No commandments greater than these. How?

[Bendito]

No.
That is a heresy.
Baptism into Christ, and into His death is the repentants actual death.
It is our actual burial with Christ and our actual resurrection with Him to walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:3-6, Col 2:11-13)


With my "dynamic", I have been freed from sin. (Rom 6:7)
What has your "dynamic" allowed?

What does the word 'Christ' mean? Its more than baptism here. read the prvious chapter and this one too

 

[Fragrant Grace]

Back to the OP, which is a far richer and more valuable theme than much of what follows. ;-)

Paul's prayer for the Church in Philippi:

And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.​

In regard to loving our neighbour, I think the wisdom this prayer has much to offer us. How love and insight combined lead us to good discernment; purity and blamelessness; then a harvest of righteousness for the glory of God.

We often tend to separate spiritual/physical, grace/nature, prayerful/practical. The sense I get from this prayer is that they are all tightly, tightly bound together - all for the sake God's glory.

Give me love and insight in abundance and equal measure, whoever I meet, however, whenever.

Thank you brother @Hekuran for attempting to bring this thread back to the topic of the OP.. ...and for sharing that thought provoking word.

I have just read this devotional......quite a challenge and in line with the spiritual/physical, grace/nature, prayerful/practical as mentioned by brother Hekuran


Love thy neighbour."
Perhaps he rolls in riches, and thou art poor, and living in thy little cot side-by-side with his lordly mansion;
thou seest every day his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets;
God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him.
Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not better it,
but do not look upon thy neighbour, and wish that he were as thyself.
Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.
Perhaps, on the other hand, thou art rich, and near thee reside the poor.
Do not scorn to call them neighbour.
Own that thou art bound to love them.
The world calls them thy inferiors.
In what are they inferior?
They are far more thine equals than thine inferiors,
for "God hath made of one blood all people that dwell upon the face of the earth."
It is thy coat which is better than theirs, but thou art by no means better than they.
They are men, and what art thou more than that?
Take heed that thou love thy neighbour even though he be in rags, or sunken in the depths of poverty.

But, perhaps, you say, "I cannot love my neighbours, because for all I do they return ingratitude and contempt."
So much the more room for the heroism of love.
Wouldst thou be a feather-bed warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love?
He who dares the most, shall win the most; and if rough be thy path of love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbours through thick and thin.
Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they be hard to please, seek not to please them, but to please thy Master; and remember if they spurn thy love, thy Master hath not spurned it, and thy deed is as acceptable to Him as if it had been acceptable to them.
Love thy neighbour, for in so doing thou art following the footsteps of Christ.
CH Spurgeon*



* Just before anyone jumps in to comment on Spurgeon. I believe his writings show the depth and beauty of his love for our Lord. I do not, however, wish to promote all of Spurgeons teachings as some leaned towards Calvinism

 

[At Peace]

What does the word 'Christ' mean? Its more than baptism here. read the prvious chapter and this one too

The word "Christ" means..."anointed".
Again, what has your "dynamic" achieved?
As they say, "the proof is in the pudding"..

 

[Br. Bear]

As they say, "the proof is in the pudding"..

what we ALL need to remember is that when we come to the table, and the Lord says, Take, Eat... that we consider our eating of the Bread of Life.
He was crushed and bruised.
And what did He say for us to do? was it not to Love one another - as He first loved us?

Do we strain at gnats while swallowing camels?

We liken commandments to law, more often than not. The OP being about commandments should help us to consider the IMPORTANCE of keeping this perfect law of liberty.
From the other side, the sin we can be guilty of, if we do not give diligence to it, is to cease from love and instead, put the law of do-and-be-rewarded and don't-do-and-be-punished, and try loving from there, rather than being the light of the law of the perfect will of God as seen in the life of Christ Jesus the Lord, the Word become flesh.

By this (proof of the pudding) all men will see and know and give glory to God.... as Jesus also always pointed to the Father, our love for one another will do likewise.
If we get our little heads out of the way long enough we will see it is not all about me (say that out loud, now, in order to understand the context of my use of that word 'me') but we are called to bring glory to God to be a light so that men in darkness can see and get saved. Put this first, not yourselves.
Obedience to the Law will leave you straining at gnats. What we need to ask ourselves is if we want to be constipated? (check out Scriptures about bowels) I know that the straining can be about swallowing, so forgive me if I suggested anything the wrong way around.

Speaking of the wrong way around, how do we enter in?

In repentance, is it all about me stopping sinning or perhaps more about ceasing from selfishness and turning instead to giving, with a pure heart and conscience, and shining brighter and brighter until that Day?
God is Love and Love is for giving, He supplies, we serve from His cup.


Bless you ....><>

 

[Fragrant Grace]

Greetings @At Peace

You have taken the conversation totally off topic again after Brother Hekurans attempt to get back on track

Please remember the OP.

Thank you

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Matk 12:30-31

This has been on my heart for some time and I have been prompted by brother Dave M"s prayer thread.
(Thank you @Dave M )

How do we do this?

