Tag Archives: Spiritual Reality

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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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Our last essay wandered into the doctrinal idea of the infallibility of the bible which seems to be a general doctrinal rule throughout Christianity. We arrived here through our exploration of the idea of being perfect and this through the words of the Master from Matthew’s Gospel where we read “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This version of the Master’s words DOES outwardly seem to be in contradiction to Luke’s version where the Master tells us Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). Our objective was to show that there IS an intimate relationship between being merciful and being perfect and while we never completed our point; we DO so now in this essay. We ended with the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy which tell us that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We ARE here because of Paul’s use of the Greek word artios which IS rendered as perfect and although this IS a different word that Matthew uses, the idea IS the same as ARE the given definitions. Our summation of Paul’s words here IS NOT as this IS interpreted by the church; these words DO NOT show us that the bible, or any scripture, IS infallible and we say this confidently because of the way the men and time can and DO manipulate ideas to fit their own doctrinal agendas. In the end we must understand that the Truth of scripture IS NOT in the doctrinal versions of Truth, the many versions I would add, and perhaps the closest we can get to the Truth in the written word IS in the similarity of the gospels. Paul’s words and the words of the other apostles ARE NOT scripture per se; they ARE interpretations, accurate for the most part, of the words of the Master and the True precepts of the Old Testament. Note here that we say the True precepts of the Old Testament and NOT the volume of words that may include these True precepts. We end our thoughts on infallibility by saying that since “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” to the end that “the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works“, that ALL such men, men of God by the criteria set by the Master, have such inspiration which IS effective even in the absence of the written words of the bible.

In these words from Paul he uses the idea of perfect and while his message may seem a bit muted as well as misinterpreted, the reality IS that ALL that follow the True precepts of the Lord ARE “furnished unto all good works” which IS for us to be expressive of agape Love to ALL. This IS the reality of being perfect which includes the realization that we ARE as He IS based upon John’s words saying “as he is, so are we in this world” We should understand that the very idea that “as he is, so are we in this world” IS a Universal Truth for ALL men as ALL come into incarnation in this world as Soul infused bodies and we should understand that Soul as the Christ Within, as the True man. While it IS True that some of our bodies of expression ARE NOT suitable, for various reasons, to show forth the Inner Man, the Soul, this IS NOT because NO Soul exists but rather because its body of expression IS inadequate for that expression. This IS a complicated subject for which we DO NOT have adequate knowledge. The Point IS however that the vast majority of persons born into this world of vanity ARE capable of reaching a communion with their own Souls and that few ever will IS shown us by the Master who says “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). We should understand here that most DO NOT find “the strait gate” because either they fail to look or because they believe that their doctrinal allegiance IS the Way which of course it IS NOT. Here then we should try to understand that to be perfect IS to have realization that “as he is, so are we in this world” and through this realization to express agape as DID the Master. This IS the perfection of the Master and since He IS expressive of the very nature of the Godhead, agape, this IS also the perfection of God.

Luke takes the idea to a different level so to speak as he uses the idea of merciful in place of perfection and here we need to understand the relationship between these two terms: perfection and mercy. We begin with the way that the whole idea of mercy has be misapplied according to the carnal interpretations of that word; this IS much like the misapplication of the reality of agape as the common idea of Love or the undefined idea that agape IS the ‘God kind of Love’. Mercy IS NOT what it IS defined to be and agape IS NOT the common idea of Love. To tie these word ideas together we go to the Apostle John who tells us clearly that “we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love agape dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love agape 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 agape; but perfect love agape casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love agape” (1 John 4:16-18). In the idea of “Herein is our love agape made perfect” we have the juncture of mercy and perfection but this IS lost to most because the idea of mercy IS NOT included in the apostle’s words. While the definition of mercy basically limits the idea to being compassionate ^9a, this IS NOT the full extent of the idea. We must remember here that Luke tells us that God IS oiktirmon which IS rendered by most as merciful and in this context compassion DOES NOT play a role. Compassion IS however the main takeaway from the Greek word oiktirmon; Vincent tells us that the idea of oiktirmon IS: the sympathy called out by special cases, being the feeling which is moved to pain at another’s suffering ⁴. While this may describe the general idea of mercy as that IS understood yet today, it DOES NOT describe the nature of the Godhead which has NO such feeling but IS rather universally merciful to ALL through another part of His nature which IS that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). We should remember here the previous verse in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus tells us of the Godhead that “he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35). Despite these ideas the Greek word as well as the English rendering as mercy have taken on the idea of compassion which IS explained in today’s dictionary as: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence*.

