Blessings to you, the readers of this page, in Jesus Christ our Lord. May He guide you and protect you always.

God Accepts Our Love For Others As If It Were Love For Himself

But what about love for God? Doesn't that come first? Yes, but God counts our love for others as if it were love for Himself. So when we love others, we are loving Him at the same time. This is shown in the Parable Of The Sheep And The Goats (Matthew 25:31-46, in the Appendix below). And we cannot claim to love God until we first love our fellow man.

         _____________________________________________________________
       If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a
       liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen,
       cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20 RSV)
         _____________________________________________________________

But what about The Ten Commandments? Aren't we supposed to obey them? Yes, but The Ten Commandments are only an approximation of what God wants from us. The Pharisees obeyed all of the Ten Commandments, yet God was very displeased with them because they did not have love. The exact thing God wants from us is that we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Everything else depends on this. If we love our neighbor as we love ourself, we will naturally and automatically be following the Golden Rule, which embodies all of God's law for mankind.

But what about holiness? Aren't we supposed to avoid improper sex, etc. and be pure and chaste? Aren't we supposed to deny our physical selves in order to strengthen our spiritual selves? Yes, perhaps. But our feeble attempts at being holy do not even come close to God's high standards. To Him, they are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). But if we have love for others, God will overlook a multitude of our sins (1 Peter 4:8). And if we forgive others of their offenses against us, He will forgive us of our offenses against Him (Matthew 5:14-15). Love makes everything holy, since God is love (1 John 4:8, 4:16).

So all of God's requirements for mankind boil down to this one command: "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." If you truly do this one thing only, it is enough. And when you love others as you love yourself, you will naturally be following The Golden Rule, which embodies all of God's law for mankind.

       MATTHEW 25:31-46 (RSV)
                      The Sheep And The Goats
         _____________________________________________________________
        31
               "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the
               angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
        32
               Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will
               separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the
               sheep from the goats,
        33
               and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the
               goats at the left.
        34
               Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come,
               O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
               you from the foundation of the world;
        35
               for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and
               you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
        36
               I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited
               me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
        37
               Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see
               thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?
        38
               And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or
               naked and clothe thee?
        39
               And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit
               thee?'
        40
               And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as
               you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you
               did it to me.'
        41
               Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from
               me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
               devil and his angels;
        42
               for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty
               and you gave me no drink,
        43
               I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you
               did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not
               visit me.'
        44
               Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee
               hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
               prison, and did not minister to thee?'
        45
               Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did
               it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to
               me.'
        46
               And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the
               righteous into eternal life."
         _____________________________________________________________

May the Lord bless this presentation of His holy Word.

     Rev. Bill McGinnis  <><
     bmcgin@patriot.net
     

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See more pages like this, at our Index of Pearls Of Faith, a treasury of Biblical truths.

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