ON LOVE; PART MCDII
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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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In the last essay we journeyed from our selection from, the Apostle John’s First Epistle, to Paul’s words from his Epistle to the Ephesians where he discusses the “the whole armour of God“. While we see the ideas that Paul IS giving us differently from most doctrinal interpretations, the crux of the idea IS basically the same: that we use the components of our armour to deflect “the wiles of the devil” which idea IS from the Greek word diabolos for which the literal translation IS traducer. From our perspective this idea of the devil as a general idea of Satan or of his minions as a personality IS built from superstition, from the pagan and Jewish ideas that had prevailed for many centuries. The reality of the diabolos IS NOT demonic although it has been painted that way and this perhaps to take the onus off of men, individually or corporately, and to place it onto another being, a fictional one to be sure. While the idea of demons may have been in vogue in men’s superstitious past, the idea has survived till today in many parts of the church and is actively spoken of in religious talks and sermons. Our point in discussing Paul’s “whole armour of God” IS to redirect our thoughts and attitudes regarding the enemy regardless of whatsoever one chooses to call this force that IS the natural Life of men in this world. The reality of the enemy IS NOT a personage but IS the vanity to which ALL ARE subjected and which for many IS the ONLY mortal motivation that they KNOW. Paul tells us in Romans that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21) and in this we should see the root cause of most ALL self serving human activity. Men ARE born into this condition of vanity and nurtured according to the ways of the world as KNOWN by their forebears and then indoctrinated into a variety of religious, social and cultural ways of Life. In birth our connection to our reality as spiritual beings, as Souls, IS lost. Vincent shows us this saying of the Greek word mataiotes which IS rendered as vanity that: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4 and while he may NOT have seen the whole of the idea as we DO, he has captured the crux of the problem. This IS men’s spiritual enemy. It IS vanity that IS the human condition which IS both perishable and decaying from multiple perspectives. From the mortal the idea pertains to the body nature, including the personality, while from the spiritual the idea shows us that in this condition men will NOT seek the Truth. And, as years go by, most ALL lose sight of any motivation to DO aught but live out Life as a man in this world which IS the ONLY condition that they can see. We should understand here that the ‘religious’ person IS NO closer to defeating this enemy than the secular or irreligious person although he may ‘believe‘ that he IS; such persons ARE deluded and this according to James’ very clear saying that men should “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Vanity is the condition of Life for most ALL men and aside from its being both perishable and decaying, it IS also what keeps men separate from God as they become wound up in the self and the things of the self; most ALL never clearly hear the prompting of their own Souls to the Good, the Beautiful and the True, to the things of God.
Few understand that the True way to approach God IS in keeping His words and this despite the way that this IS the major theme of the whole bible. In every book there IS an embedded quid pro quo that IS ignored by the churches as they assume that it IS by their doctrines that they ARE ‘saved‘ and can reap whatever rewards are seemingly offered. For us there IS a singular reward that IS captured for us by the Apostle Peter in terms that ARE easy to understand. Speaking of “God, and of Jesus our Lord” Peter tells us “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3, 4). We should try to see here that to be called “to glory and virtue” we must be able to hear the call which flows into our carnal minds as that prompting of the Soul; unfortunately this call IS hardly heard over the din of daily living that crowds the mind, a din that IS the product of the vanity in which we ALL live. Can we see the quid pro quo that Peter shows us? Can we see that to “be partakers of the divine nature” we must escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. It IS in this escape that we can approach the Lord and it IS in “the corruption that is in the world through lust” that we continue in our carnal ways….pursuing false ends. Peter IS showing us in his own terms that it IS the panoply of human desires, motivated by our vanity, that IS what keeps us in our “bondage of corruption” and we should try to understand that it IS these desires that Truly keep us in that perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4. Our point has been that it IS these desires, these human desires based in everyday Life, that have for ages caused the world’s religions to ‘intentionally’ deviate from the Way pointed to by those Avatars of Light that have come among us throughout history. We use this word Avatar according to the Hindu defining idea of: a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth; an incarnate divine teacher from the Oxford English Dictionary online and we should understand here that Jesus and Moses ARE Christian examples of such divine teachers, among many others in the annals of time.
