ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXXXII
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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 some thoughts on the reality of Life and death versus the common understanding that IS prevalent in much of Christianity. While it IS the Christian view, a view that likely stretches far into secular culture, that a man IS what we see and hear in this Earth as a body of flesh and a personality which animates it, this IS NOT the reality of men. Man IS a spiritual being created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) who IS Spirit as Jesus tells us saying that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) and as the overall presentation of God in scripture shows us. That men may believe that there IS some relationship between the words from Genesis and the man Jesus who represents God, the idea here IS built upon a false foundation. It IS the Son of God that exists eternally and this Son IS the Christ Principal, the manifestation of the Pure Spirit that IS God and which we call the Soul both individually and corporately. It IS because such views of the Godhead ARE unimaginable by the human mind that such ideas that attribute a personality to God and see Jesus, the man, as His Son flourish. The reality of the Sonship of the Master IS NOT a bodily function however; the reality IS that the man Jesus had in Himself “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) and it IS in this way that He reconciles the ideas presented by the Apostle John. John shows us the eternal nature of the Christ saying that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made“. The Christ IS the “fulness of the Godhead” and, as the Soul of the man Jesus, this fullness was expressed to the world. John captures this idea saying that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14). Again, the ideas presented here ARE NOT fully comprehendible by the finite human mind and we should see the preceding verses along with the idea that “the Word was made flesh” as the apostles depiction of events that ARE beyond the ken of the human mind. John tells us also of the Christ as the Spirit being saying: “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born , not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:9-14).
In these words we have an equivalency between the nature of the man Jesus and everyman; in these words we should see that we too can “become the sons of God” as we develop within us some measure of “the fulness of the Godhead bodily“. We can DO this by following the instructions that the apostle offers us saying “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name“. In the reality of these words IS the whole of the destiny of everyman; first that we should receive Him which should be interpreted as our receiving the Christ and the meaning of this IS far beyond any doctrinal ideas. To receive Him IS to have a realization as a man in this world of the Christ Within; it IS by such realizations that we receive Him as men and ARE able to express His qualities as DOES the Master. The Way to such receiving IS also shown to us by John as he tells us that the “power to become the sons of God” comes “even to them that believe on his name“. We should note here that this phrase, “even to them that believe on“, IS rendered from the Greek words “pisteuo eis“, (literally “believe into“) and should we understand this Greek phrase according to Vincent’s defining ideas we can then see the KEY to unlocking our ‘Power’. Vincent tells us, in words that we often repeat, that: To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. While this IS the force of the Greek phrase pisteuo eis, it can be easily extended to most ALL spiritual references to pisteuo which, rather that being understood as that nebulous doctrinal believing, IS the reality of KNOWING God. In the idea from John’s Gospel we also have the addition of His name and this DOES NOT detract from the apostle’s intent which IS to show us that to pisteuo eis, to believe into, “his name” IS to believe into the expression of the sum total of the divine Being. Vincent shows us this saying that “his name“ IS: the expression of the sum total of the divine Being: not his designation as God or Lord, but the formula in which all his attributes and characteristics are summed up. It is equivalent to his person 4. Briefly stated we should see that the idea IS that to be “sons of God“, to have that power to be so, requires that we KNOW the formula in which all his attributes and characteristics are summed up and that we accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. Even more briefly this can be understood as that we keep His words which IS also the directive that we receive from the Master in 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 in keeping His words that we open our hearts to the possibility of the reality of “eternal Life” as a realization of our own Truth: that we too ARE eternal “sons of God” under the power of pisteuo eis. As we contrast this with the doctrinal Christian view of heaven as that place that the ‘believer‘ goes at the death of the body we should be able to see that the former IS the greater promise and one that can be directly related to the words of the Master and His apostles. The man who can have that realization that he IS a son of God, a realization which must perforce reflect in his expression of agape and of Truth, Truly has found Life as the Master tells us saying that “whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). While these words ARE grossly misunderstood by much of the church, they ARE repeated in different sayings by His apostles. Such ideas as that men should “mortify the deeds of the body” should show us the Way that one can “lose his life for my sake” and there ARE many such references in the epistles. Similarly Paul’s words saying that we should “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” has the same effect; to be “conformed to this world” IS to be among “whosoever will save his life” while being Transformed IS to “lose his life for my sake” as this IS the result of our Transformation. Paul begins his words with another saying that IS equal to the idea of mortification as he tells us to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:2, 1). Such ideas ARE the greater reality of Paul’s teaching and it IS such ideas that agree with, that clarify and amplify, the more parabolic words of the Master. An example of this agreeing, clarifying and amplifying can be found in the result cited by Jesus saying that “whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it“; IS there any difference between this