I am the light, John 12:46

In the Bible there are many mentions to the light. The teaching of the lamp in Mark 4: 21-23 and Luke 8:16-18; the parable of the lamp in Luke 11:33-36, the healing of a man born blind John 9.
In Metaphysics the light, the truth, the good belongs to the genre of the being instead the darkness, the lie to the genre of non-being. It is logical to attribute to the divine that which belongs to the first genre, that is, to what it is.
The light represents the knowledge that iluminates internally all men.Knowledge should be not hidden. Ignorance is a form of oppression.
The light as perfection of God can be interpreted also as eternal life, nobody can walk in darkness.
Also the light is related with the truth:"But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light", John 3:21
At last in the Bible the light is related with the idea of Gnosis, the ilumination by the grace of God, the ilumination as gift of God: "Everyone will be salted with fire" Mark 9:49.

"But seek his Kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well", Luke 12:31

Jesus, teach to us the mysteries of the Kingdom. The expression:"But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well", Luke 12:31; is insert within a longer narrative that show to us the characteristics of the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is:
1) The happy life, the beatitudes Matthew 5:1-12
2) Salt and light of the earth (Truth and Wisdom), Matthew 5:13-16
3)Mercy and forgiveness, Matthew 21-26
4) Fidelity, Firmness Matthew 27-30
5)Perseverance, Matthew 33-37
6)Love for the good, the love perfected by the nature of the good, "love your enemies", Matthew 43-48
7)Devotion: No one can serve two masters, Matthew 5:24
8) Trust in God (Divine Providence), Matthew 5:25-34
The kingdom of God is an ethical doctrine that we can know through the description of his own characteristics. And ending as a summary: "Be Perfect as your heavenly father is perfect", Matthew 5:48.

It is God's will that you should be sanctified, 1 Thessalonians 4:3

The first letter to the thessalonians is a book of the new testament wrote by the apostle Paul. The epistle begins with an invocation to the Holy Spirit and with a thanksgiving. To continue then with an exhortation to holiness and finishing the letter with a mention to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The apostle emphasizes the expression: "It is God's will that you should be sanctified, 1 Thessalonians 4:3"
The apostle adds: "God has not called us to impurity, but in holiness, 1 Thessalonians 4:7" In this context the concept of holiness is the opposite to impurity and being the impurity a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), the holiness could be understood as a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
The apostle in this letter also refers the sanctity as a belonging to the divine, to the spiritual gift of fear of the lord or serenity, this gift is known as constancy, firmness, devotion, ecuanimity, stability. when he affirms: "in order to please God, 1 Thessalonians 4:1".

Good thoughts, good words, good deeds, Zarathustra

Zarathustra is primarity known in western countries for the written book: "Thus spoke Zarathustra" by Nietzsche.
He probably lived before the Achaemenian dinasty (600 to 330 bc) he was a philosopher and also prophet of the persian religion, the zoroastrianism.
He is credited with the autorship of some books: the gathas and the avesta. Zarathustra in his teaching emphasizes the righteousness and the way of thinking, unlike the christian fate that emphasizes the love and the feelings.
His most famous teaching is:

True Friends have one soul, Aristotle

Aristotle wonders about the nature of happiness, and in this study of happiness he focuses in three elements that identifies as keys for the happy man: the virtue, in special justice, the friendship and the pleasure.
Let's talk about the second: the friendship. Aristotle in his book Nichomaquean Ethics, Book VIII wrote about friendship: "is the most necessary for life. In effect, without friends nobody would want to live......But friendship is not is not only necessary but beautiful. We praise those who love their friends and having a lot of friends is considered one of the best things".
Then he affirms: "the happy life is considered to be the life according to virtue."
For what is exposed for Aristotle we can say that needing the man of the virtue for his social activity, and being the friends those with whom we primarity exercise the virtue; friendship is not the foundation of happiness, but without it (friendship) man can not achieve happiness. Friendship is necessary but not sufficient. We need both friendship and virtue.

I am the door, John 10:9

The teaching: "I am the door, John 10:9"; has a relationship with John 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". Jesus personifies the door, the door means the word of God, the wisdom of God. Every road starts with a door.
The path of Rectitude starts with the wisdom of God, with the word of God, the science of the divine. In the old and new testament the word of God is identified with the head of science and the intelligence: "For the lord gives wisdom: from his mouth come knowledge and understanding", Proverbs 2:6
The concept of Word of God does not match with the Aristotelian concept of Wisdom (Book of Metaphysics). The Word of God is in direct relationship with the faculties of the spirit: the intuition and the inspiration; 1 Corinthians 2:13 :"This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the spirit"
Thomas Aquinas explains and this is important that the Bible is not the word of God, the bible is a book inspired by the word of God, by the counsel of God, because the Word of God predates the existance of man, the Word of God is eternal, is increated. Remember the expression in the Genesis that is similar to John 1.