The point to be taken here IS that mercy IS the outward expression of the Godhead according to reality that “there is no respect of persons with God” and perhaps it IS this idea, which IS contrary to the Christian ideas of a God that answers individual prayers, that has helped to form the defining ideas. Linking the idea that mercy IS the outward expression of the Godhead to the very nature of God which IS agape should show the deeper idea that mercy IS the expression of agape in this world by the Godhead and should be the expression of men as well; hence the Master’s words saying “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36).. It IS through this expression that we can see the Way to “love thy neighbour as thyself” which IS perhaps the singularly most important precept in the entirety of the Master’s teaching. What about perfection then? While the doctrines of men see this idea in terms of maturity, this IS NOT the story told by the biblical use of the word. The easiest reference of course IS in the idea that God has NO need for maturity which IS defined as: complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.) by Strong’s which adds the ideas of of full age, man, perfect ^9a as suitable renderings for the Greek word teleios. We should understand that none of these defining ideas can be applied to the Godhead and therefore ARE NOT the Master’s intent in saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). These defining ideas DO however reveal the one word idea that IS pertinent and it IS NOT maturity but rather completeness which Thayer’s includes in their definitions saying that teleios IS: wanting nothing necessary to completeness ⁹ as a part of their entry. This brings us again to John’s words that can give us a clue to the intimate relationship between being merciful and being perfect.

John begins with the Great Truth that “God is love agape“, a phrase that IS ill understood but at the same time accepted as a Truth by most ALL of the church. We should try to see here how that the common understanding of Love CAN NOT be equated with the very nature of the Godhead while agape, untranslated, can be as this word can be understood as a thing, a psychic thing to be sure. The apostle then adds a very important reality which IS that “he that dwelleth in love agape dwelleth in God, and God in him”. Here the word meno IS rendered as dwelleth and this we should understand in terms of abiding as this IS the idea that John shows us elsewhere in his gospel and epistles. Granted there IS NOT much difference in the ideas of dwelling and abiding save for the way that dwelling seems the more carnal term. In John’s Gospel the Master tells us to “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:4-6). We should see here that the idea of dwelling DOES NOT work as well and should NOT be used in this context. While dwelling seems the more temporary, the idea of abiding shows some permanency; meno IS defined as: to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy)^9a by Strong’s. Thayer’s tells us that meno IS: equivalent to not to depart, not to leave, to continue to be present, adding also that meno IS: to be held, or kept, continually⁹. There IS more but this should suffice to show us that the idea of abiding IS the better understanding than “he that dwelleth in love agape“. The greater point here IS that as “God IS agape love” and that when we abide in that agape Love, when we DO continue to be present in our expression of agape, that this man “dwelleth in God, and God in him“. This should remind us of the words of our trifecta where the third part tells us exactly this and portrays the idea as having the Presence of the Lord in our lives. Many of course believe that they have such Presence without fulfilling the stated criteria, both from above and from our trifecta, which IS to keep His commandments and abide in agape Love as our expression in Life. Our trifecta tells us:

• “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).

While it IS the third part that amplifies our point, the entirety of our trifecta IS intended to show men the Way to the Truth and the agape Love that IS our God. Paramount in keeping His words IS the Master’s commandment to Love, His commandment that we express agape to others as part of our focus upon the things of God. As part of Jesus’ words on the vine and the branches which we cite above, the Master tells us at the end; after telling His disciples, and us through them, that “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love agape; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love agape“, He tells us clearly that “This is my commandment, That ye love agapao one another, as I have loved agapao you” (John 15:10, 12). While these words have been contorted to be understood by many to refer ONLY to our expression of agape to fellow Christians, this IS NOT and never was the intent and this should be easily understood through the timeless words that command us to “love agapao thy neighbour as thyself“; these words have NO direction but apply to ALL. This ‘opinion’ IS but a doctrinal one that like so many other doctrinal precepts IS designed to allow men to ‘feel’ righteous by DOING very little and while John’s words ARE often placed into the same idea of expressing agape to fellow Christians, words such as “this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth agapao God love agapao his brother also” (1 John 2:21) should have destroyed this idea. Brother, from the Greek word adelphos, should be understood in the broadest possible terms according to the biblical idea that one’s brother IS: having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman, any fellow or man ². As a side note we should understand that while we generally use agape to reference both the noun and the verb forms of the idea, in the segments above we ARE using the both forms as we ARE trying to show that this IS an activity and NOT merely a virtuous idea. While the clear language of the Master’s words ARE in regard to keeping the commandments, keeping His word if you will, it IS also clear that the paramount idea that Jesus presents IS in regard to agape and its expression in this world. The synoptic gospels contain the reality of our expression of agape in the Master’s words or, better, in the words of the apostles who ARE giving us a slightly colored version of His words; here we should be careful to note that while minor differences are present in the writings of the three accepted synoptic gospels, these ARE most often immaterial to the overall tenor of the gospels.