idea and Paul’s who tells us “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13). And ARE NOT these sayings but different iterations of the Master’s primary teachings regarding treasure, mammon and the ALL encompassing idea that we should “Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:25). ALL of this IS the result of our Transformation where by the measure that we allow ourselves to be Transformed so IS the measure of our realizations of the Truth, realizations that must perforce become our expression. When such “spiritual gifts” ARE without this expression they ARE relegated to the deeper meaning of Paul’s words that ARE our selection. Such expression IS agape and to NOT have this expression (whether claiming such or not) puts us directly into Paul’s words that tell us that whatsoever gifts we may think and believe that we have ARE worthless, and the man that so declares becomes as Paul who tells us that without agape “I am nothing“. It IS this idea of expression that we should see in James’ words on works and faith; we should see that expressions of agape ARE the works that justify one’s faith which should always be understood as KNOWING and here of course KNOWING God. Repeating Paul’s words:
“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
charityagape, 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 notcharityagape, 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 notcharityagape, it profiteth me nothing.CharityAgape suffereth long, and is kind;charityagape envieth not;charityagape 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.CharityAgape 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. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13).
We should understand that most ALL of Paul’s writings ARE in agreement with the ideas that the Lord set forth for us 2000 years ago but this reality IS missed by the doctrinal thinker that places his emphasis on some array of induvial sayings which ARE assembled together in support of doctrinal views. We should also try to see that while there IS an apparent dispute between Paul and James words on faith and works, there IS NONE when the proper understanding of both words IS considered. The general Christian view of both these words serves ONLY to help to justify their most basic belief regarding themselves. From the beginning men have wanted to persist, to be immortal, and, since this IS NOT possible in the flesh, they have created their spiritual ideas which ARE linked through most every world religion. It IS in this view that faith has become that nebulous doctrinal idea while works has become the ‘impossible’ way to ‘get to heaven’. The Christian idea that one cannot ‘earn’ their way to heaven IS the anthesis to the Truth when these words ARE rightly understood. It IS nonetheless justified through the church’s reliance upon out of context, misunderstood and misapplied sayings from Paul through which they render the Master’s words moot; a position that they believe IS ALSO justified through their doctrines despite Jesus word that tell us “in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). In these words IS a classic example of the way that the Master’s words are treated by the religion that bears His name. The doctrinal idea that Jesus IS speaking solely to the Jews in those days misses the Truth; the Christian sees NO sense of warning despite the way that Jesus IS repeating words that were spoken by the prophet centuries before. While this idea was to Isaiah a matter of correction of the Jews in his time, the Master considered them a prophecy for their effect in His day. So too ARE these words prophetic from the Master’s mouth as the same errors have been perpetuated long into the Christian era. The doctrines that ARE taught by most ALL of the church ARE but the “commandments of men“. Leaning upon the words of the apostles IS a necessary Way to properly understand the Master’s words. However, this reality IS also made moot by the church that uses ONLY their selected ideas of confession and affirmation, ideas of rites and rituals, and the belief that they ARE made ‘holy’ through doctrinal ideas based in the atoning quality of the Master’s death. Many somehow forget that “he IS risen” (Matthew 28:6) and that His words at the end were NOT that ‘I will return’ but rather that “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). There IS a deep meaning to these words that IS missed by most ALL of us and should we understand His words both individually and as He Himself universally, we can then better grasp the reality of the Great Commission which IS intended to awaken the Christ Within everyman. We should note here that the right understanding of these ideas comes ONLY in the realizations that one has based in whatsoever measure of Truth one has attained as a man in this world; Again it IS in our Transformation that we can “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). The KEY here IS in the Greek word dokimazo which IS rendered as prove but has a far reaching meaning in this context. Other translations render this idea using a range of definitions; some render in terms of knowledge of the “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” while others show us that dokimazo allows a man to “figure out what God’s will is“. Others render in terms of experiencing that Will while yet others frame this in ideas of testing that Will; testing however IS more related to the English idea of proving than to the ideas inherent in dokimazo. Others still show us the idea of approving which seems out of place and ‘learning by experience‘ which IS also a stretch from the most basic idea of discernment which IS used by some and can be understood as a combination of KNOWING and several of the other ideas. While both Strong’s and Thayer’s define dokimazo in terms of testing and proving , these ideas ARE weakened by today’s common understanding of the English words. The lengthy definition of prove from the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary presents proving in terms of KNOWING and this IS the point that we should take away from the context of Paul’s words. From our perspective there IS little difference between discernment and KNOWING such things as the Will of God and we should try to see that it IS in our Transformation that such will become clear. Without Transformation, while yet “conformed to this world“, a man will test, try to prove, experience and “figure out” that Will but this IS NOT the reality that the apostle IS presenting to us. What Paul IS showing us IS that in our Transformation we will KNOW, we will be able to discern the Truth; this IS the ultimate reality of his statement.
