Before you begin your Bible study, as a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, be sure you have named your sins privately to God the
Father.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (Known, Unknown
and Forgotten sins) (1Jn 1:9)
You will then be in fellowship with God, Filled with God the
Holy Spirit and ready to learn Truth from the Word of God.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in Spirit and Truth," (Joh 4:24)
Divine Virtue Love vs. Human Love
What
is this thing called Virtue love? One of the greatest distortions on the part of
Satan in the Angelic Conflict has to do with Virtue love. Everywhere you turn
today you see the abuse of something that belongs to God. VIRTUE LOVE BELONGS ENTIRELY
TO GOD! Virtue love is not only
a part of God's essence, but God has a "monopoly" on Virtue love, and
the Devil has never been able even to begin to break in. The Virtue love of God
has been, distorted by Satan and pulled into every aspect of life.
What
are we hearing today? World brotherhood... Don't shoot the enemy, love him...
Don't kill the criminal, love him... Give the homosexual understanding instead
of what he needs — to
believe in Jesus; and then take in Truth and overcome his old sin nature...
Love the Black Panthers... Love all of the socialists' who are running around
loose, such as the green job global warming types! The whole false concept of human love today, as proclaimed in
this country, is not only anti-Christian and anti-God; it is the basis for some of the most traitorous activity
since the Trojan horse was rolled past the gates of Ilium. In the name of human love, almost every type of crime is
committed.
But
people raise their eyebrows and say, "Well, isn't God love?" They can
almost quote the Scripture exactly or part of it: "God is [Virtue] love"! But to quote a Scripture
and to understand it is two different things. God's Virtue love is exemplified
by three words found in, (Jer
3:12) which is the
background to our subject: "SHUBAH MESHUBAH" (Hebrew) — "Return, faithless
Israel!"
God
said to the prophet Jeremiah, "Go and proclaim these words toward the
north..." This is the Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes which had been
placed into captivity almost one hundred years before Jeremiah spoke these
words. God instructed Jeremiah to give this message to the most unfaithful
group of people who ever lived — the Jews of the Northern Kingdom. He said it to them under
conditions that are almost unbelievable, and therefore it is even more a
striking commentary on God's Virtue love. The unfaithfulness of the Jews of the
Northern Kingdom has become a Biblical byword. Never in all of history did so
many people become so apostate and corrupt so rapidly in one generation. Yet
one hundred years later God had not forgotten these people who went into
captivity in 721 B.C.
When
God said "Shubah meshubah," it was a demonstration of God's beautiful
sense of humor. Do you know why? It is a paronomasia; it is a pun.
"Shubah" means "come back to Me." "Meshubah,
translated "backsliding," actually means "faithless" — faithless in the sense of a
woman leaving her right man for many sex partners; someone who is going in the
opposite direction. In other words, God speaks as the Right Man, and He says,
"Shubah." He is addressing those who have gone as far in the other
direction as possible. Who but God would want
a faithless, rebellious "right woman" back! Therefore, "shubah meshuba" is probably the
greatest paronomasia in the Word of God!
Capacity to love
When
you look at some Christians today, you can tell that they do not have a sense
of humor because they are so up-tight. I want to tell you something about the whole ingredient of Divine
love: anyone who has a capacity to love may not have been born with a sense of
humor, but he acquires one.
And that goes for all three categories Virtue love. (Personal Love of God, Impersonal love for all
mankind, Virtue love of the opposite sex and of friends) You can always tell the people who have no
capacity for Virtue love because they are up-tight. They have had it! And you
can always tell when a person isn't, shall we say, up to his Virtue love's
standards, because he is up-tight.
If
you've ever noticed, when people get mad, they are up-tight. Of course, most of
you never get mad, so you don't know anything about that! But somewhere you
probably had a FRIEND who got mad. Anger is always an up-tight expression. True love is always relaxed. When a woman can say to a man, "Yes, my lord," she has
to be relaxed, and she has to have a sense of humor — both! And when a man can say to
a woman, "My love," he not only has to be relaxed, he has to have the
capacity for Virtue love.
When
God says to the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom, "Shubah meshubah," that is the most beautiful invitation in the
world because it is a Command to people to come back who have gone as far in
the other direction as they can go and still be alive. In other words,
"meshubah" is a woman who has left her right man and has had countless
sex partners. In spite of Israel's unfaithfulness, God demonstrates in this beautiful phrase, this
paronomasia. His relaxed mental attitude and His sense of humor. The capacity for love includes something which causes the lover,
the initiator or the responder, to relax. And for God to come out
with this beautiful pun indicates His whole relaxed sense of humor. He is not going to say anything about their
faithlessness; He is not going to complain in any way.
In,
(Jer 3:1-5) we have the Principle that when a woman leaves
a man and becomes another man's, she can never return to the first man. If he
divorces her for her unfaithfulness, she can never return, for he is no longer
capable of being aggressive as a lover. This was recognized by God and put into
the divorce laws, which are found in part in, (Deut 24:1-4). Now, in addition to that; God turns right around and says,
"Even though that is true with a man, it is not true with Me."
