Thursday, February 13, 2014

Galatians 5:14

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Galatians 5:14

14 For [gar] all [pas] the law [nomos] is fulfilled [pleroo] in [en] one [heis] word [logos], even in [en] this; Thou shalt love [agapao] thy [sou] neighbour [plesion] as [hos] thyself [heautou].  KJV-Interlinear

14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, " You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  NASB

There is a companion passage found in Rom. 13:8, ‘for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.’  The word for love in both passages is, ‘agapao,’ which refers not to the emotions but to the principles and content of doctrine.  And here is where nearly everyone fails to understand and therefore fail in their spiritual life, because too much emphasis is placed on the emotions of love rather than the principles of doctrine.

After all, it is far easier to ‘feel’ about something, which simply means that you don’t have to do anything or be responsible, and certainly not study daily, and that is where the excuses and therefore the failure exists.

People want to say they obey God, but they do not want to do what God tells them to do.  After all, again, obeying God means that you have to fulfill the obligations He expects of you, that you have to become responsible with respect to your spiritual life, and that means that you cannot make things up yourself as you go along, conveniently pretending to be spiritual when you are not.

To anyone who knows the difference, then you make a fool of yourself.  And to those who do not know the difference, then you are playing to a naïve and foolish crowd.  A fool playing to fools.  No glory in that.

So the fulfillment of the Law is what?  Truth.

But what is the Law?

Well, if you have been around for a while then you know that the Mosaic Law represents the path to perfection through works, but more than that, it reveals that no person is capable of achieving perfection, and therefore no person is capable of fulfilling the Law, or capable of achieving perfection.

Meaning simply that we need something else to achieve perfection, lest we remain imperfect forever and thus lost to oblivion forever.

Why would we want to be perfect?

So that we can live with God. God demands perfection and if you do not have that then you cannot live with Him.  That leaves you out, so to speak, with your only option the Lake of Fire.

The Lake of Fire is a place without God. And where there is no God, there are no rules, no order, nothing to bind elements together, just pure terror and aloneness, and horror and chaos and far, far worse because it never ends.  And if that appeals to you, then you really need to take some medication to bring you back to reality and common sense.

So, how does one achieve perfection so that you can live with God, and not in that chaos?

The answer is right here.  Love.  But not just any love.  Not the, make love not war kind.  Not the, lovey-dovey kind.  Not the do-gooder kind.  Not the, I am holier than thou, kind.  Not the, I am better than you, kind.  Not the, I am elite and you are not, kind.  Not the, work for God, kind.  Not the, God accepts me as I am, kind (most people are really confused on this one).  And certainly not the, I am good enough and do not have to comply with Gods mandates, or I can comply by doing things my way, which is also good enough, kind.

So, all of these and many more examples, are all rejected by God and none of them fulfill the Law.  None of them make you perfect.  None of them make you better.  All of them perpetuate and assure your utter failure.

But, there is one way, to achieve perfection, and that way is doctrine, which is herein identified as love, but a specific love, namely ‘agape’ which is the content of the scriptures.

And you are introduced to the scriptures by way of salvation, believe in Christ, and then beyond that to your spiritual life by way of a daily study.

That is perfection, or the transformation of the soul by way of knowledge, learned by study through instruction, day after day, throughout your entire life.

To be perfect is to be mature, spiritually mature.  And to be spiritually mature means that you have to comply with Gods mandates.  Namely, first being saved of course.

Then after salvation, confessing on a regular basis so as to function in fellowship, then learning through a daily study, then utilizing what you learn within your daily life, and repeating this every day every moment of your life, for all of your life.

To love thy neighbor as thyself, simply means to apply doctrine and its principles to others, just as you would to your own self.  Be responsible, be accountable, be honest, be polite, be charitable, don’t be naïve, don’t deceive, don’t be deceived, etc, etc, etc.