His works are perfect, Deuteronomy 32,4

The expression:"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he", Deuteronomy 32:4; is in the song of Moses.
Deuteronomy means in greek "second law", is a book of the Old Testament; the last book of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). The autorship of this book is attributed to Moses.
The affirmation: "His works are perfect" has implications is Christian Theology; although God is the wisdom itself, we know God through his works. Tomas Aquinas affirms: in God are present the perfections of all things, Question 4, About the perfection of God.
This is the starting point of the doctrine of the kingdom of God, remember the teaching of Jesus: "Be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect", Matthew 5:48. It is called perfect to what, of what it requires its perfections, nothing lacks, Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae.
As work of God we are called to his likeness, to the completeness, to the conformity to Jesus Christ.

The art of war, Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu was a chinese military and strategist, he wrote the book "The Art of War". The book is required in the main military academies of the world and in the marketing and business administration careers. Is basically a book of strategy and gives a series of recommendations and rules to take into account to achieve victory over the enemy in the field of war.
The book has served as an inspiration to militaries and great authors like Clausewitz. Studing the book,we can talk about a philosophy of war, the book has similarities with the work of Aristotle ("the common sense is the proper virtue of the governant") and Nicolas Maquiavelli ("The main activity of the prince is the war")
Sun Tzu clarifies that every advantage over the enemy comes from the virtues of the strategist. He asks: who is the most wisest and most capable commander?, which army has the best trained men?, which is the most disciplined army?
Every successful action begins with good calculations and affirm as a principle:

Know Yourself, Socrates

Plato in his books talk about Socrates. This philosopher center his teaching in the dialectic method. An example of this method is describe in the book "The banquet" of Plato.In this book the socratic method is used to searh the nature of love, the Agape, the love for the good. A famous phrase attributed to Socrates is "Know Yourself". Self Knowledge is one of the most important philosophical searches, the expression is similar to that of the oracle of Delphi. Everything about Socrates comes to us through Plato. We can say that Socrates was one of the most important greek philosophers in history, and his ideas about the self knowledge and the socratic method are currently used in philosophy and other sciences based in the human behavior.

The Kingdom of God is among you, Luke 17:21

The Kingdom of God is the center of the teaching of Lord Jesus, the teachings begin in the sermon of the mountain with the beatitudes (Matthew 5, Luke 6) and continue with the parables that describes the Kingdom. The kingdom of God is secret (parable of the hidden treasure, Matthew 13); is progressive (parable of the mustard seed, Mark 4); is sovereign (Parable of the Great Banquet, Luke 14), is new (the kingdom belong to those who are like the children, Matthew 19) The Kingdom of God is not the church, is the transformation of man towards his nature, to his full development, the likeness to God, and also the correct order of the society.

Sowing in the spirit

To understand what it means "sowing in the spirit", we have to know the meaning of the parable of the good samarithan (Luke 10:25-37), and the parable of the sower (Matthew 13). The parable of the good samarithan explain to us that we have to choose between the sin like the pharisee or we live righteously like the good samarithan. The good samarithan acts according to the golden rule, this rule is known as the spiritual gift of rectitude or imitate god. Imitate God is to live according to the spirit. Practice the sin is to live according to the flesh. We have to choose. The 10 commanments is these scheme is a form of error, an heresy.
The parable of the sower explain to us the importance of receive the wisdom of God, retain it and put it in practice with constancy. The spiritual gift of fear of the lord or serenity is define as constancy, firmness, devotion, ecuanimity. This gift is the path to ilumination.
Sowing in the spirit is the resume of this parables, is to live righteously, to search the wisdom of god with contancy and firmness. The kingdom of god as ethical concept means all this, to search the true good for men: the eternal life.

Godliness

When we talk about ethics we talk about spiritual gifts. The spiritual gifts are perfections. The main characteristic of the spiritual gifts is the progressivity: "godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life wich is now, and of that wich is to come", this thought speaks about the idea of the progressive work, the progressive life, the progressive improvement, a life is the preparation for another. This way or mood of thinking can only be perceived by the eye of the mind, the guide of god.This is not fate, this is security in God. This way of thinking, of preparing ourselves, of working progressively, is the true essence of eternal life, the life in glory.

The Wise

To understand what is a wise man, we have to study the metaphysical concepts of essence and substance. The essence is the main characteristic of the being. Example: the essence of man is reason, the essence of God is wisdom. The substance is that of what is preach. For example: when we talk about God, what we talk about? We talk about wisdom, the wisdom is the substance of God. When we talk about men? what we talk about? We talk about the person. The person is the substance of man. In Metaphysics there is similarity when there is participation in the essence. Man and God have different essences, there is no likeness between man and God. And this is where the idea of the wise arises, a wise is a person with the essence of God: the wisdom. The wise is by his essence the bridge between men and the divine. Aristotle in his book, "Politics" explains that the good government depends of the leadership of the wise men and in the succession from a wise to another the quality of life in the community.