The teachings of such Avatars ARE clearly stated in regard to the responsibilities of man and the response from the Godhead but in most every case of the manifestation of a deity among men their teachings have been eroded by men to suit the perceived needs of men to Live as men in this world. The church has failed to see this throughout history and the gospels ARE effectively a show by the Master that outlines this failure in the Jews’ religion which has bled into Christianity in too many ways. As we have pointed out many times in the course of our writing, the Christian church, beginning with the church fathers own interpretations of the Truth, have failed to see the Jews’ failure as their own. They have failed to see how that Christ’s warnings to the Jews were timeless and would have the same results in the new Christian religion that modeled itself after the Jews failed approach to the Lord. We often cite Jesus’ words saying “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 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) as a clear example of the way that Christianity has come to DO the same things. The Christian DOES “honoureth me with their lips” in the same way as DID the Jews but this goes unseen by most ALL Christians and purveyors of Christian doctrine. While this IS the effect of merging the new Christianity with the interpreted ideas of the Jews’ religion, there were cautions against DOING this merging as well, cautions aimed directly at those who would carry the Master’s message of Truth and Love to the world of men. These cautions ARE also offered to us in rather clear terms but in the desires of men to live as men in this world they remain as misunderstood and misapplied sayings from the Master. Again it IS these desires that must be escaped if a man IS to be counted among the True “partakers of the divine nature“. We see the Master’s caution against merging Judaism into the new religious ideas that would become Christianity in such sayings as “no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better” (Luke 37:39).
Doctrinal ideas regarding this saying ARE seen in this from John Gill who tells us in regard to the first idea that “no man putteth new wine into old bottles” that: To which the Scribes and Pharisees are here compared, into whose hearts the new wine of Gospel grace was not put; or to whom was not made known the love of God Comparable to new wine; nor the blessings of the new covenant of grace, now exhibited; nor the truths of the Gospel now more clearly and newly revealed8. Mr. Gill goes on to say of the scribes and Pharisees that: they not being able to receive and bear these things and that their condemnation shall be the greater8 regarding the idea that the “new wine will burst the bottles” and that “and the bottles shall perish“. Mr. Gill IS presuming that the Master IS predicting that the scribes and the Pharisees ARE unable to be Redeemed but the whole idea of Jesus’ teaching and the continuing teaching of His apostles IS to Redeem at least some of them. The clearer idea in His words ARE in regard to the mingling of the old with the new; here the old bottles ARE the Jews religious ideas against which Jesus continually rails while the “new wine” IS His teachings on agape and Truth, on “the weightier matters of the law” (Matthew 23:23) which the Jews’ religion mostly ignored. We should understand that while there IS some confusion in His words regarding the idea that “the bottles shall perish“, the reality here IS that the “new wine” will be spilled and ruined by its introduction “into old bottles“. Remember that this IS a parable that closes with the Master’s statement of fact: that “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better“. Here we should note the idea that one will NOT “straightway desireth new” and this IS a reflection on the comfort of most ALL Jews with their own religious ideas and their refusal to hear a greater Truth which they DO NOT ‘believe‘ even exists. We should remember here that the doctrinal interpretations ARE being made by those that agree with the mingling of the old with the new which IS contrary to the Master’s point in this parable and another that tells us: “No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old” (Luke 5:36). This parable tells us the same things; we should try to see in this parable that the Master sees both the old, the Jews’ religion, and the new ideas based in His teaching, will suffer and this because “the new agreeth not with the old“. In this we have also a greater clarification of the idea of the “the bottles shall perish” along with the ruination of the “new wine“. Again, remember that Jesus words ARE parabolic in the True sense of the idea.
To be sure the Master’s cautions in these parables ARE NOT seen by the Jews nor by the Christian. The state of the new Christian religion became the mingled ideas from both that continue till today with many denominations and sects even leaning toward present day Israel as still God’s chosen people along with a belief by many that Israel will play a large part in their eschatological theology. In ALL of the Master’s cautions that ARE ignored by the churches we should see the role of vanity and in the doctrinal interpretations of the New Testament we should see the their illusion and their glamour through which they have convinced themselves that their various view ARE right. ALL such views however ARE but the interpretations of men which persist to cover over even the most clear words from the Master and His apostles, a covering that IS largely based in their interpretations of the words of the Apostle Paul and which deny the most basic Truths of Jesus’ teaching as well as the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles. In their doctrinal sense the church has effectively denied the words from our selection regarding who IS the liar and the need for keeping His words of which our expression of agape IS paramount. And while many DO acknowledge the apostle’s idea that “God is love agape“, few understand what this Truly means. Taking ONLY their own ideas of antichrist and their interpretation of Christ as our propitiation, they ignore the Truths that the apostle offers us in our selection which we repeat here 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).
