Our Duty With God and Men

STUDY: # 935-CHURCH IN THE HOUSES FROM: MARCH 21 @ 27, 2017

Topic: “Our Duty With God and Men” (Matthew 22:34-40) (Mark 12:28-34) The question they asked the Lord Jesus was: WHAT IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENT IN THE LAW? An interpreter of the Law, a scribe, asked the question. The interpreters of the Law were scribes who specialized in studying and teaching the Law of Moses. Earlier that day, the Pharisees had tried to make the Master look bad by asking questions, but they failed. Now they returned, not because they were interested in having Jesus speak to them about the Law that they believed in, but because they had agreed amongst themselves to attack Jesus once again. Here we see the envy of those who think that they are the only ones with knowledge. These were what was known as the religious circle! However, as we read in Mark 12:28 we can see that this particular scribe did not ask Jesus this question to belittle Him. ("And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, AND SEEING THAT HE ANSWERED THEM WELL, asked Him, ‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’”) He asked as a sign of approval of what Jesus had answered earlier. He offered the Lord the opportunity to answer well again. The question was: What is the great commandment in the Law? Mark 12:29-31 "Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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. The second is this: YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these’." When Jesus responded, He established the complete definition of religion. Human beings always, always, know how others should behave. But here Jesus says how THE BELIEVER should conduct himself, how the believer should behave. HE SHOULD LOVE GOD AND HIS NEIGHBOR! The love for God and your neighbor is like a fountain from which fulfilling all the other commandments emerges. Both the love for God and your neighbor are the basis of all other commandments. All the other commandments are a necessary consequence of these two. We can easily fulfill the other commandments if we own what Jesus answered them. The Law is fulfilled in a single word, LOVE. In a Christian’s life, if things do not derive from love, they are not right. They don’t have a purpose either. Love should reign over our feelings, and as the main beacon, needs to be fortified (strengthened). Every Jewish child has to learn this first commandment before any other. (Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.") This means that we have to give God TOTAL love. A love: 1) THAT CONTROLS OUR EMOTIONS, 2) WHICH DIRECTS OUR THOUGHTS, and 3) THAT IS THE FORCE OF OUR ACTIONS. Being a Christian begins with love! Love is "TOTALLY" GIVING YOUR LIFE TO GOD. Obeying Him in everything. Depending on Him for everything! Obeying the commandment to love is the source of obedience to all other commandments. Obedience to all other commandments is only acceptable when it comes from love! The second commandment quoted by Jesus comes from Leviticus 19:18, "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." Our love for God must lead to loving our fellow men. But we have to take note of the order in which these commandments appear. The love for God is first, and the love for men second. We can only love men when we love God. Man was made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’...") Love for human beings is deeply rooted in the love for God. Everything depends on love. All the commandments hang (adhere) from a point of support and security that is the Law of love. If this love is taken away, everything falls to the ground and crumbles. Love is the way of excellence. (I Corinthians 12:31 "But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.") Paul, the apostle, describes this path of excellence in I Corinthians 13. Love is the spirit that gives life to the Law. Love is the root and source of all virtues. It sums up the entire Bible. Not only of the Law and the Prophets, but also the Gospel. Love never expires (I

Corinthians 13:8 "Love never ends..."). We must introduce our heart into these two commandments, as in a mold, and use all our zeal to defend and prove its observance. The day that someone decides to love God above all, and love others as his/her life, other things like hate, etc. will surrender to the power of the imperative Law of love. Amen.