The Greatest Commandment: Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
This article talks about:
- Love as Obedience to God's Commandments
- Practical Love for Neighbors
- Love as the Fulfillment of the Law
-By Keijo Lindeman-
"Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?" Jesus declared, " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36–40).
A Pharisee and expert in the law who was putting Yeshua to the test asked Him which was the greatest commandment in the Torah. Yeshua´s answer was very clear and simple: the greatest of the commandments is to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. How can we do that? The Apostle John tells us how:
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:1-3).
We manifest our love for God by keeping His commandments. As Christians, we should obey all of God´s commandments that relate to us. These commandments (of the Torah) are written in the hearts of New Covenant believers (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Hebrews 8:7–12). It would not be possible for us to keep them in our own strength or willpower, but praise God who provides us with His Holy Spirit in order for us to be able to do His will and walk according to His commandments (Ezekiel 36:26–27). Whenever we stumble, we have the possibility to repent and ask Him to forgive us our transgressions and, as the need arises, ask our neighbor to forgive us, too. The precious blood of our Messiah will then cleanse us from our sin and from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
And the second commandment is like the first: "Love your neighbor as yourself." This commandment is not only given to New Covenant people; Yeshua quoted the Torah. If we turn to the Torah, we will see that loving one´s neighbor meant and still means many practical things we can and must do to show our love to our neighbors.
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God. You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another. You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him.
You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand. You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly. You must not go about spreading slander among your people.
You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD. You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD (Leviticus 19:9–18).
Loving one´s neighbor means we must help the needy and the foreigners; we must not steal, lie, or deceive; we must not be unjust or biased, but we must judge right, etc. Our love is manifested in the words and deeds that we say and do to our neighbor. To illustrate this, Yeshua told the parable of the Good Samaritan to another expert of the law (Luke 10:25–37). Loving one´s neighbor means that in our dealings, we are fair and reliable and address and treat everyone we meet kindly.
"If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom" (James 2:8–12).
The Apostle Paul concludes that to love one´s neighbor is to refuse to do anything that could harm them. Love is the fulfillment of the law because all the commandments of God´s law (the Torah) are summed up in it.
"Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:8–10).
May the Good God give us the grace and the strength to love ourselves so that we will be able to love our neighbors, treat them justly, and work for their well-being, as the Word of God and the Lord´s commandments teach us. If we honor His words, we will inherit eternal life and become citizens of God´s Kingdom, which has been prepared for the followers of Yeshua the Messiah, the people of God, since the creation of the world (Matthew 25:31–46).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Keijo Lindeman is a retired Finnish electrical engineer and writer. He has been a believer and Bible teacher for more than 50 years, focusing especially on Israel, restoration, and prophecy. His organization, Israel-Apu Ry, has supported Netivyah for more than 30 years, and it has regularly hosted its founder, Joseph Shulam, to teach in Finland for its Israel-seminars and meetings.