36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ [simple_tooltip content=’34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.”
43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
44 ‘The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’?45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”
46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.’](Matthew 22:34-46)[/simple_tooltip]
Jesus revealed that all of the Old Testament laws were designed to instruct us how to love God and love others. Therefore, the two commands that dealt directly with loving God and others [simple_tooltip content=’You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.’](Lev. 19:18[/simple_tooltip]; [simple_tooltip content=’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.’]Deut. 6:5)[/simple_tooltip] were the most important.
The religious leaders had become so obsessed with keeping every minor detail of the law that they had lost sight of its ultimate purpose. They neither loved God nor their fellow man, yet they thought they were keeping the Law. The same thing is happening today. Some of the cruelest acts have been done in the name of the Lord by those who thought they were defending God’s commandments. However, if we violate one of the two greatest commandments in an effort to enforce some other commandment, we are misapplying God’s Word just as these religious Jews were.
The Old Testament Law and the New Testament concept of grace compel us to love God and all people. However, the Old Testament Law motivated men to love God and other people through fear of punishment if they failed to comply, whereas the grace given to us in the New Testament is to love others unconditionally as God loves us.
It is possible to act holy but not love God or people, but it is impossible for God’s love not to produce holiness in a person. Look at all your relationships through the eyes of God’s unconditional love today. As you love, you will be holy.