(Jer 3:1-5)
is addressed to Judah; but in, (Jer 3:12) God is speaking to the
Northern Kingdom, and He says, "Shubah meshubah." By this phrase, He expresses perfectly His
Divine love. It expresses the
Principle that God IS Virtue love — and it is something so fantastic, we cannot
afford to miss it! If we do miss it, we will never know Virtue love in any
other category. So "shubah meshubah" introduces our subject,
"What is this thing called Virtue love?" We are going to categorize
every facet of Virtue love involving relationships; and we shall begin with a
study of, (Php 1:9-11).
Virtue Love expressed through prayer
In
these three verses, Paul is pictured as a prayer warrior. When Paul has a
recorded prayer, it emphasizes something very important. There are two
fantastic prayers of the great apostle recorded in, (Eph 1:15-23; Eph 3:14-21). And what do they emphasize? The "grace apparatus of perception," (Operation Z) and the "edification complex," (Spiritual life)
of the soul. The subject of the Book of Philippians is
happiness. But what is emphasized in Paul's prayer? You cannot be happy without
— Virtue
love, (God's
Virtue love — is ONLY for believers in
fellowship; Gal
5:22-24) and
you cannot express Virtue love without being happy. So, within the framework of the context of, (Php 1:9-11) you must possess Virtue love as a part of your New Nature, (2Pe 1:4) and as a part of your
Spiritual Thinking. This is that for which the apostle actually prayed.
And this I pray, that your [Virtue]love
may abound still more and more in real knowledge
[Spiritual Thinking] and all discernment, so that you may approve the
things [Spiritual Thoughts]
that are excellent, in order to be sincere
[Pure in Thought] and blameless
[In Virtue love] until the day of Christ. (Php 1:9-10)
cf. (Joh 4:24)
The Principle of Virtue love
(Php 1:9) begins with two words, "kai touto" in the Greek. A
phrase such as this introduces something that is extremely important: Paul is
going to pray. When most people pray, they thank God for a few things, and that
is fine; but primarily, they want to pray for something specific. Paul does not
pray that he will have money or friends or that he will have a good time; Paul
does not ask God to give HIM something; Paul prays for what I call THE
ESSENTIALS. The essentials are tied up in this phrase "kai touto." In
other words, Paul says, "This is a short prayer, but it is an important
one; I am going to pray for something without which I am not quite a Spiritual
being — and neither are you!"
AND THIS, ("Kai touto") I PRAY. ("Proseuchomai") The latter word means to pray for someone
else; to pray for people in whom you are interested. And Paul has already
expressed his interest in the Philippians. This was a church which he
personally founded, and he is therefore going to make intercession for them in
what he considers to be the critical field of and for happiness.
Remember that the overall subject of Philippians
is happiness. The overall subject of Ephesians is the importance of Truth;
therefore, in Ephesians he prays for the grace apparatus of perception, (Operation
Z) to function in their lives, and
that they might set up the Spiritual life — Temple in their souls.
Now he prays for VIRTUE
LOVE!
THAT
YOUR LOVE... "That" introduces a purpose clause, the purpose of this
intercessory prayer. Obviously he cannot recognize at this time that the
Philippians have an advanced Spiritual love. All he can do is to recognize that
they are saved, and being saved, they can have a mental attitude of Virtue
love. He is not going to specify the area; but, as you know, there are at least
two basic areas in which this love could exist: Category 1, Personal love —
toward God; Category 2, Impersonal love — FOR ALL MANKIND. And with Virtue love
comes Esprit de corps toward right man or right woman and toward friends who
operate in fellowship with the same Spiritual Thinking — the Mind of Christ!
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among
you, but that you be made complete in the same mind [Christ's] and in the same
judgment. [Spiritual Thinking] (1Co 1:10)
Here
we have AGAPE love, or mental attitude love. There are two sources of this type
of love for the believer: (1) the filling of the Spirit through rebound; (Rom 5:5; 1Jn 1:9) (2) the Spiritual life of the soul, (1Jn 2:5) which is developed through the function of Operation Z.
A
person with an adult Spiritual life will be grace-oriented, he will have a
mastery of the details of life, a relaxed mental attitude or "agape"
love; the capacity to love in all categories, and inner happiness.
However,
we are not dealing with Spiritual growth at the moment; we are dealing with a
Principle. There must be Virtue love in your life. Love is essential as a part
of your Spiritual life not this phony, superficial, effervescent, frothy,
easy-to-say, but-has-no-backing-in-your-Spiritual Thinking-type love — but Divine love, and true capacity to love God
and to be loved by God! (Spiritual intimacy)You might as well discover what true love is.
Love is not simply some sort of an overt expression... Being nice to someone...
Saying the right thing at the right time... Making the proper noises... Saying
that you love someone. It isn't any form of embrace or touching, or whatever
you want to call it — that isn't necessarily love. Nor is love thinking how
terrible it is that there are people in death row who really shouldn't be
electrocuted, even though each one has murdered perhaps three or four people
and he has now been correctly and properly indicted. Love is not allowing
enemies of the United States to roam at will in the streets of this country.
