The Great Commandment

LearningToLetGo

LearningToLetGo

The Great Commandment​

28 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?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 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. 33 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.” 34 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)

I truly think the entirety of the Bible could be condensed to this one paragraph. This is it. This has always been it and will always be it. The rest are footnotes and explanatory content.
 
crossnote said:
Personally, I would sum up the Scriptures in just one sentence...


The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 1 Timothy 1:15
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"of whom I am the foremost."................Only Paul didn't know me!
 
Cosia said:
Perhaps we could put those two posts together.

1. What is required of us
2. What was required of Jesus.
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1. Would relate to faith/fruit bearing.
2. Would relate to our salvation/redemption.

Whichever way you go, whatever was required of Jesus would have been impossible for man.

Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God."
 
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LearningToLetGo said:
Obedience yes, but more than that. One can be begrudgingly obedient, i.e. going through the motions, but I don't think God wants that.
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I hear you but..........."Begrudgingly" is actually not obedient! Begrudgingly means....Resentful or worse lukewarm.

That idea flies in the face of Scripture and the 1st one that comes to my mind is Rev. 3:16
"So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."
 
Cosia said:
Perhaps we could put those two posts together.

1. What is required of us
2. What was required of Jesus.
Click to expand...

Hello Cosia;

I just came across your interesting post and wanted to ask if you could elaborate for us / me?

What is required of us? What was required of Jesus?

I do enjoy reading your posts and they do bless me. Thank you for sharing.

God bless you, Cosia, and your family.
 
Major said:
I hear you but..........."Begrudgingly" is actually not obedient! Begrudgingly means....Resentful or worse lukewarm.
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Here's the problem: a person can only control their actions, not their feelings. Obedience is about action. How can one chose to be obedient in feeling? One cannot. It either is or isn't.
 
LearningToLetGo said:
Here's the problem: a person can only control their actions, not their feelings. Obedience is about action. How can one chose to be obedient in feeling? One cannot. It either is or isn't.
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Well, living in godly obedience is sometimes hard, but God has anointed and equipped us for the job. We can do whatever we need to do with His help because He has told us that there is nothing we can not do in Christ Jesus. As crossnote just said...........
Being born again makes us a New Creature! Then choosing to do the right thing becomes a lot easier.

Obedience takes self discipline for sure.
Obedience also takes self control.

Example, you are shopping and you see a bottle of mustard has fallen onto the floor. Do you pick it up leave it?
YOU know that you should pick it up because some elderly person might not see it, trip over it and fall down.

IMHO it is the Holy Spirit that speaks to our heart and tells us what the right thing to do is. Discipline then is the ability to be obedient to that call.

But that is just me my friend.

Now may I add here that In the book of Romans, of which I am doing a verse by verse teaching on this site, we see from that book that obedience is very important.

Chapter 6 of Romans is going to talk about obedience.

Here is a factoid to remember.........You are a slave to the one you obey, whether to righteousness or to sin.

Romans 9:32 says that by faith, and not as though it were by works, we obey the law.

Romans 14:23 says, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin,” which means any attempt at obedience, or any other act that isn’t springing from a heart of faith, winds up just being sin because it displeases the Lord.

Hebrews 11:6 .........
“Without faith it is impossible to please God” .
 
LearningToLetGo said:
Obedience yes, but more than that. One can be begrudgingly obedient, i.e. going through the motions, but I don't think God wants that.
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You said.........
"begrudgingly obedient, i.e. going through the motions, "

That is a sign of not being actually born again, don't yu think?

If we as a Christian are just going through the motions then we need to take a closer look at what we say we are. IMHO!
 
Major said:
Example, you are shopping and you see a bottle of mustard has fallen onto the floor. Do you pick it up leave it?
YOU know that you should pick it up because some elderly person might not see it, trip over it and fall down.

IMHO it is the Holy Spirit that speaks to our heart and tells us what the right thing to do is. Discipline then is the ability to be obedient to that call.
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Dear Major

Our connection with God/the Holy Spirit compels us to do the right thing, for the right reason, when none know or see… but you and God.
This is obedience, then manifest, to the spirit of God’s will, and commandment to Love one another.

The parable of the mustard jar.
 
blueskies said:
Dear Major

Our connection with God/the Holy Spirit compels us to do the right thing, for the right reason, when none know or see… but you and God.
This is obedience, then manifest, to the spirit of God’s will, and commandment to Love one another.

The parable of the mustard jar.
Click to expand...

The parable of the Mustard Jar is found in the book of Major, chapter 2:3-7.

Do you know what you call a man who has had MUSTARD gas & PEPPER spray on him????
An ARMY VETERAN!!!
 
bobinfaith said:
Hello Cosia;

I just came across your interesting post and wanted to ask if you could elaborate for us / me?

What is required of us? What was required of Jesus?

I do enjoy reading your posts and they do bless me. Thank you for sharing.

God bless you, Cosia, and your family.
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Hi bobinfaith
I don't have the deep knowledge that my brothers and sisters have here. I have a very splendid faith and cannot remember chapter and
verse like you all can
I have to look that up on Gateway and that takes me a long time because of my very bad eyesight. So forgive the lack of chapter and verse.

To me The Bible is a love story from beginning to end.

1. What was Jesus expected to do?
I agree that The Son of God was expected to be obedient.
He was sent here by The Father to suffer and die on the cross, which He did. He was sent to save us from our sins. Jesus only spoke the words that the Father told Him to speak. He was the Son, The Lord of God as He lived amongst us. Everything He said and did was what God told Him to do. And Jesus was victorious.

2. What are we expected to do?
That could be too long a post for me.

Believe in Jesus, God The Son and that He died on the cross and rose from the dead. Confess and repent of our sins. Talk to The Father The Son and The Holy Spirit.
Above all keep those 2 great commandments to Love God and Your neighbour.

Paul told us even if we were to die a martyrs death but lacked Love, it would profit us nothing.

I believe this is very important. I cannot obey if I don't love.

I need more love in my heart and constantly pray for it.

God Bless bobinfaith and all your family
 
Major said:
Well, living in godly obedience is sometimes hard, but God has anointed and equipped us for the job. We can do whatever we need to do with His help because He has told us that there is nothing we can not do in Christ Jesus. As @crossnote just said...........
Being born again makes us a New Creature! Then choosing to do the right thing becomes a lot easier.
Click to expand...
I agree with a caveat. You say "choosing to do the right thing becomes a lot easier" but what does it mean exactly to "do the right thing"? Specifically, what is "right"?

This question sounds stupid to some and contentious to others but I truly think it lies at the center of almost all of our doctrinal debates. As I see it, the "right" thing is to love. That's all. To love God. To love others and also ourselves. To be gentle, kind and loving.

Frankly I don't care about the rest because if I have love then I have God. Even if I am oppressed, beaten, starved and murdered I still have a choice: to love or to hate; and if I choose love I overcome.

`Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.` (Luke 23:34)

Of course, being human, I fail at this. I feel fear and anger. I lash out when I know better. But following in the footsteps of Jesus I beg forgiveness and I forgive in turn. As the days turn to years this grows easier.
 
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