Love thy neigbor as thyself and Love God is not just a rule, it's Reality. God is ONE and God's La

Throughout the Gospels, the most important thing is to Love God and to Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:29). We Love God by doing good works because this is what glorifies God in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). What actions are considered "good works"?, we are asked to consider our actions before taking them, to do to others as we would have others do to us (Matthew 7:12). We are encouraged to be merciful just as God is merciful (Luke 6:36).

You don't have to look "here" or "there" because The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). Jesus said The Son does what The Father does (John 5:19). The Son is The Image of The Father, so if we are truly Children of God then we have to act like it. We are made in The Image of God. Loving our enemies by doing good to those who do bad to us is how we act as Children of Our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:44-45). We are not perfect but Jesus told us to strive for perfection in doing this (Matthew 5:48).

How does this relate to God being One and God's Law being One? If you believe The Kingdom of God is within (Luke 17:21) and that we were made in The Image of God, and that Our Body is The Temple of God - which is The Holy Spirit within us (1 Corinthians 3:16), then loving others is loving God. Loving your neighbor as yourself is respecting God's Law, but The Kingdom of God is within your neighbor and The Holy Spirit is within the body so when you love them you also Love God, therefore God's Law is ONE just as God is ONE.

Here are some verses about Unity:

""Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." - John 17:20-23

Jesus gave a metaphor where a King was hungry, thirsty, and in jail and people gave him food, water, and visited him in jail. They responded asking "when did we do this for you?", and the King responded:

"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." - Matthew 25:40

May God and The Holy Angels inspire you to Unity for the sake of Loving Thy Neighbor as Thyself.
Peace be with you.

Good post, S&F.

We shouldn't forget this one either:

1 John 2
6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

How can Christians live as Jesus did if they believe sin is unavoidable? Jesus lived a sinless life, so Christians can't possibly live as he did, meaning they do not live in God.

I don't think John would tell us that we "must" live a certain way if it wasn't possible. This verse alone throws Christian theology and dogma into a tailspin that can't be recovered from in my opinion. It implies that those who believe Jesus lived sinlessly (Christians) cannot possibly know or live within God because they also believe sin is inherent and unavoidable.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Yes, that's true:

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." - Matthew 5:43-48

Saying that sin is "unavoidable" therefore we don't have to strive for perfection to live this way is against what Christ said here and can be considered as a form of spiritual laziness.

"For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" - Luke 6:44-46

a reply to: arpgme

Realization of this truth.

It's a very personal experience.

We all belong to what is.

Not a book

Not a philosophy.

Not a doctrine.

Just the " what is "

.



Cheers

a reply to: arpgme

S&F. I agree with the OP.

God/Divine/Consciousness/Spirit,... all emanates from 'IT',... all is composed of 'IT',... all is within 'IT',... 'IT' is within all,... 'IT' is the beginning and ending of all,... 'IT' is intimately connected to and transcendent of all. All is One and One is All. This is the root and cultivation of true Love.


Q

Another insight that came to me is that we should not intend to insult others when telling people The Truth. We should do it in a gentle way.

God is Love (1 John 4:8) and The Holy Spirit is The Spirit of Truth (John 15:26); and Jesus was The Teacher/Rabbi ( Matthew 23:8) and The Christ (Matthew 24:5 ) trying to reveal this to people "whoever had ears to hear and understand".

While God is Love, The Holy Spirit helps us to understand Love better (as Jesus did as a physical Teacher/Rabbi/Awaited One (Christ) on this Earth when he was physical - which is why Jesus said God WILL send The Helper - The Holy Spirit AFTER Jesus physically left).

To Love God is to Love Truth, but you must tell people the truth in a Loving Way. If The Holy Spirit is The Spirit of Truth and God is Love, then it's important to teach about Love in a loving way. Insulting people and then saying "but it's True!" is not showing the ONENESS of God (The Truth - Holy Spirit, The Teacher - Christ, and Love - God).

Understanding this, this verse now makes sense:

"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." - 2 Timothy 2:24-26

Repentance which is in Greek "metánoia" (μετάνοια) - literally, "a change of mind" ("after-thought"). The Repentance is for someone to change from a selfish and revengeful life to a loving and forgiving life since God is Love and those who know Love knows God (1 John 4:8)

a reply to: arpgme

Excellent Post

I've been quite impressed with your threads as of late... Correct me if im wrong, but it seems you have had a change in the past while.... You have been reading the gospels more in depth

My question to Christians as per usual is... How do YOU reconcile this with the OT?

S&F my friend

originally posted by: Akragon
My question to Christians as per usual is... How do YOU reconcile this with the OT?