We should see here that this aligns with the realities found in our trifecta of spiritual reality where the Way to such KNOWING, to having the Presence of the Lord Truly in one’s Life and to enter into His Kingdom, IS found in our keeping His words and through these ideas we should be able to see that to be Truly Transformed IS to be keeping His words and the True Way to discern and to KNOW the “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. We should understand here that DOING this, keeping His commandments, IS the works of the spiritual man and that this sense of works IS the fruit of his Repentance and his subsequent Transformation. The argument over Paul’s ideas of works IS NOT an argument at ALL. It IS rather a failure to see the context of his words and the audience to which he IS primarily addressing his instructions. While Paul refers to himself as “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), it should be apparent that he IS speaking much about things that ARE NOT KNOWN to the gentiles but ARE KNOWN of the Jews. From this we should try to see that regardless of whom he IS writing to, his direction IS to save as many Jews as he can by showing them the error of their ways; errors that he himself before lived by. It IS to this end that Paul continually went into the synagogues wherever he traveled. Luke shows us many such attempts to reach the Jews in the Book of Acts and perhaps we can see Paul’s zeal and intent through Luke’s telling us that “when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures” (Acts 17:1-2). And it IS easy to see Paul’s zeal from such sayings as “I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3). Our point here IS that while his claim IS to be “the apostle of the Gentiles“, his heart was ever with the Jew’s, his countrymen “according to the flesh. Considering this we should note that his many references to the Jew’s history and the law CAN NOT be solely to the gentiles; as we say above there IS NO foundational knowledge for the average gentile to understand such things. Can we see then how that much of what the apostle writes IS directed to the Jews and IS about the Jews? And can we see as well that the apostle’s stand against works IS then a stand against the practices and the traditions of the Jews which were contrary to the Truth that lies at the heart of the law? It IS easy to see the Jews failure concerning the law and how that their sense of works was contrary to the intent of the law as they performed according to their mitzvah. We see this in the Master’s ‘condemnation’ of the ways of the Jews throughout the gospels and especially in the list of woes addressed to the Jews and their religious leaders. It IS in Jesus’ words that we can find the “works of the law” (Galatians 2:16) against which Paul also rails. Here we should try to see that this IS the limiting factor in the apostle’s decrying of works as he tells us of the True works that must be accomplished by everyman. We see this in such sayings as “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). The point of “good works” IS also shown us in Paul’s Epistle to Titus where we read: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:13-14). Can we see the division here between those works that ARE the practices of the Jews whose doctrines made moot the deeper ideas of “the law and the prophets” and the works that ARE the result of our Repentance and Transformation; works that ARE that fruit of which the Master tells us that “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).