Many of these things are done in the name of love. But the believer needs to
get the right perspective!
That
your [Virtue] love may abound… (Php 1:9)
Virtue love is something that keeps on growing;
and once it starts, it is like a snowball. It gathers momentum! You build love on love on love on love! You may try to decide all of a sudden that you don't love
anymore; but you find out that you already have a snowball on your mind and in
your soul, so you can't get rid of it, and it doesn't melt or disappear. It's there. It might be characterized by a lump
in your throat, and or Spiritual Thoughts in your mind; but you just don't get
rid of Virtue love by snapping your fingers.
That
is what God meant when He said, "Shubah meshuba." He said, in effect,
"Look, you Jews in the Northern Kingdom have done nothing right, as
demonstrated by the fact that you are under the fifth cycle of discipline. (Lev 26:33-46) Even though you have done everything wrong, even though your
unfaithfulness has been described by all of the prophets — come on back, return
to Me." Now that is VIRTUE
LOVE. That means that they
are in His Mind. He loves them, and He therefore constantly asks them to
return.
"Abound"
("Perisseuo" in the Greek) is in the active voice, which means you
yourself have to love. No one can love for you, and — watch this — don't let
your friends choose whom you love. You love from YOUR soul, not from your
friend's .For example, let me illustrate among teenagers: some fellow at school
is real popular, so all of the girls have a "file" on him.
Maybe
he plays football, maybe he's handsome, maybe he has a fancy car, maybe he has
shown a couple of girls a good time, and the word got around. Whatever it is,
this character is very popular, so all the girls think they love him. Some girls wouldn't like him at all, but they have
a file on him because everyone else does. They are influenced, and are therefore not "loving"
from their own volition; they are "loving" from someone else's
volition.
One
of the worst things in the world is to get involved with someone who is popular
just because it is the thing to do. You become herd-bound, and therefore you
are not depending on your soul to initiate Virtue love; you are depending upon
the soul of your friends who describe this "guy" in glowing terms.
You have depended upon the judgment of someone else who builds him up. Girls or
boys get together and build up someone, till everyone in the group is worked up
about that person.
It's
like old cavalry horses. You can walk into a corral of old cavalry horses and
say, "Forward, ho!" and they just move out at the walk. And you can
say, "Trot, ho!" and they trot. And then you can say, "Fours
right, ho!" and they wheel in fours. They have been doing it for twenty or
more years. Now here comes someone across the campus with a "mouthful of
teeth" who has done something, or he has some status symbol; and so, as he
goes by, one girl says, "Fours right, ho!" and all the rest of the
girls swing in line.
Now listen, the sooner you start working out
of your own soul... Living out of your own soul... The better. You know that
God gave you a soul. You have your own Spiritual life. You don't have to live
out of someone else's soul and Spiritual life. You young people, when it comes
time for whomever you are going to love, don't depend on your friends or even
on your parents. You can't live out of their soul. You must live out of your
own soul! The first thing you should know about love when it comes (Not that
you won't be bitten by a bug or two) is that it must be in YOUR soul, not in
that of someone you respect.
''May
abound" is in the subjunctive mood and is therefore potential. Maybe it
will and maybe it won't. It had to be potential for two of the greatest men in
the Bible — Paul and Jeremiah. There was no female Esprit de corps Virtue love
for either one. Yet these two great men who were denied their right women —
stand by for shocks — knew Virtue love inside and out. They were fantastic;
what they didn't know about Virtue love isn't worth writing about. They just
knew it all the way through!
But,
you say, how can anyone who hasn't had the experience of having love with a
member of the opposite sex ever going to know it, let alone write about it?
That's where people get fouled up. Some of the worst books you will ever read
are by those who had an experience with a member of the opposite sex. That is
not love! I want to tell you what love is. LOVE IS WHAT GOD IS! "Shubah meshubah!" Love is part of the essence of God. If you ever
become any kind of a lover, it is going to be because you respond to the Virtue
love of God; you bask in the Virtue love of God. Now, some of you are not
basking. And that is why Paul is praying for you as well as for the
Philippians.
True Virtue love is based on knowledge of
Truth
THAT
YOUR LOVE MAY ABOUND YET MORE AND MORE... "Eti mallon kai mallon."
That is not as beautiful as "shubah meshubah," but it isn't bad.
Let's take a look at it. This is the accusative suffix on both of these and is
much stronger than just "more and more." In fact, it is just more and
more and more and more! It is an idiom. ETI is "yet"; MALLON is
"more"; KAI is "and"; MALLON is "more" again; so
it should be: YET MORE, EVEN MORE! It is very strong.
How
on earth can you have more and more and more love? By going out and being nice
to a rattlesnake? By going out and giving blood to the North Vietnamese? NEVER!
By encouraging the Communists? No! By trying to get rid of capital punishment?