The Apostle John’s Gospel however IS different; John seems to capture the idea of agape from a more personal perspective as he reports on the more intimate relationships that the Master had with those closest to Him. For this reason John IS become the go-to apostle when it comes to a frank discussion of agape and its meaning in the lives of men. This brings us back to our primary idea of the relationship between mercy and perfection which differences in the apostles’ word choice shows us the reality of our statement above where such differences ARE indeed immaterial. We began above our effort to better understand mercy by showing that the idea of both the Greek word and the rendered word in English DO NOT mean ONLY what they ARE portrayed as. Much of our analysis of the Greek word oiktirmon IS and must be based on the Principle that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11); it IS this principle that helps us to understand that compassion, especially for an individual, IS NOT an aspect of the Godhead which sees ALL men in the very same way. To be sure, there IS likely some degree of dismay by those Great Souls that represent the Godhead to humanity, the Christ being chief among them. Such dismay IS at the conduct of men in this world over the centuries, a history that IS despicable from most any spiritual perspective. Jesus understood this as He reflected upon the political climate while at the same time DOING naught to change it; He even predicted for us the next war which was the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD, about 40 years after His own death on the cross. The world has known war before and after Jesus’ time on this Earth and the barbarity of wartime has not yet ceased as IS allowed to continue ad nauseam to this very day. Surely a God that DID have a controlling interest in the affairs of people on this planet would have DONE something to abate the calamity and the slaughter of innocents. This alone should show us that there IS NO provision for the Godhead to intercede but, based upon the Old Testament stories such ideas of intercession yet prevail with many involved in conflict relying upon the Lord for aid. Aid however DOES NOT come from the Godhead and any inferences of such ARE but the product of happenstance. There IS then NO compassion from the Godhead that has any type of effect upon the world and there IS NO mercy as that idea IS generally understood.

When we can understand mercy as the effective aspect of agape in this world we can begin to unravel the mystery of its application in the lives of men. For us mercy IS the actual expression of agape from the Godhead and, like agape, mercy IS intended to be the expression of everyman. There ARE two words rendered as mercy in the New Testament; oiktirmon which IS the word used in our main saying above and once again by James, and eleos which IS used most often and can be understood as a sort of helping hand. Neither IS limited to the common understanding which includes such ideas as: to help one afflicted or seeking aid; to help the afflicted, to bring help to the wretched as represented by the lexicon. As a man the Master DOES show mercy and compassion for the people that He encounters but we should try to see that this mercy IS part and parcel of His expression of agape. While it IS True that Jesus’ DOES aid specific people in the gospels it IS also True that this IS superseded by His aid for ALL. We read that “when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:27-29). In this we may assume that there IS an individual effort to be compassionate and merciful to these men but, from the very text, we should understand that there IS much more to this as their healing IS based also in their own faith, their own KNOWING that the Master could help them. This we should contrast with such ideas as “the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all” (Matthew 12:14-15). It IS here that we can see the effectiveness of mercy as the expression of agape with NO “respect to persons” and, as we look deeper, we should be able to see that this nature of the Godhead IS found in both expressions of mercy by the Master.

In the command that we Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36) the idea of compassion may well be included but NOT at the expense of the more spiritual value of our expression of agape. We may DO well to actually aid those that ARE in need as an act of kindness and compassion but this IS NOT the objective of the Master’s words which we must equate with Matthew’s version that tells us to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Again, we must understand that these two versions ARE referencing the same words from the Master, words that flow from the pens of two different disciples and ARE each writers’ interpretation of the Master’s intent. We should understand as well that this IS NOT an isolated place where the words of Jesus’ disciples differ regarding the same events or sayings and in ALL cases these can be easily reconciled by understanding the spiritual import of the Master’s words. Luke tells us that we must be merciful and IS the Father and, as we have discussed, this entails much more that kindness and compassion which ARE NOT factors in the expression of mercy from the Godhead. Being merciful has a specific spiritual reality and for lack of any more extensive ideas regarding the Greek words rendered as mercy, the idea remains for us that mercy IS our expression of agape in this world. There ARE two other uses of the idea of mercy offered to us by the Master and both of these ARE from Matthew’s Gospel. First, in confrontation with the Pharisees the Master tells them “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance“. Here the Master IS attempting to show the Pharisees that their condemnation of Jesus’ expression of agape by eating “with publicans and sinners” IS wrong under the reality of Moses commandments and ever moreso under the reality of the Godhead which IS that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). The text goes thus:

“it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:10-13).