By pointing out that "love your neighbour as yourself" is an OT command which Jesus was quoting.
"You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord". Leviticus ch 19 v18

a reply to: DISRAELI

I think Akragon was referring to this:

"And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." - Deuteronomy 19:21 (Old Testament)

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." - Matthew 5:38-39

These are two different ways of living. The Old Testament was teaching wrath - hurting others who hurt you so they can learn not to do that any more but Jesus Christ in The New Testament was teaching an even greater form of love, teaching people to do good to those who hate them and to love their enemies for even God himself is kind to the evil and ungrateful. He made his point by saying this: "For if you love those who love you, then what is your reward? Don't even the publicans do the same?".

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" - Matthew 5:44-46

"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
" - Luke 6:35-36

a reply to: arpgme
Also they were talking about different things.
The Deuteronomy law was talking about what the justice system should do to protect people living in its society.
Jesus was addressing individuals and warning them about their personal attitudes.

originally posted by: DISRAELI

originally posted by: Akragon
My question to Christians as per usual is... How do YOU reconcile this with the OT?

By pointing out that "love your neighbour as yourself" is an OT command which Jesus was quoting.
"You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord". Leviticus ch 19 v18

Except... that "command" within the OT was directed at "the sons of your people" which leaves out everyone that is not associated with those people... Similar to many other OT laws...

And as Arpgme pointed out... Revenge is a tenant of OT law...

Which is contradictory to what Jesus taught

originally posted by: Akragon
Except... that "command" within the OT was directed at "the sons of your people" which leaves out everyone that is not associated with those people... Similar to many other OT laws...

I went through all this in my series on the laws.
What we see is the working of a gradual teaching process, in which what God wants to teach struggles with what they are ready to learn, "the hardness of your hearts". In the time of the OT, the people were not raedy to take in the idea of extending "brethren and neighbours" beyond the immediate confines

Revenge is a tenant of OT law... Which is contradictory to what Jesus taught

No, a tenant is someone who pays a landlord for the place where he lives. I'd better assume you mean "tenet".
But, as I have already pointed out, "love your neighbour" is also in the Old Testament, a direct quotation from it.
As in the matter of marriage and divorce, Jesus makes it his business to point out what is and what is not "of God" in the Old Testament.
The relation between the two testaments is much more subtle and nuanced than the lazy and blinkered view "they contradict each other".

a reply to: DISRAELI

Thank you for that correction on my spelling.... Yes that is what I meant...

Now ask yourself... Does this sound like an "all powerful God" to you?

Can't get his own creation right... Can't give them decent laws so as to keep civility within what was society at the time...

Can't get his commandments straight... Can't overcome "the hardness" of mens hearts...

Can't keep his "first born" from the simple temptation of eating an apple... even though they live in paradise...


and so on.... and so on...

You're right... its much more in depth then they simply contradict each other...

they don't fit what so ever... not in the slightest... aside from the fact that some of the words are there...

What I see from OT to NT is blatantly obvious... exactly how gnostic writing describes it...

The OT God was a bumbling dolt... and God finally had enough of his crap... and sent his son to give the real rules

OR

The OT God was a fabrication of men with the need to control other men... Designed from the start by men with agendas.... Which is the most likely of the two options

originally posted by: Akragon
Now ask yourself... Does this sound like an "all powerful God" to you?
Can't get his own creation right... Can't give them decent laws so as to keep civility within what was society at the time..

As I keep saying, he chooses to work like a teacher.
Evidently conforming himself to your preferred definition of "all-powerful God" is not one of his top priorities, and I see no reason why it should be.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Perhaps saving millions of lives over the years...

Letting humans advance as opposed to living in the dark ages killing one another...

Those aren't decent reasons for such a god... right?

The mighty one who claims to be merciful... Yet never shows it?

The OT god is exactly how he shows himself to be... a blood thirsty tyrant who takes pleasure in humanity's suffering...

And he/she/it is NOTHING like Jesus says his Father is like

Do the teachings of Jesus make God a hypocrite? I ask this because the only way to be forgiven by God is to ask. The only way to make it into Heaven is to vehemently worship him and accept him as your God. It's his way or the hellway. How is that compatible with loving your neighbors, loving your enemy, turning the other cheek, forgiving others when they have sinned against you (with or without them asking for it), or doing unto others what you would have them do to you? It sounds like there are some double standards.

a reply to: WakeUpBeer

Seems like you're mixing Paul with Jesus here...

To be forgiven one must forgive...

For God to be merciful one must show mercy...

