“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (v.40)
Two commandments which immediately precede this verse, contain the “heart” of the entire law of God. Which two commandments?
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.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (vs.37-39)
Here are the Ten Commandments “in a nutshell.” If we love the Lord with everything we have, every ounce of love that is within us, then we will have no trouble with the first four commandments. If we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we will have no problem with the last six either. I have often taught that the commandments are divided this way, four pertain to our God-man relationship, and the last six with our man-to-man relationships here on earth. This, by the way, is called the “Royal Commandment” by some. (Schofield). Can you see how that “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”?
Notice that the Lord created man as a three part being, and that He demands love of all three parts of us in this verse. Our heart, soul, and mind ought to be His entirely, and without question; but some may wonder “What about the body?” Well, that is the sinful part of us, and we can never love the Lord with the flesh in the way that He wants us to love Him. Flesh cannot attain to such great heights. We can, however, love Him with the rest of us, our total self, in reality, because this flesh will be cast aside one glorious day, and all that will remain is that which possesses the flesh. Even so, if our mind is totally given to the Lord, as well as our heart, we will have little, if any, problem with the flesh. Our heart will lead us in the right paths; our minds will help us to see His will; and our souls will bask in the glory of eternal life, and the forgiveness of sin. In these we need to love Him.
1 comment:
Good thoughts.
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