There once was a man named Jesus, who was speaking with a man of faith who sought answers about living out his faith, and Jesus commented to the man..."You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”
And then a little later Jesus added another command...go and sell all your stuff, give it to the poor and follow me. He basically added "love your God" and "love your neighbor".
Notice...in the beginning of the conversation Jesus rattled off the basics that people think about when people are talking about the 10 commandments. The "do nots". The prohibitions against violence, crimes, hatred, all the true crime stuff. You know, the human condition, basically everything we see everyday everywhere all the time. But then he brought the conversation and the faithful religious man back to brass tacks. He basically asked him, "do you love me?" "Do you love my children? He turned the conversation from endless lists of wrong doings (laws), and brought it back to the greatest commandment. He recognized in the man a heart for self-righteousness, and a love for a master other than God. He drilled down into what was truly important to the man. He got to the heart of what the man was really asking, "Is my faithfulness to the law enough?". What he didn't learn from the law was that if our eye (the light of the soul) is dark, our whole body is doubly dark. If we can't surrender to God ALL our mind, body, and spirit, we'll never see clearly enough to love God and his children as we love ourselves.
Let's take a minute to see what the Bible tells us about the commandments on this side of the cross...
Mark 12:30-31 Jesus taught:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is like it, Love your neighbor [God's children] as yourself."
"This is how we know that we love God's children when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands."
1 John 5:2-3
Jesus reminds his children:
Revelation 3:19
"As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent."
Jesus asks:
"Be what?"
We reply:
"Be zealous and repent"
Jesus asks:
"Why?"
We answer:
"Because you love us."
Jesus says:
"Now you got it!"
So here's the thing when it comes down to all this obeying commands and such; it all boils down to being in and of the light. It's about walking our walk of faith in the light as Christ Jesus himself is in the light. We walk in the fellowship of faith in Christ, his resurrection and redemption. We walk with one another in love, love for the light of the gospel, and love for the blood of Jesus, God's Son, which cleanses us from all sin. All our obedience, turns out, isn't for the law, isn't meant to fulfill the law and pay the debt, but our obedience is for the love of Jesus, because we love him we keep his commands.
Friends,
Christ has made all who love him and who obey his commands into ministers of His new covenant founded upon the light of the gospel—not founded on the letter of the law, but on the Spirit; for the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives everlasting life.
I want everyone to write this word on their hearts...memorize it. And live it. To help you with that, watch this video over and over until it becomes who you are. And walk in it.
1 John 4:7
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God, and everyone who loves is been born of God and knows God."