No! BY KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S
WORD! KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WORD! KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WORD! (Hos 4:6)
Some
people think only in terms of experience. Listen... The more experience you
have with members of the opposite sex, the further you are from knowing what
love is all about! You men — Experience doesn't mean a thing. It is Divine Thinking! And it is Virtue in the
soul, not experience! I once heard someone remark that a certain person was an
"experienced lover," What does that mean? It doesn't mean a thing,
except that he probably had an overactive sin nature. He probably wasn't a good
lover. You don't need experience. You get experience after GOD BRINGS your right man or right
woman — not before!
…YET
MORE AND MORE IN KNOWLEDGE… "In knowledge" is "en" plus the
instrumental of "epignosis." What a shock! Our old friend, EPIGNOSIS
— Spiritual Knowledge ...Bible Thinking in the human spirit from the function
of Operation Z. Truth goes into the mind in the filling of the Spirit, where it
becomes "gnosis" - Truth understood only. As it is believed, it is
transferred BY faith into the human spirit, where it becomes residual Truth —
Truth stored — Truth possessed. Truth can only be applied from the human spirit
— from "epignosis." (Spiritual Thinking) Your capacity to love God or
anyone — first depends on "Spiritual Thinking." Not experience — "God's Thinking!" "In knowledge" should be translated
BY MEANS OF SPIRITUAL THINKING.
AND
IN ALL JUDGMENT. "Judgment" is a poor translation, as judging doesn't
really get the job done when it comes to love. In fact, it is an occupational
hazard for lovers. The Greek word here ("Aisthesis") actually means
"perception." When you get God's
Thinking in your human spirit, you have the beginning of capacity for love; and
all of a sudden you are going to get discernment. Some guy you thought looked great is going to look like a piece
of junk, once you begin to get some Divine Thinking. And maybe some guy who
looks like an idiot is going to begin to make sense. And God is going to make sense, too. That is
the breakthrough of all breakthroughs! And then grace is going to make sense,
and you are on the way!
Now
a corrected translation of, (Php 1:9): And this I pray, that
your love may exist in full quality yet more, even more, by means of Spiritual
Thinking and discernment. The quality of love is measured in terms of
"Divine Thinking" and discernment.
Results of love
Now,
in, (Php 1:10) we get some results. We are dealing with the exegetical
Principle before we get to categories. The word "that" occurs twice
in, (Php 1:10): THAT YOU MAY APPROVE... THAT YOU MAY BE
SINCERE. (Pardon the expression, for it is NOT literally "sincere'') Both
are result clauses, but each time it is different. "Eis" is the first
"that"; "hina" is the second. This is to show that one
result depends on another result.
WITH
THE RESULT THAT YOU MAY APPROVE... "Approve" ("Dokimazo")
does not mean to approve anything as such; it means to approve by, or after
testing. What is the test? Your
perception, your "Spiritual Thinking," plus your discernment. That is the testing. That is the way love grows. It is in the
active voice, which indicates that you must do it from your own Spiritual life.
Start living in your own soul!
That is the part of your priesthood that is so important. That is the right you
have as a believer-priest. To live in someone else's soul is programming. We
have too much programming now. (And we are trying to cut it out around here!)
You need to live in your own soul; and the only way you can live in your own
soul is to start exercising your priesthood. On a daily basis take in the Spiritual Thinking of Truth; which
will build up capacity for Virtue love!
WITH THE RESULT THAT YOU MAY APPROVE AFTER TESTING
THE DIVINE THOUGHTS THAT ARE EXCELLENT... THOUGHTS THAT KEEP ON HAVING GREATER
VALUE…
This
is a result of Spiritual growth when you get some. The more Truth you get and Think with, the more
you are going to realize the importance of loving, God the Father, Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. The more you take in
Truth, the greater your capacity for loving God! The greater your capacity for loving God; the greater your
capacity for loving right man - right woman; and or friends; when and if God provides
them. It also keeps your love concentrated and not scattered on things that
were never designed to be loved. The Bible doesn't say that your enemies IN WAR
were designed to be loved personally. They are designed to be Virtue loved,
Impersonally and then killed — by you! (If are in the armed forces) Criminals
were never designed to be loved personally. Criminals were designed to be
executed. Traitors were never designed to be loved personally; they were
designed to be destroyed or removed. Your capacity for Virtue love, (Total objectivity on
EVERY SUBJECT) is going to come from time in fellowship; and
the amount of the intake and the Thinking with Spiritual Thoughts! (Mat 6:33) There are just two
kinds of people who — pardon the expression — humanly love everybody: a drunk and an idiot. In other words, the more discernment you have
the greater capacity you are going to have for Virtue love.
The
second clause is a result of the first. This time it begins with
"hina." THAT YOU MAY BE SINCERE... We are going to stop and take a
look at this one, because if there is anything Virtue love is not, it is
sincerity! "Sincere" is "eilkrines" in the Greek.