Blessed are those who emulate God

The tractate of the perfect and moral virtues is a book that resume the classic philosophy from Plato until Thomas Aquinas. Is fundamentally a book of ethics, using practical cases and metaphysical concepts and definitions; showing to what the man tends towards his development and the correct order the society: the kingdom of God.
The tractate is a book aimed primarily to those who seek the wisdom of the ancient word, and with it the ultimate destiny of humanity. The world needs the classic wisdom to survive, the philosophy is a science that serves as the basis for other sciences.
The wise is the best philosopher, and in the measure that human society develop better philosophers this will solve his problems as Plato said.

The Spiritual Gift of Justification

The doctrine of Justification is understood by knowing that justice is necessary but not enough. Justice is a form of error because the spiritual gift of counsel is precise and accure. The practice of the virtue as Aristotle teach to us is an heresy, because happiness is an apparent good, the true good for men is the eternal life not happiness. The kingdom of God means dominion, empire of the divine perfections, the kingdom of god is not about virtue but perfections, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect", Matthew 5:48. To live according to the divine law we need a special help because justice is not sufficient, the strength of the soul is not enough to reach salvation, we need more, and this moore is the Justification,a special help, a gift from God.

There is no fear in love

John is the disciple most beloved by Jesus. He is the author of the Gospel of John and the letter 1 John. In his texts speaks frecuently about the nature of love. For this author to know God is "love". He expresses: "Whoever does not love does not know god, because God is charity" 1 John 4:8; and, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear", 1 John 4:18.
We can extend the text in another way; we cannot attribute imperfections to God. God is the origine of the perfections that we see in the universe, explains Thomas Aquinas. Then he adds: "God is love wihout passions". The fear is an imperfection of the soul. The love as spiritual gift of God (Charity), is the love free from fear, free from the sin and the punishment. Remember the difference between passions and attachments. The hope and the joy are moviments of the spirit and guide men towards the good; instead the fear and the shame (passions) for example, are movement of the soul and guide men to evil. A practical case of Charity, is the parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32.

Friendship is equality

Aristotle in his book Nicomachean Ethics speaks frecuently about the theme of friendship, he speaks about the mercy, "the ethical friendship"; the justice, "the general friendship; and the Concord, "the political friendship". For Aristotle friendship is not also necessary but beautiful:"friendship is equality", "the benevolence is the beginning of the friendship" expresses to us.
Friendship is equality because it is closely related to a form of love: "Philia". In the ancient greek lenguage each form of love had his own name: eros, the love of lovers, agape the love for the good and Philia. This last form of love is the love that arises from the pleasure of seeing ourselves reflected in the others. The natural love, Philia is the origine of the friendship and the equality, the likeness, among men.

Take hold of the eternal life

The Apostle Paul of Tarsus wrote two letters to his disciple Timothy. In his first letter exhorts us to seek eternal life and no the opinated goods. But what is eternal life? Eternal life could be understand as a fruit of the spirit. A final result of the righteous life, of which the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) is an example. Aristotle tells us that the end of man is happiness, but Christ in the Gospel of Luke 6: 24-26 explains that happiness is an apparent good, happiness appears to us as a good, the 4 curses are an example. Christ in the sermon of the mountain teaches us not to follow the false goods (this is related with the concept of heresy), not to live according to the flesh. The true good of man is eternal life. Eternal life is contemplative activity explains Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica), remeber the text in the bible: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God", John 17,3. This knowledge of God is more than contemplation is happines of the heart (the gift of happiness), is longevity (meditation is related with the long life), is security in God. In resume the eternal life is a "set of blessing", that describes the life in glory.

The definition of the sin

The good is rectitude of judgment or to say the spiritual gift of counsel: listen (perceive with attention), meditate with intuition and inspiration and decide creatively; also it is righteousness of action: the golden rule.
From the definition of the good comes the concept of error, of heresy. Sin is basically a mode to fail.
We can all sin, fail, but when the sin becomes an habit we become sinners, people who fail, people who do not hit the target, who do not aim.
The pursuit of happiness makes us sinners and this is because happiness is an apparent good, only when we seek the true goods, which are eternal life, the fruits of the spirit, the life in common is that when we become people  who live according to the law of God.
http://www.quintoevangelio.com.ar/en/articles/item/110-justice-and-sin.html

The Mercy

Mercy is defined as kindness, affability, benedicence. The beatitudes of Matthew tell us a beatitude concerning mercy: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Matthew 5: 7.
The Mercy returns mercy, or expressed in another way: the spiritual gifts return spiritual gifts. The Spiritual gifts are perfections, explains Tomas Aquinas teacher of the scholastic. The beatitudes implicitly tell us about the  law of the return: you  reap what you saw. The right actions bring us blessings.
The Beatitudes carry a concept: happiness, but not happiness as a false good, but as a return, as a collateral effect. When we take the right, the correct actions we diminish, we minimize suffering, and as the opposite of happiness is suffering, when we decrease this last concept we predispose ourselves to happiness.
The minimization of the suffering is an ethical goal to achive happiness.
http://www.quintoevangelio.com.ar/en/articles/item/109-mercy.html