How do we know we love the Lord with all our soul mind and strength?

How do we love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves?

Surely this is something we all fail in many times?
I'm sure I put self first a lot of the time above my neighbour?

How can the great commandments in theses verses be applied Spiritually and practically to our lives?

 

[Br. Bear]

Greetings,

Greetings @At Peace

You have taken the conversation totally off topic again after Brother Hekurans attempt to get back on track

Please remember the OP.

Thank you

I, too, shall attempt to remember this request @Fragrant Grace

sometimes one can get quite off topic without realising it.


Bless you ....><>

 

[At Peace]

Greetings @At Peace

You have taken the conversation totally off topic again after Brother Hekurans attempt to get back on track

Please remember the OP.

Thank you

Do not obedience to God and loving our neighbor go hand-in-hand?
How can we write of loving our neighbor without first recognizing that any sin we do manifests a lack of love for ourselves?

If we commit sin, we neither love God above all else nor our neighbor as our self.

 

[Sue D.]

We are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and our neighbor as ourselves.

Even believers will commit sin while in this world. One way we can see Christ in others is by their love for God / one another. And people see Christ in us Through our love for others.

So, being a sinner / saved by grace/ does Not negate our loving God or those around us (our neighbor).

 

[At Peace]

We are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and our neighbor as ourselves.

Even believers will commit sin while in this world. One way we can see Christ in others is by their love for God / one another. And people see Christ in us Through our love for others.

So, being a sinner / saved by grace/ does Not negate our loving God or those around us (our neighbor).

Name one sin that shows our love.

 

[Dave M]

I look at doctors who have trained half there life to become a doctor then once they become a doctor they go to a third word country with little pay, and serve thier for the remainder of their career, because they are followers of Christ. They could of stayed here in the states and become rich and enjoyed all the luxuries basically known to man kind, yet they chose to go serve whee no one wants to, and live in third world poverty.

To me this is a great example of loving your neighbor putting there needs above your needs. My pastor just got back from the Himalayas wear we sent the money to build a school for the kids. He was telling us he asked one of the missionaries there why they did it, they said the bible say go and spread the gospel. we take going to the bathroom for granted, in a place like this you have to use a out house with no electricity, people choose to live like this to help others

we all have gifts the question is do we use these gifts for the good of others for GOds Glory, or do we use these gifts for our own selfish desires?? that question helped me understand better on how to love my neighbor as my self.

 

[Sue D.]

@Dave M. -- totally agree. It's medical missions. And there was a Dr and family in a church we'd gone to -- he had a surgical specialty that was very needed in a particular area / he was asked to go help and he did for a while. His wife and small kids were left in the care of the church family people during that time.

 

[Sue D.]

Name one sin that shows our love.

So -- you're suggesting that sinless perfection Can be achieved while here on earth by a believer? Would that not be suggesting that a person could say "i haven't committed even one sin since I've been a Christian" and not be guilty of the sin of pride? And 'sinning' would include a person's thought life, correct? That would include getting irritated by the neighbors' dog that barked all night and kept you awake and caused you to be irritable in the morning.

Can't we get irritated by someone who is consistantly late for a committee meeting and still be a loving person at the nursing home? Or be a volunteer in the children's ward at the local hospital?

Maybe this is being stated the wrong way. Is our potential 'sin' as a believer being put in the catagory of keeping a law in order to ensure our salvation? The lack Of eternal security?

I Could counter your question with 'name one sin that will separate us From God's love'.

 

[At Peace]

So -- you're suggesting that sinless perfection Can be achieved while here on earth by a believer? Would that not be suggesting that a person could say "i haven't committed even one sin since I've been a Christian" and not be guilty of the sin of pride? And 'sinning' would include a person's thought life, correct? That would include getting irritated by the neighbors' dog that barked all night and kept you awake and caused you to be irritable in the morning.

Correct.
Those reborn of God's seed CANNOT commit sin.
Why?
Because God's seed CANNOT bring forth devilish fruit.

Can't we get irritated by someone who is consistantly late for a committee meeting and still be a loving person at the nursing home? Or be a volunteer in the children's ward at the local hospital?

Yes we can.
Being irritated isn't a sin.
What you do with that irritation can be a sin.
Wasn't Jesus "irritated" when Peter tried to talk Jesus out of suffering for us? (Matt 16:23)
Or with the Pharisees on countless occasions?
It is written..."Be ye angry, and sin not." (Eph 4:26)

Maybe this is being stated the wrong way. Is our potential 'sin' as a believer being put in the catagory of keeping a law in order to ensure our salvation? The lack Of eternal security?

No.
By committing a sin, however, one manifests that they are still under the Law..."for by the Law is the knowledge of sin". (Rom 3:20)
If one "breaks" a Law, they are "under" the Law.

I Could counter your question with 'name one sin that will separate us From God's love'.