We should note here that in the Master’s use of the eleos which IS rendered here as mercy He IS NOT being compassionate as one would believe according to doctrines. John Gill for example tells us that: the meaning is, that God takes more delight and pleasure, either in showing mercy himself to poor miserable sinners; or in acts of mercy, compassion, and beneficence done by men, to fallen creatures in distress ⁸. This IS of course NOT the reality of the Master’s action of eating “with publicans and sinners“; the reality IS that Jesus IS expressing the Love of God, agape Love, toward these “publicans and sinners” because His expression IS without “respect to persons“. And this IS exactly the point made by the Apostle James who writes on our personal responsibility in expressing agape to ALL. James first shows us that there should be NO difference in our view and treatment of others based upon their being rich or poor; the apostle tells us “if there come unto your assembly[a] a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?“. It IS from this scene that many believe that James’ words ARE specifically in regard to our treatment and view of the rich and the poor but the apostle DOES go on to show us the deeper spiritual reality saying “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:2-4, 8-10). Can we see the point here? Can we see that these latter words from James ARE our guide to our expression of agape and to our perfection as men in this world who Truly DO “love thy neighbour as thyself“.

In this we should be able to at least glimpse the idea of perfection as this was explained to us by John who tells us clearly that “he that dwelleth in love agape dwelleth in God, and God in him“. This IS our Path to perfection as men in this world, an idea that has naught to DO with maturity but rather with our ability to express agape as the apostle tells us saying “Herein is our love agape made perfect“. This of course we should understand as that in our expression of agape that our agape IS made perfect and this IS the point: that when we perfect our expression of agape we ARE ourselves made perfect. Here we can accept the idea that “as he is, so are we in this world“. While the closing part of our selection above may seem more difficult to understand through the introduction of fear, it IS nonetheless our Truth; John tells us that “perfect love agape casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love agape” (1 John 4:16-18). Fear, even unrealized fear, IS an important factor in our lives and in our striving toward the reality of the Kingdom of God. But what IS this idea of fear? Fear IS rendered from the Greek word phobos from which we get the English word phobia and the differences between phobia and fear should be noted. A phobia IS: an intense, persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, situation* and we would add that IS is often irrational. In our sense however this fear or phobia that John speaks of , while ofttimes irrational, IS more based on the unknown. Fear on the other hand IS more specific, it IS defined by AI as: an unpleasant emotion that occurs when we perceive a threat or danger ⁷. While Thayer’s defines phobos as: fear, dread, terror; in a subjective sense and then that which strikes terror before adding as a secondary meaning of: reverence, respect (for authority, rank, dignity)⁹ and Strong’s gives us ONLY the idea of: to be put in fear^9a, Vincent offers us a clearer picture according to its usage by John. Vincent tells us that this sense of fear IS: the fear is that spoken of in 1 Peter 1:17; Hebrews 12:28; godly fear; filial reverence; not slavish fear ⁴. To be sure the common ideas of fear DO NOT apply here in John’s words while the idea of phobia serves us somewhat better. The point that we should try to see here IS that in our expression of agape we come to KNOW God by measure and it IS in our individual measure that we ARE comforted by our ability to KNOW, thus, “perfect love agape casteth out fear“. This IS the intersection between agape and perfection and, through our understanding of mercy as our expression of agape in this world, it IS also the unifying of mercy and perfection. The summation of John’s words IS that if we continue to fear, even Vincent’s idea of Godly fear, it IS because we ARE NOT expressing agape as, if we were, our expression would “casteth out fear“. Of course we should understand here that in our expression of agape we move ever closer to our own sense of perfection and the full realization that “as he is, so are we in this world“. It IS in this that we can eventually stand with the Master and say “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The relationship between mercy as our expression of agape IS captured for us in the Master’s words form Matthew’s Gospel above and in a similar saying later in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus tells the Pharisees in a similar situation that “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless“. Here the Pharisees ARE condemning the way that the Lord and His disciples ARE DOING “that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7, 2) which idea had for the Jews become a paramount part of their doctrines, their mitzvah if you will. And, again, the Master offers them the same idea regarding mercy which was taken from the Prophet whose words ARE “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). It IS mercy that was to have been the practice of the Jews and while the idea IS NOT fully explained for us in the New Testament, we should be able to draw the connection between agape Love as a governing principle and mercy as its expression in this world.

We close today with another selection from John’s Epistle and while the relationship to mercy IS lacking in the apostle’s words, it IS there in the sense of both keeping His words and agape. We read that “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:3-6). First, in KNOWING God we have eliminated any fears and phobias regarding the unknown as in Truly KNOWING God we come to KNOW ALL things by measure and even the slightest measure can eliminate our fears. John tells us that to “know him” requires that “we keep his commandments” and that in DOING so, “the love of God perfected” and it IS in so DOING that we can fulfill the Master’s words saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) as well as Luke’s version saying Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of  God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

• ² New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁷ Google generative AI on fear versus phobia
• ⁹ Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
• ^9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.or
• * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

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

Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher