Love of God - St Maximos the Confessor

Love of God is opposed to desire, for it persuades the intellect to control itself with regard to sensual pleasures.  Love for our neighbor is opposed to anger, for it makes us scorn fame and riches.  These are the two pence which our Saviour gave to the innkeeper (cf. Luke 10:35), so that he should take care of you. But do not be thoughtless and associate with robbers; otherwise you will be beaten again and left not merely unconscious but dead.

St Maximos the Confessor from Four Hundred Texts on Love, The Philokalia Volume II


I laughed out loud when I read this.  Seems like it's supposed to be funny, actually, and at the same time deadly serious.  St Maximos does something typical of earlier fathers with this parable; he applies it to the interior war.  He was a monk, that group of Christians which is notably serious about being made holy; not afraid of "offending the Cross" by doing everything possible in their efforts to please God and be free of sin in their thoughts and actions.

There are key words that need to be understood here. The first is 'desire'. In this context it's a Platonic idea, but one that's widely accepted by the Greek Christian fathers. Desire is (I think, I don't have the Greek text to double check this) the work of one part of the soul, according to Plato's tripartite model. None of these parts are evil by nature (not after regeneration, at least). But this part especially, "when not transformed by positive spiritual influences, is susceptive to the influence of negative and self-destructive forces". If this is accurate, it's not a stretch to read this as 'lust' in the broad sense.

The other word is 'intellect,' probably nous in Greek. It deserves an explanation, since this is not at all what we understand by the word. From The Philokalia glossary:

Intellect (νους - nous): the highest faculty in man, through which - provided it is purified - he knows God or the inner essences or principles of created things by means of direct apprehension or spiritual perception. Unlike the dianoia or reason, from which it must be carefully distinguished, the intellect does not function by formulating abstract concepts and then arguing on this basis to a conclusion reached through deductive reasoning, but it understands divine truth by means of immediate experience, intuition or 'simple cognition' (the term used by St Isaac the Syrian). The intellect dwells in the 'depths of the soul'; it constitutes the innermost aspect of the heart.  The intellect is the organ of contemplation, the 'eye of the heart'.

No getting off the hook of Jesus' commandments to do stuff.  No assurance of salvation except what the Holy Spirit gives you directly.  In fact, the two go together (cf. John 10:27, Matt 7:21).  Welcome to Eastern Orthodoxy.

Fruit of the Spirit Song

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity;
The work of the Spirit will make you faithful, He'll make you gentle, He'll give you self-control.

There is no law against such things.
So when you find out you're a king;
Don't make one.

I wrote this to help me (us?) memorize the fruit of the Spirit, it's in Galatians 5:22-23.

The Letter to Ephesus

2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

Here the Lord Jesus reminds us of the mystery of his simultaneous transcendence and immanence. He is at once both the One who "holds the seven stars [angels of the churches] in his right hand" and the One who "walks among the seven golden lampstands [churches]". This is a necessary reminder to the Ephesian church and to us if (when) ever we lose the fear of Him or the desire for His presence and His glory.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.

The Ephesian church was praised for its performance and adherence to sound doctrine. I beg you not to read this as permission to find fault in the ministries of others. It's in the context of discerning spirits that John says this: Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Being terrified of deception is misguided, and it should be a warning to pursue greater intimacy with God (John 10:27).

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Now it becomes clear where they fell short; they didn't love God anymore. It looks like they were satisfied just to know about Him and to work for Him. He said he "walks among the seven golden lampstands"; perhaps this was a warning that He didn't care to stop in Ephesus as He made his rounds. Perhaps they needed to be reminded of this because they didn't mourn his absence.

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ (Rev 2:1-5)

(Nicolaism was an early heresy, probably tolerant of sexual immorality; probably founded on teaching taken out of context. Thank you Wikipedia.)

Despite their faithful efforts, Jesus warns them to repent, returning to the work of loving God. This is the great and first commandment (Matt 22:37-40). He graciously closes with another compliment, a word to loose their ears, and a conditional promise.

We must be desperate for grace to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (1 Peter 1:13) distinguishing between mercy and grace. Mercy is an opportunity to repent; grace is the power to love God (Eph 2:8).

More and More Lord

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Phil 1:9-11).