Friday, November 12, 2021
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).
How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?
Once, a preacher described himself using this brief statement on his social-media profile: “I am trying to love God and love my neighbor as myself.” This is wonderful and commendable—except for one problem. How successful has he been in this regard?
The Lord Jesus Christ summarized the Law of Moses with two commandments: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 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.
“And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question” (Mark 12:28-34; cf. Matthew 22:35-40; Luke 10:25-28). As stated in Matthew, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Under the assumption Jesus’ above words are successful Christian living, people have taken His earthly ministry and forced it into our dispensation. Let us see if this has helped them or harmed them….