ON LOVE; PART MCCLVII
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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).
In the last essay we noted how that it IS in the reality of keeping His words that one can achieve the rewards that ARE promised to men in the trifecta and that this was True from before that time when these ideas were written or passed along in oral tradition. Noah had the reality of the trifecta, he KNEW the Truth of what he would encounter, a Truth that comes from the Inner Man, the Soul which IS the unction and God Within everyman. That the doctrinal church relegates hearing from God either to a more miraculous encounter or one that requires a man to be a Christian according to their doctrinal understanding DOES NOT change the reality that Noah IS painted for us as a common man whose focus was upon the things of God. It IS in this sense of focus that we read that “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8).
We should note here that the idea of grace IS NO different in Noah’s time than it IS now….grace IS ALL things that come from God and we should remember here that there IS naught in grace that IS carnal. That grace may result in carnal reward IS based solely in the use of the revelations and the realizations of Truth by the personality of the man in the world and, to be sure, if one turns that use to selfish ends, the very flow of grace IS shut up. Noah IS painted for us as a man whose carnal Life IS NOT in perfect harmony with “the will of my Father” and perhaps this IS the point of his story: that one can have a measure of Truth, a measure of revelation and realization, based in the focus that one has without that focus changing the carnal Life of the man into that perfection which IS ever the Goal. Jesus shows us this goal saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
In the Life of the patriarch Abraham we have the same effect of focus which, while NOT defined in the text, IS alluded to by the most simple saying that he IS called “the Friend of God” (James 2:23). The doctrinal idea here IS NOT Abraham’s focus upon the things of God however, it IS on the idea of faith; it IS NOT on his KNOWING the Truth by means of his focus, it IS on the more nebulous idea of believing. We should try to see here that as the idea of grace IS also NO different in Abraham’s time than it IS today; so then the reality of KNOWING and the Truth of having revelation and realization of the Truth that IS God IS also NO different either; both rely upon one’s focus, a focus that IS the reality of DOING as we read in Jesus’ words that ARE our trifecta. The Master says:
- “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).
The reality of KNOWING has ever been tied to these ideas of DOING and we should try to see here that the intent of the heart IS of more value than one’s carnal miscues ARE a detriment. We should try to see the teaching moments in the story of Abraham and whether ALL the elements of his story ARE factual or NOT IS of NO consequence; it IS the overall tenor of the idea that to DO as the Lord commands IS to be “the Friend of God” which the Apostle James frames for us in opposing and more carnal terms saying that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God….whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). In the doctrinal idea of faith this reality IS diluted and the emphasis becomes the idea of faith according to the more literal interpretation of a story that was written for the man of 3500 years ago, a superstitious and barbarous man to be sure.
This brings us back to the idea from which we began our thoughts on Abraham: the imputation of righteousness. The Apostle Paul offers us some ideas on Abraham as a man that ARE KNOWN by the Jews according to the story that was written 1500 years earlier and which forms a significant part of the foundation of that Judaism by which he and the Jewish world lived. Pau,l speaking of Abraham, tells us that he “against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4:18-34).
Rather than relying upon the idea of faith as this IS interpreted from Paul’s words, we will look at the deeper ideas that ARE revealed as the cause for such imputation of righteousness….”if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead“. The reality of the apostle’s intent IS found in the way that “believe on” IS understood; first we should try to see believing itself as the Master shows us rather than the more nebulous doctrinal ideas that ARE linked to one’s faith. Both the Greek pistis and pisteuo, rendered in terms of faith and believing, should be understood as that KNOWING without doubt. We find this idea in His words on the ability of everyman to have the spiritual Power that such KNOWING provides; we have also the source of this KNOWING in the first part of our trifecta where we read that the criteria IS “If ye continue in my word“.
It IS based in the reality of keeping His words that the Power of this KNOWING comes to everyman and this by the same measure by which he strives toward that goal. This IS the source of ALL True KNOWING….ALL else, regardless of one’s ‘beliefs’ IS carnal KNOWLEDGE and NOT spiritual. Jesus goes on to tell us that it IS in the Power of KNOWING that one has the revelation and the realization to accomplish spiritual things and in our first example we have the same criteria that Paul uses….that one must “believe on” which IS literally translated as “believe into” and rendered as “believe on” and “believe in“. Vincent shows us that there IS a stark difference between the simple idea of believing and the idea of “believing into” which we have discussed before.
