When a scribe questioned Jesus about the first commandment, He answered him with BOTH the first and second commandments .... BOTH about love .... first for God; second for others in the kingdom of God:
Mark 12:28-34 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these.
32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth:
for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.
And no man after that durst ask him any question.
All the law and the prophets are hung on just two commandments:
Matt 22:34-40 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Here is the 1st one:
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
Here is the 2nd one:
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
‘Mid-Acts-hyper-dispensationalists’ don’t like for Paul to mention the law in a ‘working’ manner .... yet he did. ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ need to look at what Paul said about ‘US .... fulfilling the law’. It is all about showing love:
Rom 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Being free from the law does not mean that we disregard it. The law is expressed by love:
Gal 5:13-14 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
John understood this issue, too. Believers in Christ love each other:
1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
This is the very same thing Paul said that GOD taught:
1 Thess 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
We love God, and we love others. That is not a problem for believers, but it sure seems to be one for ‘mid-Acts-ers’ who SEPARATE from God’s children who don’t ‘follow Paul’ the way they do:
1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Our heart will not condemn us and we will have confidence toward God (1 John 3:20-21) and not be ashamed before Him at His coming (1 John 2:28). We will not feel guilty when we live and show love this way:
Rom 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Read Luke 10:25-37 about a certain Samaritan, who had mercy on a man who fell among the thieves that robbed him, stripped him of his clothes, wounded him, and left him half dead.
Love God, love your family, love your brothers and sisters in Christ, and love your neighbor. Let your love show!
This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
