Word from God: Love

Brothers and Sisters in Yeshua,

This letter contains three different teachings by at least four different people, yet they each say basically the same thing in different ways. That is not to say that if you consume one, that you have tasted them all.

David Johnston

How to Know You are a Genuine Christian

Bill Cloud

The Law is Love

Yeshua, the Lord and Master of all, said, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets,” Matthew 22:37-40, NKJV.

As a Christian who tries to share the love of Christ with those of the world, it is likely that you have come across those who blame God for all of the problems that exist in this world. However, it does not take a genius to realize that if everyone on the planet kept God’s Commandments, that there would not be many, if any, problems in the world.

Love for God

Yeshua, God, said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” John 14:15, NKJV, and, John 14:21, NKJV, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…”

Now, we all agree that Yeshua is God (e.g., Isaiah 9:6), that God does not change (e.g., Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8) and that God’s Law does not change (Matthew 5:18-19). Thus, His commandments have not changed, either. So, love of God is pretty simple (Exodus 20:1-11, NKJV):

And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD [יהוה] your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

  1. “You shall have no other gods before Me.
  2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
  3. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
  4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

Number 4 seems to be particularly troubling to most modern church establishments, whose leaders and parishioners seem to create all kinds of fanciful, illogical and unbiblical rationalizations for why they are “permitted” to disobey it. However, whether they are right (certainly not) or wrong, Yeshua (God) does away with their unbelief in His Millennial Reign (Isaiah 66:23).

We are called to be a people who are set apart (e.g., Revelation 18:4 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18), and our Master, Yeshua, honored the Law of God over the traditions of Men (e.g., Mark 7:1-23). Thus, if we truly love God, we should do the same.

Here are some related scriptures to consider: Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Deuteronomy 7:9-11, Deuteronomy 10:12-22, Deuteronomy 11, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Joshua 22:5, Joshua 23:3-16, Psalm 119:1,21, Nehemiah 1:5-11, Daniel 9:4-19, and Amos 5:14-15. Also, if you think that the “Old” Testament was for Israel and does not apply to you, think again, Christian. As a believer in Yeshua, you are grafted into Commonwealth of Israel (e.g., John 10:16, Romans 11:11-36, Ephesians 2:11-13, Galatians 3:28). You are Israel. Thus, what applies to Israel applies to you.

Something to consider is that the Messiah, Yeshua, is an Israelite — the God of Israel in the flesh. There was no “New” Testament when He and His disciples spoke and taught. They only had the “Old” Testament to teach from. In addition, the early Body of Christ was composed virtually entirely of Israelis who recognized that Yeshua is The Salvation of the World. Only later did Gentiles begin to enter into this Israeli institution which was created by God.

Furthermore, Paul seems to have made things even simpler for us to understand, “…he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments… are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law,” Romans 13:8-10, NKJV.

Love for One’s Neighbor

God’s instructions about how to show love to one’s neighbor are also straightforward (Exodus 20:12-17, NKJV):

5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

6. “You shall not murder.

7. “You shall not commit adultery.

8. “You shall not steal.

9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

See Leviticus 19:17-18 and Micah 6:8, as well.

The Law Condemns, Yeshua Justifies

No one is justified by the Law, but, rather, by faith in Yeshua Ha’Mashiach (Galatians 3:7,9,13,19-21, etc.). That is because none of us keeps the Law, and, thus, we are each condemned by the Law. Therefore, we need The Savior. However, that does not change the fact that to show love is to keep God’s Commandments (John 14:15).

Abraham, the father of faith, acted when God instructed him, blindly obeying the Word of God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness (Romans 4). Thus, faith without manifest love is questionable (e.g., 1 John 3:16-18, James 2:14-26).

God’s New Commandment

As Christians, Yeshua gave us a new command, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another,” John 13:34, NKJV. For those who are not “into” the Law, which is Love, this is probably particularly troubling, since Yeshua showed us a whole lot of love (sacrificing Himself for us), and this command of His requires us to do the same for our brothers and sisters in Yeshua. (If you note, when Yeshua spoke this commandment, He was with His disciples, without Judas.)

What is Love?

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians stated clearly what love is (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, NKJV):

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…

Notice that love is all about doing for someone else. The only emotion related descriptions have to do with the types of feelings that love does not evoke. Love is selfless and self-sacrificing.

Summary

As illustrated by Yeshua’s example, love (that is, the Law of God) ain’t easy. However, it is what we are called to do. So, Christian, we implore you to get on with the work of God, and that starts with love, which is God’s Law. Make God’s Love (i.e., His Law) manifest in your life.

Some Ways to Manifest God’s Love in Your Life

For example, if you are married, do not commit adultery (Matthew 5:28), but love your spouse (Ephesians 5:33). If you are single, do not fornicate (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), but prepare yourself for your future spouse; do not even lust after another.

Are you addicted to television, most of the content of which is certainly the work of the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:1-3)? Eliminate television from your life.

Are you disobeying God’s Sabbath Law for the sake of sporting events that you want to watch or that you want your children to attend or participate in? You should love God above your own desires (Isaiah 58:13-14).

Has God brought people with needs that you can fill in your life? Prayerfully fill them (1 John 3:16-18).

Are you taking advantage of your Christian brothers and sisters, living off of the fruit of their labors when you are healthy and can work to provide for yourself? Then get a job, and provide for yourself and give of your overflow to others (e.g., 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 and Ephesians 4:28).

Are you afraid to share the Good News with others? That spirit is not from God (2 Timothy 1:7, Philippians 4:13), and Lord Yeshua said to do otherwise (Matthew 28:18-20). Here is a very simple approach to evangelism that anyone, even you, can apply: Frank Jenner’s Approach to Evangelism.

God bless, and Shabbat shalom,

Darwin and Ani

P.S. “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land,” 2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV.