TOO WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE LORD SERVE IN HAVING HIS COMMADMENTS EXTRAPULATED? 

AS OUR TIMES HAVE BECOME FILLED WITH ALL FORMS OF DECEPTION, EVIL, AND TEMPTATION!

RECEIVING MULTIPLE FORMS OF UNDERSTANDING, AND KNOWLEDGE AFFORDS ARMED WARRIORS OF THE REMNANT TO BE READY FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE!

TO BE FULLY PREPARED, ALL ASPECTS OF OUR BEING MUST BE ASSESSED AND BROUGHT TO THEIR PEAK PERFORMANCE AND CAPABILITIES!

AS I DELVED DEEPER INTO THE SCRIPTURES IT BECAME APPARENT THERE ARE MANY ASPECTS TO THE SECOND COMMANDMENT WHICH NEED UNCOVERING!

SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION!

Mark 12:31 KJV
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

OBSERVATION!

Not that any commandment of God is little (they are all the commands of a great God), but some are greater than others, moral precepts than rituals, and of some we may say, They are the greatest of all.

Christ gave a direct answer to an inquiry, Mark 12:29-31. Those who sincerely desire to be instructed concerning their duty, Christ will guide in judgment, and teach his way.

COMMENTARY OFFERED BY MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714).

1.The great commandment of all, which is indeed inclusive of all, is, that of loving God with all our hearts.

(1) Where there is a commanding principle in the soul, there is a disposition to every other duty. Love is the leading affection of the soul the love of God is the leading grace in the renewed soul

(2) Where this is not, nothing else that is good is done, or done aright, or accepted, or done long.

Loving God with all our heart, will effectually take us off from, and arm us against, all those things that are rivals with him for the throne in our souls, and will engage us to every thing by which he may be honoured, and with which he will be pleased and no commandment will be grievous where this principle commands, and has the ascendant.

Now here in, Mark, our Saviour prefixes to this command the great doctrinal truth upon which it is built (Mark 12:29).

Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord if we firmly believe this, it will follow, that we shall love him with all our heart.

Hath not one God created us? Malachi 2:10. Has not one Christ redeemed us?

He is Jehovah, who has all amiable perfections in himself he is our God, to whom we stand related and obliged and therefore we ought to love him, to set our affections on him, let our own desire toward him, and take a delight in him and he is one Lord, therefore he must be loved with our whole heart he has the sole right to us, and therefore ought to have the sole possession of us.

If he be one, our hearts must be one with him, and since there is no God besides, no rival must be admitted with him upon the throne.

2. That the second great commandment is, to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:31), as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves, and in the same instances, and we must show it by doing as we would have done to us.

As we must therefore love God better than ourselves, because he is Jehovah, a being infinitely better than we are, and must love him with all our heart, because he is one Lord, and there is no other like him so we must love our neighbour as ourselves, because he is of the same nature with ourselves our hearts are fashioned alike, and my neighbour and myself are of one body, of one society, that of the world of mankind and if a fellow-Christian, and of the same sacred society, the obligation is the stronger.

Our love to God, must be an entire love, thus it must be an intelligent, love, we must love him with all our understanding, ex holes tes syneseos–out of the whole understanding our rational powers and faculties must all be set to lead out the affections of our souls toward God.

OBSERVATION

All the law is fulfilled in one word, and that is, love. See Romans 13:10.

All obedience begins in the affections, and nothing in religion is done right, that is not done there first. Love is the leading affection, which gives law, and gives ground, to the rest and therefore that, as the main fort, is to be first secured and garrisoned for God.

Man is a creature cut out for love thus therefore is the law written in the heart, that it is a law of love. Love is a short and sweet word and, if that be the fulfilling of the law, surely the yoke of the command is very easy.

Love is the rest and satisfaction of the soul if we walk in this good old way, we shall find rest.

To be just is to give to all their due, to give everybody his own. What we have we have as stewards others have an interest in, and must have their dues “Render to God his due in the first place, to yourselves, to your families, your relations, to the commonwealth, to the church, to the poor, to those that you have dealings with in buying, selling, exchanging, & Render to all their dues and that readily and cheerfully, not tarrying till you are by law compelled to.”