Every sin is a separation from God.
It is written..."The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity." (Ps 5:5)
The sinner separates himself from God.
Our Lord is merciful though, and will provide salvation to those who will humble themselves before Him.
That will require a real "turn from" sin, to start.

 

[Dave M]

Being irritated is a sin if it is because you are so selfish !!

it is a sin if you are not loving your neighbor as yourself !!

 

[At Peace]

Being irritated is a sin if it is because you are so selfish !!
it is a sin if you are not loving your neighbor as yourself !!

Yes indeed.
Irritation based on lust will usually be manifested by an act of hate.

The grounds crew at my apartment building are using the leaf blowers again.
It irritates me, but I don't allow it to cause me to commit a sin.
I plan ahead, and close the windows of my truck to keep the dirt out.
I go to the back of my apt. to avoid the noise.
Irritation can be dealt with without sinning.
Thanks be to God!

 

[Curtis]

Is it good to love one's self? It kinda sounds not to be a good thing to do, as we have all known, and heard of people who were only into their own self's. It must be a good thing to love our self's, after all, Jesus did say.....

“….Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ….” (Mark 12:31)

Then we find another scripture that seems to say the complete opposite. Jesus said....

Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and HATE NOT his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, AND HIS OWN LIFE ALSO, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.

Surely, “HATE”, and “LOVE” are complete opposites!! In fact the opposite of hate is love, and the opposite of love is hate!! The Greek word used for hate means, “to loveless”. So, what shall we do, and believe if we have two different commands that say two different things from Jesus himself?

Just before where Jesus said "we are to love our neighbors as our self's" we get a more clear understanding. One of the scribes came to Jesus, and asked him what was the greatest of ALL commandments? Jesus said....

Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, THE FIRST OF ALL THE COMMANDMENTS IS, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mark 12:30 And THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL THE, AND WITH ALL THY MIND, AND WITH ALL THY STRENGTH: THIS IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.
Mark 12:31 And the SECOND IS LIKE, NAMELY THIS, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Notice: We can NOT love our neighbor as our self, until we do the “FIRST” commandment which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength!!! The “SECOUND” commandment is not possible until we do the first commandment!!! This is why Jesus put them in this order!!

We can not love God until we first hate (loveless) ourselves, and put him (God) number one above our self's!!! Now the order would be, God first, people second, and lastly our self's.

As a Christian the part we should “love” about our self's is God in us!!! Remember, we died on the cross with Jesus, and it is no longer “I” that lives, but Christ lives in me!!!!

Gal 2:20 I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST: NEVERTHELESS I LIVE; YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Christ is the NEW you!!!! That old self (“I”) died 2000 years ago, and Christ is our new self!! This is why scripture tells us.....

2Cor 3:18 And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] AS IN A MIRROR THE GLORY OF THE LORD, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit. (AMP)

The veil has been taken away from our eyes so we can see in the “MIRROR” the Glory of the Lord!!!

Who do I see when I look into a mirror? I see myself!!! When we look into the mirror of God's Word we see the Glory of God inside us, because that is where he is!!!!! In his Church!!! We have this treasure in earthen vessels!!!!

When we love our self's we are actually loving God in us, because our old self died on the cross a long time ago!!!

 

[Fragrant Grace]

Correct.
Those reborn of God's seed CANNOT commit sin.
Why?

Good Morning @At Peace

I am just seeking a little clarification here to understand what you are saying.
In another post (on another thread I think).....you say your salvation isnt assured, that your life is a battle and that you must endure until the end. (I am paraphrasing here)

This would suggest that you as in your flesh CAN still sin
Otherwise why would it be such a battle?

Is it not the flesh warring against the Spirit that you describe?

These verses are written to believers

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:25-32

Ps I apologise for going off topic.....especially as I had prompted people to stay on topic

 

[Curtis]

Some one who is not "assured" of their salvation is not walking by faith, and whatever is NOT of faith is a sin!

 

[BLACKSHEEP]

At Peace said,

Those reborn of God's seed CANNOT commit sin.
Why? Because God's seed CANNOT bring forth devilish fruit.

These are the kinds of comments that are a turn off to believers and unbelievers. Christians shouldn't portray themselves as being sinless.

 

[Sue D.]

Believers still have the old nature to deal with -- and, so, yes, we Can and Do sin. Jesus Christ's death and bodily resurrection makes it possible to break our slavery To sin. We now have a Choice. 1 John 1:9 "IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

Maybe my earlier example of being irritated wasn't a very good one. It Would depend on how the person reacts To being irritated.

The difference between the non-believer and the believer is the desire to or not to sin in the first place. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and telling us what we Should or should NOT be doing. And some of us Do have our 'pet' sin. The thing that we know God understands about us. I know I sure do. There's a particular 'thing' I struggle a Lot with. The fact that I Do struggle with it shows me that it isn't really right or okay to do it. But it feels good. Which is Also suggesting that I don't really trust God to satisfy that part of my needs. That supposedly I know better than God how to satisfy that particular 'thing'. That's one of satans' many lies to us.