Contrary to these words from the apostle, much of the church has embarked upon the evangelical idea of being “born again” (John 3:3) using their interpretations of Paul’s words on ‘salvation‘ and deeming being “born again” to be the result of one’s confession and affirmation of Jesus as Lord. This IS NOT ONLY contrary to John’s words above where being “born of God” requires one’s expression of agape but this doctrinal interpretation of being “born again” IS also contrary to Jesus rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). The reality here IS here IS that to be “born again“, to Love God and to KNOW God, ARE clearly defined by John in such sayings as above. Much of the church’s failure to Love and KNOW God according to the New Testament presentation of these ideals IS the result of the churches failure at understanding the breadth of the Love that IS agape. Even more of this failure IS in the churches ‘refusal’ to take the Master’s clearly spoken words on agape as the singular Truth that men must follow. John’s closing words in our selection point to the reality of agape as he shows us that to Love God one must per force “love his brother also” and, to be sure, this Love, this expression of agape, IS much more that mere words or emotions; this expression of agape IS the driving force that IS “the whole armour of God“. It IS our expression of agape that IS the most basic Truth of spiritual Life in this world; it IS the foundation of True righteousness and and the very definition of KNOWING “the gospel of peace” which IS interpreted in the King James Bible as preparation. This expression of agape IS the deepest reality of faith as this KNOWING comes in revelation and realization to the disciple in this world. John shows us this saying “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). We should remember here that keeping His commandments includes our expression of agape as John notes above and as Jesus’ tells us saying “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). We should try to see here that in the idea that this IS “A new commandment” IS included the depth of that Love which Jesus shows us saying “as I have loved you” and John clarifies this sense of newness saying that it IS “not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another” (2 John 1:5).
And the Master gives us the best example of this Love albeit His words have been distorted and ARE misused in much of the church as the Christian’s way to spread the gospel through some of the word ideas that Jesus used. We should try to see that while carnally bringing to Life His words may be virtuous, there IS a depth that IS most times lacking. The Master gives us this example in a kind of parable which IS called the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. It IS unfortunate that the depth of Jesus’ words in this parable have NOT been understood and that much of the church’s understanding of his words ARE seen eschatologically. At its depth the parable underscores the words of John saying that “he who loveth God love his brother also” and the preceding idea that “he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?“. These ARE the paramount ideas to take from Jesus’ words in this lengthy parable saying:
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:31-46).
While the primary teaching here IS our expression of agape to ALL, this message has been lessened by the churches’ use of its individual ideas: feeding and clothing the poor and such church ministries that DO visit the sick and those in prison. These ARE intended to be examples however; examples frozen in the times in which the Master offers them, they ARE NOT intended to be the way to show forth today our obedience to His words. The reality here IS agape, that to show our expression of Love to the Master, to Love God if you will, we must first “love thy neighbour as thyself” which IS that commandment “which we had from the beginning“. While following the examples that the Master sets forth for us may accrue some virtue to men’s lives, it IS infinitely better to show our Love for the Lord by expressing that agape, that Love, to ALL men and we should conflate this idea with Jesus’ words that ARE 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).
Can we see how that “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them” IS the same as he that DOES “love his brother also“. The clarity here comes NOT ONLY from the apostle’s words saying that this Love IS according to “this commandment have we from him” but ALSO from Jesus’ own words saying “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). We should remember that the idea of new here IS based into the new idea that we expresses this Love “as I have loved you” thereby showing us the depth and the meaning of that Love. We should see how that Jesus’ words ARE the basis for John’s clarification of this expression of agape. John tells us again that this IS the same commandment, the same idea of “the weightier matters of the law“. Jesus tells the Jews’ religious leaders that they should have had these “weightier matters” as the central part of their mitzvah rather than their concentration on the ancillary, the carnal and the mundane parts of the law, into which they placed their religious efforts. John says “I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning” (1 John 2:7) and there should be NO doubt that this word IS agape. We should try to see here that while John focuses his teaching on the use of agape in the everyday lives of disciples and aspirants, Paul’s focus IS more towards refocusing the readers mind onto things spiritual rather than things carnal. At the same time we should try to understand that Paul’s letters ARE more specific and ARE more targeted to his audience than the less specific letters from the other apostles. As we have said in previous essays, it IS in the volume of Paul’s words that they ARE easily manipulated and interpreted into the church’s doctrines which have been formed to suit the presumed needs of men to live as men in this world. In Paul’s writings men have chosen to blindly accept their interpretations of his ideas as they see themselves in ALL of the spiritually positive sayings without any True regard to the cost of such ideas as we find in such sayings as “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). The doctrinal thinker has convinced himself that by merely following his doctrinal ideas and attitudes that he ”shall live” while most ALL see that living in their hope of heaven after they die; another doctrinal creation of men. The dynamics ARE similar in men’s interpretations of John’s words; here we find their response IS in their ignoring of the idea that men should keep His commandments in favor of their easier to live by ideas regarding antichrist and such things as Jesus being our propitiation, a word idea that this sorely misunderstood.