COMMENTARY OFFERED BY MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714).

Honour thy father and mother. Compare Leviticus 19:3, You shall fear every man his mother and his father not with a fear of amazement, but a loving, reverent, respectful, obedient fear. Where there is not this respect in the heart to our superiors, no other duty will be paid aright.

Due payment of debts (Romans 13:8): “Owe no man any thing that is, do not continue in any one’s debt, while you can pay it, further than by, at least, the tacit consent of the person to whom you are indebted.

Do not spend that upon yourselves, which you owe to others” The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again, Psalms 37:21.

Many who are very sensible of the trouble think little of the sin of being in debt.

But to love one another, this is a debt that must be always in the paying, and yet always owing” Love is a debt. The law of God and the interest of mankind make it so.

It is not a thing which we are left at liberty about, but it is enjoined us, as the principle and summary of all duty owing one to another for love is the fulfilling of the law not perfectly, but it is a good step towards it. It is inclusive of all the duties of the second table, which he specifies, Romans 13:9, and these suppose the love of God.

See 1 John 4:20. If the love be sincere, it is accepted as the fulfilling of the law. Surely we serve a good master, that has summed up all our duty in one word, and that, a short word, and a sweet word–love, the beauty and harmony of the universe.

COMMENTARY OFFERED BY MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714).

Loving and being loved is all the pleasure, joy, and happiness, of an intelligent being.

God is love (1 John 4:16), and love is his image upon the soul: where it is, the soul is well moulded, and the heart fitted for every good work.

Now, to prove that love is the fulfillment of the law, he gives us, 1. An induction of particular precepts, Romans 13:9. He specifies the last five of the ten commandments, which he observes to be all summed up in this royal law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself–with an as of quality, not of equality–“with the same sincerity that thou lovest thyself, though not in the same measure and degree”.

He that loves his neighbour as himself will be desirous of the welfare of his neighbour’s body, goods, and good name, as of his own.

On this is built the golden rule of doing as we would be done by. Were there no restraints of human laws in these things, no punishments incurred (which the malignity of human nature hath made necessary), the law of love would of itself be effectual to prevent all such wrongs and injuries, and to keep peace and good order among us.

In the enumeration of these commandments, the apostle puts the seventh before the sixth, and mentions this first, Thou shalt not commit adultery for though this commonly goes under the name of love (pity it is that so good a word should be so abused) yet it is really as great a violation of it as killing and stealing is, which shows that true brotherly love is love to the souls of our brethren in the first place.

He that tempts others to sin, and defiles their minds and consciences, though he may pretend the most passionate love (Proverbs 7:15,18), does really hate them, just as the devil does, who wars against the soul

2. A general rule concerning the nature of brotherly love: Love worketh no ill (Romans 13:10)– he that walks in love, that is actuated and governed by a principle of love, worketh no ill he neither practises nor contrives any ill to his neighbour, to any one that he has anything to do with: ouk ergazetai.

CLOSING OBSERVATION!

For it is a sin not only to devise evil against thy neighbour, but to withhold good from those to whom it is due both are forbidden together, Proverbs 3:27-29.

This proves that love is the fulfilling of the law, answers all the end of it for what else is that but to restrain us from evil-doing, and to constrain us to well-doing? Love is a living active principle of obedience to the whole law. The whole law is written in the heart, if the law of love be there.

I Could go on and on, with many other aspects showing the multiple depths of this commandment!

I encourage all of you to continue on your own researching the numerous references which will provide multiple tools for your arsenal! Feed your soul and prepare your spirit for battle strengthen your faith and deepen your relationship with Yahweh and Yeshua as you increase your inner strength, remember exercising your faith is like building muscle they both get stronger and your trust in them grows as well!

ABBA FATHER hear this petition before your throne! Deepen the discernment of those seeking your love! Increase their desire to draw closer to all the components of your being that they learn in developing your love as theirs they become closer and more Christ-like in your eyes and all of God’s children say Amen and Amen in the name of Jehovah Jireh our provider of all things righteous and Holy!

Robert a humble obedient servant to Yeshua and his Father in heaven Yahewa. And all of God’s children say Amen and Amen in the name of Jehovah Jireh our provider of all things righteous and Holy!