We should remember here what ARE “the law and the prophets” according to the Master who relates these to the Great Commandments which ARE, from any common sense perspective, intended to be the central point of the whole idea of Christianity. Jesus tells us to Love, to Love the Lord and to Love others and in neither of these commandments IS there any suggestion of a partial compliance; both ARE framed in such a way that we either DO live in accord with these words or we DO NOT. This IS especially True of the first of the Great Commandments where the idea IS framed as our totality of focus, our totality of Love toward God. Jesus answers the question asked regarding the law as the scribe asks “Which is the first commandment of all?” (Mark 12:29). The idea of first here should be understood in terms of importance and we should note that this framed as “which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36) in Matthew’s Gospel. Neither of these ideas IS considered by the doctrinal thinker as it should be and as the tone of the idea IS intended. Regarding this Vincent tells us: The A. V. and Rev. alike miss the point of this question, which is: which kind of command is great in the law? That is, what kind of a commandment must it be to constitute it a great one? Not, which commandment is greatest as compared with the others? 4. We should note as well that in Luke’s Gospel the idea IS shown us from a different perspective, that of the scribe or lawyer, and here we should be able to equate one’s quest for the realization of “eternal life” with the idea of what ARE the first and the great commandments. Luke frames this saying that “a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s correct understanding of the Great Commandments IS “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live” (Luke (10:25, 28). In this we should be able to equate this answer with Jesus’ words on Life from earlier in this essay where the subject IS essentially the same and where Jesus tells us “whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it“. Bringing this back to our point on just what ARE the law and the prophets in Jesus’ teaching we should first see the text of the whole answer from Jesus and from the lawyer. Mark’s Gospel shows us the Master’s answer saying “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). Jesus here tells us that “There is none other commandment greater than these” and when we see this together with the way that this IS framed by Matthew and Luke we can then perhaps better understand what Jesus IS teaching us. In the various versions of Jesus’ words recorded by the synoptic gospel writers we have a full picture of the reality of “eternal life” and its relationship to Life here and now, the same Life that one gains as he lives in accord with Paul’s words saying “if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“. In both Jesus’ words and Paul’s the idea of Life IS NOT the doctrinal idea of Life in heaven but Life here and now. We should try to see here that the fruit of this Life IS those “good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” and it IS with this in mind that we should read James’ words saying “as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). The point here IS that there IS a division in Paul’s words regarding works that remains unseen by much of the church that relies upon Paul’s words for their doctrines. There ARE first the “works of the law” against which the apostle speaks and there ARE then those “good works” which ARE the product of “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22).
And we should remember here another division; the division between the “works of the law” and the Truth of the law. Moses presented this Truth mixed with the mundane aspects that he expected would create a moral civilization among the Jews in those barbarous and superstitious times. We should try to see that the realty of what Jesus calls “the law and the prophets” IS ALL of Moses law that ARE founded in the same sense of agape, of Love, that ARE the Ten Commandments; ALL else IS the mundane. The “works of the law” then ARE those parts of the law that ARE accepted by the Jews in their traditions, their rites and their rituals; parts that involve those carnal activities of men by which they can see themselves as living according to the law. These “works of the law” ARE doctrinal interpretations of mostly the mundane parts; parts against which the Master speaks and against which Paul writes as he decries the practice of the “works of the law” by the Jews. Here we should remember that Paul himself was also bound by the doctrinal views of the Jews for much of his Life and that as a Pharisee he too railed against the new Truth revealed by Jesus. Aside from showing us the Power of the Great Commandments by telling us that “There is none other commandment greater than these“, He also gives us a parallel idea captured by Matthew saying that “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). And so that we can relate ALL of this together with our view of Life in accord with these Great Commandments, the Master condenses them into the Golden Rule where we read that “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). Should we be able to clearly see and understand the Master’s message about “the law and the prophets“, the Christian world would take on a new meaning regarding agape. Having a new meaning however DOES NOT seem to be within the doctrinal purview; few clearly see or understand that the ideas framed here ARE the heart of the law and the central message of the prophets’ message. The law IS agape albeit a sense of Love that IS clouded by the ‘historical’ record and by the voluminous stories and the Jewish fables which were perhaps intended to bring men to the heart of the law but which, despite the interaction of the prophets, yet remain unseen by the Jew and the Christian. Jesus tells us that the Great Commandments ARE the KEY to the “law and the prophets“, that these ARE of the greatest importance in the journey of everyman, and that the very idea of the Golden Rule IS in essence the reality of “law and the prophets“.
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
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