"Krines" means "to judge"; "heli" means "by
the Sun." It means "to judge by the
sunlight." In this case, the sunlight is God's Thinking. The sunlight has already been described: it is "Spiritual Thinking"; it is the Word
of Truth in the human spirit, as a result of Operation Z. It is the Word of Truth cycled into your right
lobe. It is the Word of Truth as a norm and standard. It is the Word of Truth
in your frame of reference. This
is the sunlight. When we Think with the light of Truth!
THAT
YOU MAY BE DISCERNING THROUGH TRUTH, AND VOID OF OFFENCE TILL THE DAY OF CHRIST
— literally, "with reference to the day of Christ," which is the
Second Advent. (1Th 4:14-17; Mat 24:31)
cf. (Psa 47:5) When you have discernment in the light of Truth, your love will
be "non-stumbling" until the day of Christ!
Therefore, brethren, be all the more
diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you
practice these things, [Think
with God's Thoughts] you will never stumble. (2Pe 1:10)
Production from love
(Php 1:11) BEING FILLED WITH THE
FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no Law; Gal 5:22-23)
WHICH ARE THROUGH JESUS
CHRIST, TO THE GLORY AND PRAISE OF GOD. (Php 1:11) is the result of capacity for Virtue love. (Spiritual growth)
Please notice that it is not the result of some phony system, some system of
hypocrisy, some public relations system — it is the result of your capacity for
Virtue love. Paul prays that their love might abound because in, (Php 1:11) their production from Virtue love is its own reward.
"Being
filled" is "pleroo" in the Greek. It is in the perfect tense,
which indicates the permanent results of Virtue love, or the production of
Divine Virtue. There is nothing phony
about The Spiritual life! In the passive voice,
the believer receives through Divine provision, through grace and the filling
of the Spirit, through Truth and through the grace apparatus of perception,
(Operation Z) the ability to produce Divine Virtue. The participle indicates
that this is a Divine Law for believers: it always exists.
The
verb "pleroo" has four meanings, each one of which is pertinent.
(1)
To fill up a
deficiency. The deficiency in our
production is Divine Virtue. Divine Virtue is filled up as a deficiency through
the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and the function of Operation Z.
(2)
To fully possess. Divine Virtue fully possesses the life when the
believer functions daily under Operation Z; and fills that edification complex,
(Spiritual life — Temple) in the soul.
(3)
To fully influence. Divine Virtue has a maximum impact during the
intensified stage of the Angelic Conflict. This is the New Covenant Age; (Heb 10:15-31) therefore, Divine Virtue, which comes from Spiritual growth has
an automatic production — capacity to Personally love God! If you truly love God on the basis of the Word of Truth, you have
no problem with production. You are not on a "point system." How many
points do I get for witnessing? How many for prayer? How many for worship? And
so on. When you truly love God
from your free will, Truth is in your soul and Truth is in your Spiritual life.
Without even missing a
beat, you automatically produce Divine Virtue; you do not have to worry about a
point system. And you don't have to
try developing good works. It
is an automatic result of capacity to love God. (Spiritual production; 1Jn 5:3) If you love God, the
rest is easy! If you do not, then you will be looking for all
types of cheap substitutes, including programs and point systems!
4)
To fill with a certain
quality. Divine Virtue fills the priesthood of the
believer with the highest quality!
Now
I want to show you how this works out in Principle and what "pleroo"
means in the perfect tense. When you get the Word of Truth in the human spirit
— by faith, you cycle it up into the Spiritual life where Virtue love becomes a
part of the frame of reference and the fragrance of memories. Since Virtue love
must also have norms and standards for its capacity, Truth in the human spirit
is the basis for the construction of the Spiritual life — Temple in the soul.
The seventh "floor" of the Spiritual life is "agape"
Personal love for God and a relaxed mental attitude; the eighth
"floor" is capacity for Impersonal love for all mankind, which is the
actual use of Truth in all three categories.
The
production from capacity to love applied out of the soul is the basis for
Spiritual production. The key to production is gate ten, Occupation with
Christ. (Maximum Spiritual maturity) This love is unseen, but the backlash
toward the human race is obvious in the Divine Virtue production of the
believer. (To the believer and others operating in Spiritual adulthood) When
you are concentrating on God and His Thoughts, Divine Virtue production
automatically emanates from the Spiritual life. That is the
"prop-wash."
If
an old "prop job" is going forward, the thrust behind it is
prop-wash. If your thrust is toward God, the prop-wash coming back is Divine
Virtue production. You don't worry about
it; all you need to do is to go forward. Concentrate on God and His Word!
Concentrate on Jesus Christ! If you concentrate on Truth, you are going to have
Virtue love for God. And if you love God,
Divine production is something that is just as automatic as is breathing!
According to my earnest expectation,
(Concentration) and hope, (Confident
expectation of capacity for life and production) that
I will not be put to shame in anything, but
that with all boldness, (And openness to God's will, being performed in
and through us) Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in
my body, whether by life or by death. For
to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (A
promotion) (Php 1:20-21)
One produces the other. That is what "pleroo" says here, and
it is the reason "pleroo" is so important. You don't have to think up
good deeds. If you love God through the Word of Truth, true Virtue love is the
backlash.
