THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
Feb 6, 2011
Sermon in a sentence: “With God’s help, I will fulfill the greatest laws: to love God completely, and to love my neighbor as myself.”
Scriptures: Rom. 2:12-16; Matt. 5:17; Matt. 22:34-40 (Deut.6:5; Lev. 19:18); Luke 10:30-37; Matt. 25:31-46; 1 John 4:16-17,20-21; (1 Cor. 13); John 15:12,17
Main points:
We now clearly see and understand the Law, the Ten Commandments, as the details of the marriage covenant between God and His people.
We also realize that the Ten Commandments simply formalized what was already in place within humanity as a result of what we can call the ‘natural law’.
Being made in the image of God, human beings have an innate knowledge and understanding of God’s personality and character, along with the knowledge of right and wrong. All can be judged on the basis of this knowledge, whether or not they’ve ever heard the gospel:
Romans 2:12-16 (NASB) For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
Thus, we see at least eight of the Ten Commandments in use before Sinai:
1. Israel had no God but YHWH (Ex. 3:6, 13-15)
2. Idolatry was forbidden (Gen. 35:2)
3. (Name in vain??)
4. The Sabbath was being observed (Ex. 16:22-26)
5. Parents were to be honored (Gen. 9:20-27)
6. Murder was a crime (Gen. 4:8-15)
7. Adultery was a capital offence (Gen. 20:2-7)
8. Stealing was condemned (Gen. 44:1-9)
9. A false witness brought evil (Gen. 39:11-18)
10. (Covetous person??)
Many argue about the place of the Ten Commandments in NT times, wondering whether or not we need to be concerned with the various divisions of the law: moral, civil, judicial or ceremonial.
As usual, we look to Jesus for answers.
- He was the interpreter of the Law – “You have heard”, “But I say unto you” (Mt. 5:21-44)
- He fulfilled the Law (Mt. 5:17-19)
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill”
- Then, He revealed the foundation of the Law (Mt. 22:37-40)
Matthew 22:37-40 (NASB) And He said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (cf. Deut 6:5 and Lev. 19:18)
Mark inserted a little addendum: “with all your strength”.
Mark 12:30 (NASB) and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' "
Getting to the heart of the matter, Jesus was saying: This is the basis of my marriage covenant with you and the basis of your relationship with everyone you meet. As you would desire and dream of for your own marriage, your love for your spouse, should be all-consuming. Should this not also apply to our marriage covenant with God!
Everything we do to each other, for each other, with each other and because of each other must be based of these two foundational commandments.
Commandment 2 gives us the avenue to demonstrate our obedience to commandment 1. It is impossible for us to say we love God if we do not demonstrate our love for all we meet and interact with.
Jesus illustrated his point in Luke 10:30-37 as He gave them the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Luke 10:30-37 (NASB) Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.' 36 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" 37 And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."
That may be just a parable in our eyes, but similar scenarios were played out as Jesus described what people will experience as they stand before the judgment seat of Christ, hoping to enter His eternal kingdom.
Matthew 25:31-46 (NASB) "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45 "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
In his first epistle, John, (the apostle of love), asks how we can say we love God who we cannot see and yet hate our brother who we can see?
1 John 4:16-17,20-21 (NASB) We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
In other words, everything we do must be motivated by our love for our brother. 1 Cor. 13 also highlights this point. We may have all the gifts of the Spirit firing on all cylinders, but it is to no avail without love for God, demonstrated by love for our neighbor.
War, physical abuse, gang warfare, slander, backbiting, lying, stealing, cheating, emotional abuse, religious infighting and hatred are all examples of ways in which we violate the “New Commandment” Jesus gave us to “Love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:12,17).
John 15:12, 17 (NASB) "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 17 "This I command you, that you love one another.
Let us not violate the Great Commandment, but fulfill it to the very best of our abilities.
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