Much of the doctrinally accepted ideas from our selection ignore the overall general theme of John’s words and we should note here that this doctrinal philosophy DOES NOT end with their alternate realities concerning antichrist and Jesus death as the atonement for our sins which IS the meaning applied to the Greek word hilasmos that IS rendered as propitiation in the King James Bible. While these doctrinal ideas DO take away from the apostle’s message, the ideas applied to men’s confession, from the Greek word homologeo, create ever more confusion. In antichrist most DO NOT see the “false prophets” as they apply this word, from the Greek pseudoprophetes, to those who outwardly speak against the Master as did the Jews’ religious leaders. While John likely IS directly referencing these leaders, the doctrinal church reserves the idea of antichrist for their eschatological theologies. The doctrinal thinker DOES NOT see his own role in this idea of pseudoprophetes; he DOES NOT see how that ALL teaching that IS contrary to Jesus’ own words IS taught by such “false prophets” and, as we have discussed in previous essays, John’s idea IS akin to Paul’s railing against “another gospel“. Both of these ideas, the words of the antichrist or “false prophets” and the teaching of “another gospel” which “would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6, 7) ARE effectively the apostles’ cautions that show us the same danger as DOES the Master as He says “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves“. John’s way of KNOWING the false from the real IS tied to the idea of homologeo which the church has adapted to their own views as they see confession as a act of saying or proclaiming whatsoever IS doctrinally acceptable. Jesus way of KNOWING IS tied simply to the teacher’s expression of fruit as He tells us clearly that “Ye shall know them by their fruits” which idea the church hardly understands as they conflate True fruit with the teaching of their own doctrines. Jesus idea of fruit IS intimately tied to the Truth and to agape and from these verses He goes into the reality that men’s confessing the Master, affirming Him as Lord, Lord, IS meaningless save for the man that “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:15, 16, 21). This meaninglessness of the idea of confession also applies to John’s words but this IS NOT seen by the doctrinal thinker who has convinced himself that his confessions ARE verbal acknowledgements of some emotional religious idea. Few see the reality of Vincent’s commentary on homologeo where we read from his words on the idea of “confess me” that: The idea is that of confessing Christ out of a state of oneness with him. “Abide in me, and being in me, confess me.” It implies identification of the confessor with the confessed, and thus takes confession out of the category of mere formal or verbal acknowledgment. “Not every one that saith unto me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven“4. We should try to see how that Jesus’ words saying “confess me” (Matthew 10:32) ARE in the same tone and intent as John’s words saying “ Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God“. Such IS ONLY valid in the deepest sense of identification of the confessor with the confessed and this out of a state of oneness with him4.
As we close this edition of our blog we should try to relate these ideas to one of the driving forces of doctrinal Christianity: the Apostle Paul’s words that ARE purported to make a man “born again” and ‘saved‘. Paul says that “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). That these words ARE taken out of their context IS hardly considered by the doctrinal thinker who relies on this segment alone for his ‘salvation‘ as they fail to relate the apostle’s words to Jesus’ words cited above; they fail to see the meaninglessness of simply proclaiming Jesus’ Lord. They fail also to see the force of Jesus’ rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Most of ALL they fail to see the reality behind the Greek word homologeo, a reality that IS lost in men’s carnal understanding of the rendered ideas of confession and profession. When we can get past the common ideas attached to such words and the nebulous doctrinal ideas regarding pistis and pisteuo, we can then perhaps begin to see and to understand that one can ONLY ‘confess‘ the Lord out of a state of oneness with him if one Truly KNOWS God which IS the deeper and the spiritual meaning behind these Greek words. And this too we get from John as he tells us 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 “every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God“. Here we should be able to see the reality of fruit and of the Truth and how that it IS “by their fruits ye shall know them“(Matthew 7:20); that it IS by their fruits we can KNOW both the real and the “false prophets“, teachers and overall men of Truth.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