But even the simple idea of believing should be seen in the deeper idea of KNOWING and this, along with the idea of faith, ARE used by the gospel writers to show us Jesus’ intent when these Greek words, pisteuo and pistis, ARE used. In His telling us that we can DO ALL that He has DONE and yet “greater works” the idea used IS “believing into” which the Apostle John uses more frequently that the other writers. We read from John’s Gospel Jesus’ words saying: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12); there IS much Power in this statement that goes unrealized in the doctrines of men. It IS this same Power that should be read in conjunction with Jesus words on moving the mountain and planting the sycamine tree in the sea. We have discussed these ideas in previous essays and it IS their importance that the doctrinal church fails to see.
In the Master’s saying from John’s Gospel we have the idea of “believing into“, the same idea that Paul uses to tell us how righteousness can be imputed to the Christian. While the doctrinal thinker believes that it IS by the common idea of believing that he has somehow become righteous, the reality of this idea IS far deeper. Vincent tells us 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. Can we see the point here? Can we see that this IS to keep His words.
It IS ONLY in DOING such that one can come to KNOW the Truth and it IS this KNOWING that allows for a man to DO such “greater works“, and it IS this same idea of KNOWING that we should see in Jesus words from the synoptic gospels which show us, in practical terms, just what that KNOWING IS. In Matthew’s Gospel the apostle tells us Jesus words saying “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you“. To DO this IS surely within the idea of “greater works” and we should note here that Jesus offers this in response to a question about His disciples failure to heal a certain individual. He explains this by telling them that it IS “Because of your unbelief” (Matthew 17:20) that they could not heal him. While the word apistia that IS used here has the meaning of faithlessness according to Strong’s which uses idea of unbelief 9a as the example, many translations render this in terms of the littleness of their faith and this likely to put the idea in accord with the size of the “mustard seed“.
It IS in the concept of size that the doctrines of men go astray, a concept that IS likely carried over from another of the Master’s sayings regarding the Kingdom of God. Jesus says “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree” (Matthew 13:31-22). Here the idea of size IS a relevant one as it shows us the growth of the Kingdom Within using the analogy of the seed and the tree but in relation to moving the mountain the size of the seed becomes irrelevant. The greater point there IS simply KNOWING and we should try to see that as the “mustard seed” must become a Tree, there IS NO other outcome, a man must equally KNOW that there IS NO other outcome for his command upon the mountain but that it move.
This IS more clearly explained later on in Matthew’s Gospel where we read that the Master says “If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” (Matthew 21:21). In these sayings we should equate the ideas of to “have faith, and doubt not” and “have faith as a grain of mustard seed” and see how that to “doubt not” explains the apista, faithlessness or unbelief, as it defines for us the meaning of “faith as a grain of mustard seed“. This IS a high burden to accomplish as a man in this world and so it should be; to have available such Power must require that a man be fully focused upon the things of God and NOT the things of the self.
Again, such KNOWING comes through keeping His words which IS the gateway to True righteousness; it IS through this KNOWING that being righteous can be imputed. There IS NO mystical meaning to this idea of imputed which IS rendered from the Greek word logizomai which means: to take an inventory, i.e. estimate (literally or figuratively) 9a according to Strong’s. The idea IS rendered by others in terms of credit; some frame this as “it shall be reckoned” and others as “to whose account it will be put” but in ALL of this we should understand that logizomai IS a result and this IS True for both Abraham and everyman….righteousness IS the result of KNOWING God. And more; this KNOWING God and KNOWING the Truth IS also the gateway to ALL “greater works” and we should be able to easily see this in the lives of the Apostles Peter and of Paul whose stories show NOT ONLY the result but their growth into such results as the “mustard seed” grows into the tree.
The relationship between “believing into” the Master, to “have faith as a grain of mustard seed” and to “have faith, and doubt not” IS found in keeping His words. The first IS the reality of DOING so while the second and the third ARE the result of DOING so; ALL lead to the same place of being able to DO “greater works” which ARE never for the self but ARE offerings of Love….of agape to ALL. Doctrines however have largely concluded that it IS this faith that enables one to secure things for the self and much of this IS based in the Apostle Mark’s version of Jesus words saying “whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23).