Let
me illustrate: if a woman's relationship with her right man is good, her
relationship with everyone is fine. That's a Principle. But she concentrates on
the right man. The children, the dog, anyone who happens to be around, in-laws
or out-laws, whether they are in or out, doesn't matter, so long as things are
well with her right man; and her Spiritual life of course. But if they are not,
then there will be points flying in all directions — like shattered glass. The
thrust forward always leaves something behind, just like the after burner in a
jet. So the production of Divine Virtue is an overflow from Personal love for
God. For example, to forgive as Christ forgave, (Eph 4:32) is an overflow of
Personal love for God — and Impersonal love for all mankind!
"Pleroo"
is used six ways in the New Testament.
(1)
It is used for Operation Z and the Spiritual life in Jesus Christ. (Luk 2:40)
(2)
It is also used for Operation Z and the Spiritual life of the believer in the
New Covenant Church Age. (Eph
1:23; Eph 3:19; Eph 4:10; Col 1:9)
(3)
It is used for the believer filled with God the Holy Spirit in, (Eph 5:18).
(4)
The fulfillment of inner happiness is designated by "pleroo." (Joh 16:24; Joh 17:13; 1Jn 1:4)
(5)
In our passage, the production of Divine Virtue is related to
"pleroo." (Php 1:11)
(6)
A pastor who is faithful in communicating Truth is designated as a "pleroo-er." (Filling station)
(Col 1:25) So much for an exegesis of the Principle of
Virtue love. Now I want to conclude with a categorical summary of the Doctrine
of Virtue love.
General Doctrine of Virtue love
(1)
At the point of Salvation, every believer passes the point of propitiation,
placing himself immediately under maximum Divine love. (1Jn 2:2)
All
believers are the beneficiaries of God's maximum Virtue love. The expression of
this maximum love is positional Truth. The Father loves you with the same
amount of love that He has for His Son, Jesus Christ. (Eph 1:5-9) And that is where Virtue love begins. You do not initiate a
thing. I do not initiate a thing. God initiates. God was Virtue love in
eternity past; therefore, God the Father planned. God the Son was Virtue love
in eternity past; therefore, God the Son went to the Cross and became the
Propitiator. God the Holy Spirit was Virtue love in eternity past; therefore.
He reveals God's love to those who cannot take in Spiritual phenomena — the
"psuchikos" man, the old sin nature man, the Spiritually dead
unbeliever and carnal believers. (1Co 2:12-14)
(2)
For this reason, God can love every believer with a maximum Virtue love in
spite of the believer's Spiritual status.
Whether
you are carnal or Spiritual, whether you are a "baby" or a
Spiritually mature believer, God loves you with a maximum Virtue love from the
moment of Salvation. He does not bend His
essence in any way to accommodate Himself to your failure or to your success. God's love does not depend on you at all. It
never did! Even in eternity past, long before we existed, God's love depended
on God's essence. The whole Concept of Virtue love begins right there. You must
understand God's essence. God has never changed His essence. Instead, He found
a way called "grace," whereby He can love you with a maximum love and
whereby everything depends on Him. There are many believers who will never
discover this until they get to heaven, and therefore are not benefiting from
it now!
(3)
Three general categories of Virtue love (Used primarily in our Bible studies)
exist in the human race.
These
are categories where there must be capacity on your part. You are born into
some relationships of human love, such as the parent-child relationship; but
you are not born into any of these categories. CATEGORY ONE PERSONAL LOVE is
toward God. The capacity for Personal love for God are "Spiritual Thoughts" — Truth in the human spirit and the Spiritual
life. (1Co 2:13) CATEGORY TWO IMPERSONAL LOVE is toward ALL
MANKIND. CATEGORY THREE VIRTUE LOVE ESPRIT DE CORPS is toward right man - right
woman and friendship. (With believers in fellowship) Whichever... Whoever... Whenever... However...
It takes Divine Thinking, and lots of it! We have no capacity in this category. These are all areas of Virtue love where capacity
must be developed.
(4)
In addition to the categories where capacity must be developed, there exists
relationship-type human love. It is simply the love of parents for children;
and when children finally get some sense, human love of the children for
parents. Children go through a bracket from 0 to about 8 when they seem to have
pretty much of a love for their parents; then from 8 to anywhere from 16 to 30,
they usually do not. After that, it seems to come back again.
(5)
There are two basic Greek words in the New Testament for "love." They
are applied in all categories. The difference between the two words, AGAPE and
PHILOS (Along with their verbs) is in the context. Category 3 is the only
"touching" love; it is physical as well as soulish love. This leads
to PHILOS love, which reaches the entire soul. In Category 3 only, we have EROS
love, which is physical.
