How do I love my neighbor as I love myself?

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ 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 first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-40

Everyone want to be treated fairly, in fact even small children when they don’t get their way, retort quickly by saying “That’s not fair!”  We know that the moral value that the world calls fairness, or Justice, or the sense of social responsibility is grounded not in our own subjective opinion. But rather it is found in a objective standard that is found outside and greater than you or I. We say that objective standard is on what is morally right God.

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So then when Jesus Says “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself is He is not leaving the requirement up to your own standards but has grounded that in a standard greater then we. The best way to understand this passage by Jesus is to understand from which text he is quoting. Leviticus the book od law records it as such;

(Verse 9,10) When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.  And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God

(Verse 11,12) “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.  You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.  

(Verse 13,14) “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.  You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.  

(Verse 15,16) “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.  You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.  

(Verse 17,18) “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.  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. Leviticus 19:9-18

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So, let take a quick look at this passage, verse 9 and 10 says “Take care of the poor and needy because I am the moral standard for taking care of those in need.

·         Verse 11:12 God is saying “Be honest and upright because I am the moral standard for honesty”

·         Verse 13 and 14 God says, “Treat people you have strength over fairly, and with grace, because I have given you Grace”

·         Verse 15 and 16 We read “Do not judge a person because of his finance or race, or color, to subdue him because he is not like you. These things have no place in the kingdom. Rather be upright and fair toward all people because I am the moral standard of Justice.

·         Finally, in verses 17 and 18 God is saying, “Do not seek your own revenge, for what your neighbor has done to you, rather seek to forgive him, just as you would want to be forgiven.  because I am the Lord your God who has forgiven you and adopted you into my family.

Your brother in Christ.

Tcharves FireSpeaks

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Faith Against Works

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

One of the most difficult things for most Christian to realize is that the Kingdom of God functions antithetical to the world. Because of this fact many Christians try to attain to God’s goodness in like methods of the world, making their actions not a venue to attain God’s grace but a way to build separation from God.

This is exceedingly hard for us to grasp because as far back as children we are taught what we do is the foundation to what we achieve, the harder you study, the greater your reward. This very mindset is one of the many major differences between Christianity and other world religions. 

In Islam they are told that the good that they do in this life is weighed against the bad. Then if the good outweighs the bad, they may attain to paradise. The only problem is that no one knows the weight of the good or the bad that they do. I heard one famous athlete say that signing autographs for children would get him into paradise. But the Scripture says;

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his (God’s) sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)

The Jews believe that the keeping of law is their ticket to eternity. So, in order to keep the commandments, they have added 603 other percepts that covered everything that they could think of in normal life.  But the Scripture also says;

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Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. (Galatians 3:11)

So then, it is not good works or the keeping of the law, which justifies us before the heavenly Father, but faith in the salvific work of Christ which is of utmost importance.

It is this difference which makes the kingdom of God upside down and downside up in comparison to the world.  God says Faith then works, because every Christian should live a life of good works. In contrast the worlds says works rather then faith, and the two are naturally antagonistic to one another. And so important is this where we spend eternity depends on which we choose.

 Therefore, before you make a decision remember that the only real difference between those in hell and those in heaven is faith, Not works!

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Your brother in Christ.

Tcharves FireSpeaks