In these words which DO agree with what Matthew shows us we have the idea of believing, pisteuo, rather than faith, pistis, along with the idea of KNOWING through the criteria that a man “shall not doubt in his heart“; the doctrinal thinker however looks past this into the more simple idea that “he shall have whatsoever he saith” without such criteria. This then IS based on the Master’s next words according to Mark where we read “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). In the carnal minds of men these words, “What things soever ye desire“, have come to mean things for the self in this world rather than the Truly spiritual things which ARE represented through the idea of moving the mountain.
While doctrines miss the first criteria of absolutely NO doubt, even to the moving of the mountain, they also miss the deep reality of the words that follow as additional criteria; we read “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25). If we can look past the doctrines of men which overemphasize the idea asking God for “What things soever ye desire” through their nebulous ideas of faith and believing and under emphasize the reality of moving the mountain as the result, we can likely see the doctrinal dilemma. The idea of moving the mountain, planting the syamine tree in the sea and DOING “greater works” should be seen through the lives of the apostles of whom we read of such “greater works“; we should see the moving of the mountain and the planting of the sycamine tree as a testimony to the Power of the spiritual man….the man who fully keeps His words and through whom such Power can flow.
We DO NOT KNOW how many times Jesus uses this example of Power nor why the Apostle Luke chooses to use the idea of the sycamine tree over the idea of the mountain; we DO KNOW however that in human terms such things ARE NOT possible. We should KNOW as well that to wield such Power as a man, as a carnal man, IS quite far from the from the psychic point that IS taken up by doctrines: that if one can “not doubt in his heart” and “believe that ye receive“, that “he shall have whatsoever he saith“. Psychically this IS within the realm of human possibilities and there ARE many instances of such psychic power in history….but these DO NOT approach the awesome Power of which the Master speaks. The bible IS filled with stories of sorcerers which, broadly defined, shows us people who channel the power of the personality, the mind and the emotions, to have certain effect on the physical world.
We should try to see that much of what humanity can DO IS covered under this idea of sorcery, an idea that borders upon the realm of religion. While one may believe that his attempts at carnal enhancement ARE spiritual because the ‘name’ of the Lord IS invoked, the reality can be quite different. In this idea we should try to see James’ words on “the friendship of the world” where the idea behind such friendship IS that personal relationship between a man’s desires and the fulfillment of them. This IS NOT necessarily evil and this idea IS understood but it IS contrary to the Truth of the first of the Great Commandments and IS therefore sin. It IS in this light that sorcery IS wrong and why James tells us that “whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God“.
In many parts of the church where one IS taught to practice the ideas from Mark’s Gospel, to ‘Believe You Receive When You Pray’ if you will, as well as those where one takes up training in prophecy, there IS a hint of sorcery under our broad definition above which goes unnoticed because the idea of God IS interjected into a purely carnal enterprise. Here men ARE looking for carnal favors which they may see as grace but which ARE nonetheless carnal and any realization of such favors IS through the use of one’s carnal ability to channel power either individually or in a group setting.
Reprising our most constant thoughts on grace, we should see that there IS naught in grace that IS carnal and see this through Jesus’ own teaching on the nature of grace which we presented in the last essay saying that the reality of grace IS found in the Master’s words and this despite the fact that he rarely uses the idea of charis which, unfortunately, IS rendered as thank in Jesus words saying “if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them” (Luke 6:32). This IS the True picture of grace as the reward for one’s expression of Love and here we must understand that to express agape IS to keep His words as the Apostle Paul shows us saying:
“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 brings us back to keeping His words as the KEY to grace and to ALL things spiritual and this brings us back again to agape as the singular Way to DO so. Paul tells us that these ARE equivalent, that keeping His words and men’s expression of agape ARE synonymous, and if we can see this Truth as Paul expresses it ever so simply in saying “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14), we can then have insight into the most basic difference between the old covenant and the new. In the Old men were tasked with keeping the law and this included the primary law which featured the Ten Commandments and whatsoever ancillary laws Moses offered to explain the Ten and to help a man accomplish them.
