Have you heard about the golden rule?
“Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.” Matthew 7:12 “This sums up all that is taught in the Law and by the prophets” What do you think Jesus meant by this? Automatically, I think of what He said in Matthew 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” It appears to me that the LOVE of GOD IS the fulfillment of the Law, and the WORD that the prophets foretold. The apostle Paul said in Romans 13, verses 8-10, “Owe nothing to anyone - except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, 'You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.' These, and other such commandments, are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.” In the verses that follow, verses 11-14, Paul exhorts us not to drag our feet. In essence, he says time is running out and that we need to be urgent and put away our doubts. Because we belong to the day, and not to the night, we must put on the shining armor of right living by clothing ourselves with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see? Jesus is the fulfillment the Law, He is the Passover Lamb! In John 15:9-17, Jesus says, “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master does not confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.” Jesus modeled exactly what love means - to lay down your life, swallow your pride, and all of your fleshly desires. From the fall of man, God showed his love. He prepared His Word to come as a Lamb, as a blood sacrifice for humans - to save us from eternal damnation. Christ nailed our sins to the cross and took on our punishment. Romans Chapter 3, verses 19-28, does a good job of explaining this. “Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands.” “The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago." "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time.” “God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” “Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.” “So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” “Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” Romans 3:19-28 Jesus told His disciples: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 We must understand that Humanity is not capable of loving the way God loves without the help of God Himself. “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
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