For one to make it to "heaven" as you put it... One must understand the ways of love, and follow said ways

Its very straight forward as long as you don't twist Paul or the OT into the issue

a reply to: Akragon

I'm only vaguely aware of this thing with Paul. So I am not entirely sure what the issue is. It's been a long time since I read the Bible and I've only ever read it two ways. The first was when I was a Christian. I was a Baptist and was taught that the whole thing from cover to cover is the word of God. It didn't matter who said the words, as they were all the inspired words of God. I believed in the trinity as well so even though Jesus was the Son of God, he was also God incarnate. Since all scripture was inspired by God that included Paul, and of course the OT.

The second way I read the Bible (more objectively) eventually lead me to agnosticism. Though I soon realized the way I think about things meant I couldn't honestly call myself that, and I decided to take up the atheist label (on a side note I also think I'm in a transition to becoming a skeptic in general). That was within the past couple of months. In my opinion a lot of these interpretations of the scripture can be boiled down to semantics.

I really love ATS. It continually reminds me to be more of a critical thinker. I've always considered myself an analytical thinker but after a few months of being here, and a few other places online, I realized all that analyzing doesn't mean squat without critical, logical, rational thinking being applied. Those aren't things I necessarily lacked (imo) but are things I definitely have become more aware of and have been working to sharpen (sometimes I cringe at my own posts lol).

It's been a few years since I called myself a Christian, and definitely would have been "lukewarm". In those times I entertained plenty of scenarios as plausible. Anything written by Stephen Quayle about giants.. fallen angels behind the Illuminati... Catholic conspiracies to unite all denominations and religions... extra-terrestrials as fallen angels and the planned UFO deception... I hated homosexuality and felt pity towards homosexuals... I believed I was the victim of trans-generational sin because of Freemason grandparents... I once prayed to God for thirty minutes to sever any connections I had to an astral body.. It's no wonder I never get any sleep. The list goes on and on. And so have I!

Anyway, I've been thinking it's time I pull out one of the Bibles around the house and give it another read. I definitely need to brush up on some of the basics. Also I think it would be good for me in general, just to gain a better view of things. How can I competently discuss it otherwise? Even if my views aren't the same as others. I'm definitely interested in educating myself on this Paul thing. If you have any suggested resources just let me know please, and I will check them out.

a reply to: WakeUpBeer

The best way to learn about the conflict between Paul and Jesus is to read the gospels...

Once you know what Jesus taught... when someone quotes Paul it is clear as day

Christians will always tell you they agree with each other... but its simply not true, and even when you show them otherwise they will spin up some verbal gymnastic routine to explain how they are actually agreeing... its rather amusing at times, but frustrating as well

The simple fact is this... learn what Jesus taught... its like Kryptonite to the Christian because its the only thing that can convict them in their apologetic mission

they either accept what Jesus said or call him a liar... and heaven forbid they do such a thing to their god

From my point of view:

OP Even some of the Jews clearly knew this. Just look at the definition of the word Jehovah.

Jehovah = "the existing One"
the proper name of the one true God

www.biblestudytools.com...

ONE again. In plural oneness form I would use the word Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) who both have the definition "rulers, judges" and "divine ones".

The problem with religion (and even other written down knowledge/understanding) is that sometimes the knowledge/understanding only works in the context where it is understood and later on becomes more and more an idol of what it was as times passes and people have problem reaching the same understanding that people found when encountering the spiritual realm.

It does not help either when people translate things over and over again without knowing the spiritual core that makes the words mean in the original than the translation that cannot convey the same word meaning.

I like using the wording Namaste in Hindu since it does from my point of view also try to convey the ONE/ONENESS on all level.

The Sikhs have their own way of describing thing:

Complete Mantra:
Ek ong kaar, sat naam, karataa purakh, nirbho (neer bho), nirvair (neer vair), Akaal moorat, ajoonee, saibhang, gur prasaad. Jap! Aad such, jugaad such, Hai bhee such, Naanak hosee bhee such.

Language: Gurmukhi
Source: Siri Guru Granth Sahib
Author: Guru Nanak

Translation:
One Creator. Truth is His name. Doer of everything. Fearless, Revengeless, Undying, Unborn, Self illumined, The Guru's gift, Meditate! True in the beginning. True through all the ages. True even now. Oh Nanak it is forever true.

Ik Onkar

Ik Onkar (Gurmukhi: ੴ, ਇੱਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ; Ikk Ōankār Punjabi pronunciation: [ɪkː oəŋkaɾ]) is the symbol that represents the One Supreme Reality[2] and is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy.[1] Ik (ਇੱਕ) means one or united,[3] On (ਓਅੰ) means supreme, ultimate, or highest bhrama (God), and the Atma (Soul) of the entire universe or system,[4] and kār (ਕਾਰ) means without shape or form.[5]