Much of the other parts of the law, the ceremonial and the dietary, etc., ARE NOT a True part of the covenant but ARE added as we add civil laws today; dietary laws that protect men from prevalent disease and ceremonial laws that ARE intended to help a man to overcome, mentally and emotionally, his propensity to fail in the primary laws. While few may agree with our reasoning here, we should note that except in the more strict Jewish world, these ceremonial and dietary laws have faded from view and many ARE covered under the Master’s words on the traditions of men and His telling us that “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man” (Mark 7:15).
The new covenant DOES NOT ignore the primary laws nor those that explain them and help men to see the Truth and in this latter we should see the Great Commandments which, although NOT a part of the Ten Commandments, summarize them most completely. The results of the old and the new ARE NO different and this despite the way that the doctrines of men try to separate these Truths and, through their glamour, put themselves in a better place than the Jew. The new goes to the heart of the man and, if we can see through the Jew’s own doctrines, we will see that this was ever the intent of the Old as well. We should try to remember that the Truth IS revealed to men in stages, NOT individually according to one’s spiritual abilities, but rather globally according to the state of civilization of the particular group to whom such Truth IS delivered.
In the most barbarous and superstitious times before Moses the Jews had little identity save for the stories of the patriarchs and we should remember here that they were nurtured in Egypt under the rule of pharaohs and had become, according to scripture, a threat to the Egyptian’s way of Life. That this was predicted to Abraham by the Lord IS an idea that IS found in the same story as the event where that small group of people which goes into Egypt with Jacob grows into those much higher estimates of how many were involved in the exodus from Egypt some 430 years later. Our point here IS that there IS little recorded interaction with the Lord in this time but the Jews were somehow expecting deliverance from their plight in Egypt; there was NO law, there were NO recorded prophets, there were just people living in bondage.
It IS to these seemingly simple people that Moses comes as their reluctant deliverer and we should remember here that Moses IS nurtured in the house of Pharaoh who saw him as a close relation and treated him as a son. It IS during his time away from Egypt and the Jews that Moses has an awakening and we should remember here that the story as written by Moses IS written for the mindset of the people of that day and the Jewish people in particular….a barbarous and superstitious people of whom Moses also tells us ARE “a stiffnecked people” (Exodus 33:3). It IS Moses who establishes the covenant which includes the simple covenant of circumcision between Abraham and the Lord and we should understand that Moses covenant IS much more specific to the lives of men and especially their dealings with each other.
To the Jews of the exodus Moses gives the law and it IS the law which becomes the new covenant in those days and we should try to see here how that in these ancient times the attempt IS made to move the people away from the strictly carnal and into some degree of spiritual understanding based in agape. First there IS those parts of the Ten Commandments and the ancillary laws governing the interactions between men and then there IS the attempt to modify the old covenant, the covenant with Abraham, by relating the idea of circumcision to the thoughts and attitudes of men. We read such sayings as “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked” and “the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6).
Can we see the point here? This latter quote IS offered to the people as a part of Moses declaration of the covenant which sets the blessings and the cursing to be ‘meted’ out as the Jews DO or DO NOT comply with the law. First there IS the pronouncement of the blessings, God’s part, and the criteria for which such blessings ARE given, man’s part; we read that “if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
Following this IS the negative view, the cursing, which IS the Lord’s response “if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” and we should remember here that these ideas ARE offered as the covenant between God and the nation. While the individual IS affected by both sides, the DOING and the NOT DOING, even the DOER is subjected to the afflictions that the nation endures. At the end of these pronouncements of blessing and cursing we read Moses words saying “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb” (Deuteronomy 29:1). What we should see here IS the steady flow of Truth that comes to the people as covenant; here we should see three covenants, first with Abraham, then with the Jews at Horeb and this new pronouncement of the fullness of the covenants in Deuteronomy.
Finally we should see the Lord’s attempt to bring these ideas out of the realm of commands and laws and into the realm of the heart where the great motivator IS to be Love. This IS the message of the day that was NOT Truly seen by the carnally oriented Jews and, despite the reminding of this by the prophets, this message IS NOT yet seen nor understood 1500 years later when the Master came to teach the same.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
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
- 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
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
