has been weaponized, if we can use that term here, and made a part of those cultural ideas regarding Satan and devils as a primary mover in the eschatological ideas of men IS unfortunate. Any reading of the apostle’s words that IS divorced from such doctrinal ideas should easily show John’s intent in using the idea of antichristos, that it IS to define those that believe and teach such things that ARE contrary to the Truth of the teachings of the Christ which word should be understood as more than its being an appellation of the Master. Throughout the gospels the idea of christos includes what IS called the definite article and while this IS NOT reflected in most ALL translations, the idea IS ever to be understood as “the Christ”. There IS a strong relationship between this idea of christos and that of the messiah which IS transliterated as the Greek messias in the King James Bible. The word IS untranslated in the New Testament, either as messais or messiah, which, from the Hebrew mashiyach, means the same as christos: anointed or anointed one2a according to the lexicon. In this we should be able to understand the way that these words reflect the idea of anointing and while this may seem a meaningless idea, it has been appropriated by much of the church to reflect their ideas of the Presence of God in a person, in a movement or in a room. There IS a deeper reality here that IS missed by most ALL doctrinal thinkers and it IS this that John shows us saying: “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things…..the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” 1 John 2:20, 27). While few understand the relationship of unction and anointing, these ARE from the same Greek word chrisma, the reality IS that this idea IS intimately connected to christos which IS rendered always as Christ, another transliteration of a Greek word. And while most Christians see this idea as pertaining ONLY to doctrinal believers, this IS but a self-serving position for which there IS NO scriptural support. We should understand that this anointing, this unction, IS Christ Within and here we should look past the common idea that this a part of the whole name of Jesus. This unction IS better understood as anointing in a Truly spiritual sense, or as the reality of the Soul which can be seen as that aspect of Life that will anoint the man in the world with the Truth, a Truth that IS based in our spiritual Presence by which we “know all things“. Here in this second chapter of his epistle the idea of antichrist IS first presented and the whole of John’s words that we have been discussing ARE intended to serve a single purpose which IS “concerning them that seduce you” (1 John 2:26). It IS based in this concern regarding antichrists that we ARE told that “ye need not that any man teach you” as he explains that it IS this anointing, this Soul influence in the Life of the man in this world, that can “teacheth you of all things“.
We should understand that to be taught, to receive instructions, one must be listening and here we ARE shown that this listening should NOT be to that which “any man teach you” but rather to those revelations gained by attending to the prompting of the Soul to the Good, the Beautiful and the True. While this IS a long road back to the ideas of focus, focus upon the things of the Lord, it IS ONLY in such focus that we can Truly Repent and begin our Transformation which brings into the personality the result of that focus: that we will strive evermore to keep His words. It IS this reality that IS embedded in our selection from John’s Epistle as he again warns us of antichrist and of the things that “any man teach you” which ARE contrary to the Truth. It IS these antichrists that “speak they of the world” while they portend that what they say IS spiritual while that which they ARE teaching IS largely devoid of the essence of Christianity, agape. As John continues he offers us the Truth of agape saying “Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God“. The clarity of the apostle’s words here IS deafening to those that see agape as the Way while the deafness of the doctrinal thinker misses or misuses the idea that “every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God“. The reality here IS NOT different than the Master’s own words that ARE our trifecta and this IS made clearer when we can see that to keep His words IS to Love, to express agape. We should see great synergy in the Master’s words and the apostle’s who tells us of both Loving God and KNOWING God and we should try to understand that these two ideas ARE inseparable. We remind again of the apostle’s words on both as he says “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” and “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?“. Knowing God and Loving God ARE the results of keeping His words; we should see that these words from the apostle both clarify and amplify Jesus’ own words that ARE our trifecta. While John’s words ARE rendered here as “the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error“, we should note that the Greek word plánē which IS rendered as error IS better defined in terms of deception which can then be related to the previous idea of antichrist. Strong’s defines plánē saying it is a: feminine of G4108 (as abstractly); objectively, fraudulence; subjectively, a straying from orthodoxy or piety and shows its usages as deceit, to deceive, delusion, error9a. From these definitions we can see error as perhaps the weakest choice and if we study Strong’s view of this word we can likely see some resemblance to Vincent’s view of vanity. Vincent tells us that mataiotes which IS rendered as vanity IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4.
Regardless of which understanding we apply to plánē the most basic idea IS found in the misleading nature of this “spirit of error“; it IS a deluding spirit and while the precursor of this may be found in the words of “them that seduce you“, the greater reality IS founded in how we process such words. John’s point here IS of course in relation to agape and the way that our expression of agape IS our evidence of which Spirit is governing our lives….”the spirit of truth” or “the spirit of error“. The former, “the spirit of truth“, IS the source of Truth for “every one that loveth”, everyman that “is born of God, and knoweth God” while the latter, “the spirit of error” or delusion, IS the source for “He that loveth not“, the source of error for everyman that “knoweth not God“. The reasoning here should be crystal clear as the apostle shows us that these things ARE True because “God is love agape“. When we measure this against the first part of our trifecta we can then see how that the reality of Jesus’ words IS the same; John writes about agape saying that “every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” and it IS this dynamic that IS the reality of the Master’s 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). To continue in His words IS to Love, to express agape as He teaches us, and it IS through this that we can be “born of God“, Truly “born again” if you will, and it IS through this that we can “know the truth” which IS to “knoweth God“. Contrary to this state of discipleship or one’s striving to be so, IS the idea that “He that loveth not knoweth not God” and this too IS shown to us by Jesus in our trifecta where we read that “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 14:24). We must understand here that His sayings, His words to be more specific, ARE words on agape; it IS this thread of Love that ties ALL of the words of the Master together; it IS this idea of agape that IS also the singular objective of John’s Epistle. While this IS NOT a difficult concept to see in Jesus’ words and to understand, the church has virtually ignored this dynamic Way to God for 2000 years as doctrinal teachers and believers continued in their divisive attitudes, fueled by their vanity and their sense of plánē which IS that error by which men ARE deluded.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 2a 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
- 12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
- * Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laissez-faire
- ^ From The Reappearance of the Christ by Alice A Bailey; © 1948 by Lucis Trust
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
