With All of Your Heart

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?” 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.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34 ESV)

Jesus Christ summarized the Ten Commandments and possibly also all the liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions (and the law of circumcision) of the Old Covenant into two commands. For, when Jesus Christ died on that cross, he did away with the Old Covenant with its requirement for circumcision and with all its liturgical and ceremonial commands and restrictions. But what remained intact were God’s moral laws, i.e. the law of love for God and for other humans.

And all throughout the New Testament, under the New Covenant, we are still instructed that we must obey the commandments of God which are spelled out for us all throughout the writings in the New Testament. But the “rule of thumb” for all the New Covenant commands is the law of love that Jesus described here. But this is not human-based love, but this is agape love, which is to prefer what God prefers. For the believer it is to prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power.

And what God prefers is all that is holy, righteous, just, honorable, faithful, honest, trustworthy, morally pure, upright, godly, and obedient to his commands. So if we love God with this love, we are not going to be those who deliberately and habitually sin against God and against other humans. But we will be those who obey the Lord, in practice, who serve the Lord in ministry, and who demonstrate the love of Christ to the people of the world, in the manner in which Jesus showed that he loved the people.

And how did Jesus show love? He healed the sick and afflicted and he raised the dead and he delivered people from demons and he fed the hungry and he comforted the sorrowful, and he performed all sorts of miracles. But he also called the people to repent of their sins to the forsaking of their sins and to walks of obedience to his commands. And he warned them that if they did not obey the Lord and leave their sins behind them, that they would lose their lives for eternity and they would not enter into his heavenly kingdom.

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 26:26-29; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 17:25; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24,58; Jn 10:27-33; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 John 3:4-10]  

So “love” isn’t just all this feel good and mushy gushy stuff which makes people like us and think we are great. For the love Jesus had for the people got him hated and rejected and despised and falsely accused and hounded and beaten and hung on a cross to die for our sins. For they didn’t like the things that he did nor the things that he taught, especially if he called them to account for their sinful practices and to turn from their wicked ways to now follow him in obedience to his commands.

So, if you are truly loving God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, your life will be surrendered to the Lord to do his will, to do what pleases him, to do what he prefers as your life choices and practices. And so that means dying with him to sin and now walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, and us no longer making sin our practice, but righteousness and obedience now to be our practice. And so you will not actively nor habitually nor deliberately make sin your practice.

But this love for God is not just about us forsaking our sinful practices, but it is about us following after him wherever he leads us to go, and to do whatever he calls us to do. And he calls us to make disciples of Christ of people of all nations and to teach them to obey his commandments. And he calls us to be his witnesses, and to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, and to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth in taking his gospel message to the world.

And out of love for the Lord and for our fellow humans, he also calls us to minister to one another within the body of Christ, to encourage and to exhort one another in our walks of faith and obedience to the Lord, to comfort, but also to warn against false teachings and falling back into sin. For out of love for God and for our fellow Christians, we are to speak the truth of God’s word to one another for our strengthening and our maturity of faith in the Lord. And we are to stir up one another to love and good works.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

In Harmony  

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly. 

Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. 

Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. 

Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; 

Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. 

Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people

Who are found in need.

Do not be conceited.

Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion

In humility.

Keep your tongue from evil.

Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;

Listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – 

Is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear.

Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord.

Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

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