Mark 12:28-34 (ESV Strong's)
(The Great Commandment)
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?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 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. 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.” 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.
Tag: A Summary of Living Right Before God
In the above verses we have Jesus’ summary of the power of the Gospel. This is what it would man to observe the Gospel in its entirety. If we want to know what it is like to be a child of God, this is it. Our complete love for God and for others is the key to fulfilling all the Old Testament Law. There is not much to write about this. However, we can’t simply love God with all our heart, soul and mind because wee are weak in the flesh. We need to ask for God’s forgiveness and allow Christ to pay for that sin, fill us with His Spirit and then and only then can we fulfill what Jesus is talking about here. Christ enables us to fulfill the above verses. We don’t do this on our own. When Jesus tells the man “you are not far from the kingdom of God” Jesus is telling us that knowing this and recognizing this is one thing, but it is not the only thing. We have to be empowered to love God. That only happens when Christ saves us. We have to be empowered to love others. That only happens when Christ saves us and the Holy Spirit fills us and produces His fruit within our lives.
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