(6)
The distinction between AGAPE and PHILOS can be summarized as follows: AGAPE is
a Spiritual love, relating to the mentality of the soul, with emphasis on the
exclusion of mental attitude sins: the relaxed mental attitude of the Spiritual
life. The soul is made up of self-consciousness, volition, mentality, (Composed
of two lobes) emotion, faith, conscience, and the old sin nature. AGAPE is a
matter of Thinking, and is first of all in the left or perceptive lobe. PHILOS
is a total soul love.
(7)
These two words are also used in other ways. It has been erroneously concluded
by many that "agapao" or "agape" is always Divine love
because it occurs in, (Joh
3:16). However, in, (Joh 3:19) just a few verses away, the unbeliever is the subject of the
verb ''agapao." He, too, can have a mental attitude love. His mental
attitude love is toward darkness.
(8)
All believers are COMMANDED to have AGAPE-type love. The Command is fulfilled
by the filling of the Spirit, initially. (Rom 5:5; Gal 5:22) This is also the subject of, (1Co 13:1-8).
But remember that AGAPE-type love is the Spiritual Thinking part of the soul.
PHILOS-type love is never Commanded, as it can only exist where the believer is
daily inhaling Truth and building an edification complex. It is developed!
(9)
There are certain distinctions between Divine and human love. In either verb;
"phileo" or "agapao," the distinction depends upon the
subject of the verb. If God is the subject of "phileo," as in, (Joh 16:27) then it is Divine love. If He is the subject of
"agapao," as in, (Joh
3:16) then it is also Divine
love. If a man, who is a believer, is the subject, then most of the time it is
human love from a believer. If it is an unbeliever, then it is human love from
an unbeliever.
(11)
Virtue Love is not Commanded for unity, but for stability in the Angelic
Conflict; therefore, Virtue love is a weapon. The filling of the Holy Spirit
pulls the trigger. However, it results in unity. Satan would distort it into mere sentimentality. Mental attitude Virtue love TOTALLY knocks
satanic dynamics out. (1Jn 3:14)
Personal love for God
Personal love for God will keep you straight on
everything, and, in addition, give you capacity for sharing the Happiness of
God, at gate nine! In fact, that is the
issue already studied in, (Php
1:9-11). When Paul prayed for
Virtue love, it was first of all for Personal love for God.
(1)
Personal love is a response to the Virtue love of God; therefore, it is related
to God. (Deut 6:5) To the Spiritually mature believers at gate
ten — "Occupation with Christ, (And His Word) is added." (Heb 12:2-3)
(2)
The capacity for Personal love for God stems from the function of Operation Z.
(Php 3:7-8; Php 1:9; Col 3:1-2; 2Ti 1:13; 2Pe 3:18) If you don't love the Word, you don't love God!
(3)
Maximum love comes from the Spiritual life — Temple of the soul, which is built
up by the function of Operation Z. If you have advanced to gate eight, (Personal love for God) your response to God's Virtue love will be phenomenal. From that will come a capacity which is
phenomenal in Impersonal love for all mankind; and even your right man - right
woman relationship, family and friendship love will be fantastic.(Eph 3:17-19; Php 1:20-21; 1Jn 4:17-18)
(Provided they are in
fellowship Thinking with the Mind of Christ; Mat 10:34-39)
(4)
For the believer in the New Covenant Age, Personal love for God response occurs
first through the filling of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the very spark of Virtue love is God the Holy
Spirit. You can't of your own
ability, (Human old sin nature love) ever respond to God's Virtue love. There
has to be a spark, something to ignite it. The Holy Spirit "turns you on" toward God. That is absolutely essential to Spiritually Understand! That is why "rebound" is so
important. (1Jn 1:9) If you don't get around to rebounding, you
will never be stimulated toward God; and you will go through life rendering lip service, which won't mean
a thing. The Command to "walk in love" can be fulfilled only by rebound and the filling
of God the Spirit. (Eph 5:2; Eph 5:18; Gal 5:16)
(5)
Like the right man in Category 3 Virtue love, God the Father is the Aggressor
in Category 1 Personal love. He initiated in eternity past, and His aggression
is called "grace." Grace is the expression of Divine love. It is not
only the expression of His essence; it is the expression of His Virtue love. (Eph 5:25-27; 1Jn 4:8-10; 1Jn 4:19) Right here, I want to
remind you of something: responding to any type of Virtue love must be from
your volition. The response of the woman under Category 3 love doesn't mean to
fold your hands and stare into the sky. You have free will, and the use of your
free will is not initiating, it is responding. The believer responds to God's
love on the basis of his free will.
(6)
The believer who does not have Virtue love for Christ is under a special curse
and perpetual discipline — self-induced discipline. (1Co 16:22) This curse is stated in the Aramaic language: "Anathema
Maranatha" — accursed until our Lord arrives! If you do not develop the
capacity for Virtue love, your lack of capacity to love God, will reflect in
your lack of capacity when and IF GOD BRINGS your right man or right woman. God
doesn't have to lift a finger to discipline you. You do it yourself!
Never
a day will go by but that you stick pins into yourself — by your lack of
capacity. You don't think the MP3's or tapes are important? You don't think
reading these books are important? They spell out the difference between happiness and self-induced
misery! When you are miserable,
you try to sublimate. And when you sublimate, you pick up cheap substitutes. It is much easier to do it God's way — which is to take in the Word of Truth every day as you would take
in food — only more so — and develop the
capacity for Virtue love.
We
are not born again with Virtue love. This is one of the greatest
misunderstandings of the century. Virtue Love is a capacity which must be
developed. I have heard it said of a certain person, "So-and-so was born a
lover." He was not born a lover; he was born a baby. I never saw a baby
that would make any kind of a lover. Capacity is acquired — and get this now — IN THE SOUL! When it is in the soul, you Won't have to worry about the body.
(7)
Personal love for God is the true motivator for Christian service, such as
witnessing. (2Co 5:14)
(8)
Divine love is initiated through grace; therefore, the capacity of the believer
for Personal love is intensified by orientation to grace. You begin to have
Virtue love when you build that fourth floor of the Spiritual life. And, by the
way, as you get this Grace orientation, love is intensified in your life by the
action of grace. You become a grace
lover in every direction: a grace lover toward God, toward all mankind, toward
right man or right woman, toward friends. (Dan 9:4; Psa 31:23;
Psa 119:132; 1Co 2:9)
(9)
Personal love for God was Commanded to all of the Old Testament saints. (Deut 6:5; Deut 10:12; Deut 11:1;
Deut 11:13)
(10)
Personal love for God is the basis for happiness, as well as capacity, in the
other categories. (Deut 30:16) For example, some of you will never be happy
at Christmas, no matter what you get, because you do not have capacity from
Virtue love.
(11)
For the believer, Personal love for God is the basis for enjoying life;
therefore, capacity to enjoy life is measured in terms of Truth, and Truth is
measured in terms of the grace system of perception. (Deut 30:20)
(12)
Personal love for God also provides courage in battle. (Jos 23:10-11)
(13)
Inasmuch as the object
of Personal love is God, and since God is invisible, we must see God somehow;
therefore, we must see Him through His Word. Conclusion: it is
impossible to love God apart from His Word! (Psa 119:165-167; 1Pe 1:8)
Impersonal love for all mankind
(1)
Impersonal love is gate eight of the Spiritual life, but can also be used after
a period of maximum consistent intake of Truth.
(2)
In order to have a relaxed mental attitude around people who live perpetually
out of fellowship with God, the use of Impersonal love is a must! (Psa 82:5) cf. (Luk 23:34)
(3)
The maintenance of any human relationship in life requires Impersonal love. And
is the answer to most of the relationship tests in life. (Sin nature, thought,
people, organization and disaster testing; Job 2:9-10)
Esprit de corps Virtue love
(1)
Esprit de corps Virtue love was designed by God in eternity past, for friends
and a member of the opposite sex. One only! One per person! God has designed
one person of the opposite sex for you. The exception is in the New Covenant Age
as with the Apostle Paul; (1Co
7:1; 1Co 7:26-35; 1Co 9:5; Rev 14:3-5)
and also, as with Jeremiah in the Old Testament; this God designed for his
maximum concentration and production in historical disaster. God and Truth
takes the place of right man or right woman. (Mat 19:12)
(2)
The strength of Esprit de corps Virtue love is declared in Song of, (Song 8:6-7). It is as strong as death, and it cannot be quenched by any
pressure in life. And I mean BY ANY PRESSURE.
(3)
Death destroys pseudo love, as well as mental attitude sins; but death does not
destroy Esprit de corps Virtue love. When you die, you have had your last
mental attitude sin; there will be no pseudo love left. But even death does not
destroy true Virtue love.
(4)
Esprit de corps Virtue
love is exclusive. It is extended ONLY to people who are operating in
fellowship with God and Thinking with Truth! (1Sa 18:3; 1Co 1:10)
(5)
Esprit de corps Virtue love is maintained by the use of Impersonal love when
the other person, (Right man - right women and or friend) are out of
fellowship. (Col 3:13; 1Th 5:14-15)
To sum up, all of you be harmonious,
sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil
for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were
called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. (1Pe 3:8-9)
Concepts of love
(1)
A person's declaration of Virtue love is no stronger than the Spiritual life of
the person.
(2)
Christ had a completed Spiritual life — Temple of the soul, and therefore had a
maximum capacity for love. (Joh
17:22-24)
(3)
Christ was perfect in His Spiritual life, therefore perfect in His Virtue love.
(Isa 11:2-3)
(4)
The Virtue love of Christ did not depend on us, but on His Spiritual life; the
filling of God the Holy Spirit and Truth. (Luk 4:14; Joh 17:18-21)
(5)
Virtue love must express itself, and it did — at the Cross. (Eph 5:2): "And walk in love,
just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a
sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." The first response acceptable to God from any member of the human
race is the response toward the sacrifice of His Son. "What do you Think of The Christ?"
For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life. (Joh 3:16)
End
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