Love Thy Neighbor
Blog Repost
Love thy neighbor. Ever heard that phrase? Of course you have. It is a tremendous and powerful strength which originated in human history by way of God's Word. Improper teaching and wrong application of this concept has weakened the minds of many born again believers quite successfully... used by the world to mean "all inclusive." This "love thy neighbor" concept, which originated from God through His Word for the benefit of His people, has been twisted sufficiently today by the god of this world with the goal of confusing God's people and to move them towards wasting their effort to live this strengthening truth. This in fact weakens the minds of the natural man and the carnal Christian. And is the root of much of what would not be allowed in any nation or community that accurately worships the One, and True, and Genuine, God.
Those of us that have been initiated into an understanding of The Mystery Revealed understand that Jesus, God's only physical son gave God's people the reason of the whole Law of the Old Testament and he summed it up into 2 great commandments. Which is "...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." (Mark 12:30, 31) And we understand the commandment to us today in this Grace Administration in which it is available to become a spiritual son or daughter of God is to simply love. But not just love... but... LOVE! (Galatians 5:14) To release the spiritual love we've been filled with by our Father... Who IS Love. It has the potential to have great effect on this realm. But that power can be weakened, if not wasted, by the parasite of ignorance and misunderstanding of God's Word concerning this concept. Which should then beg the question, HOW does a son or daughter of God actually do the ... LOVE!... thing?
Funny you should ask that. It directs us to the section of scripture I want to get to! A couple of things to understand here. A "lawyer" in the days of Jesus in Israel is not the same as we think of today. A lawyer in that time was one who studied and was considered expert in the Law of the Old Testament. This lawyer should have, and did know the answer to his own question. The word "tempted" in verse 25 is actually the word for "try" as in "trial". The lawyer wasn't asking to learn. He was asking with the attitude of examining, or proving Jesus' knowledge of the law. Jesus perceived that attitude and turned it back on the lawyer. Which led to the lawyer's attempt to justify himself and gave Jesus an opportunity to actually teach him something. And keep in mind the Samaritans of this time were looked on as lower life forms. Even though they were of the bloodline of Abraham and had legal claim to the promises of God, having their bloodline mixed with the peoples of unbelieving nations made them not as "pure" as of the bloodline of the Hebrews in the mind of the Hebrews. They were consider "half-breeds." Which is why a Levite is used in Jesus' teaching. A Levite was a tribe of Israel given the charge to teach and to help the chosen nation of God's citizens which made up Israel. The priest also would be someone who most would think would help.
Luke 10:25-37 (KJV)
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
This would have made perfect sense to the Hebrews of the time. They knew who they were. Their nation (first promised to Abraham then confirmed with Abraham's grandson Jacob when God renamed him Israel) was chosen of God to be the bloodline from which the Christ (first promised to Adam and Eve) would come. By way of the son of Israel named Judah. However, the confusion to most today still lies in the lawyer's question, "And who is my neighbor?" as well as perhaps the word, "love" which in verse 25 is the Greek word "agapeo." The verb form of the word, "agape." But here we're going into "neighbor." Who is this neighbor? If you get nothing else out of this get this! Israel was a nation of believers. Whether they were of the kingdom of Judah or Israel. Whether they were from Jerusalem or Galilee or Samaria they were the nation of whom the true God had chosen. Jesus was sent to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." His ministry was to the nation of Hebrews which were given the Law of Righteousness. They all considered themselves believers. Their neighbors were fellow believers! Therefore, YOUR neighbors when it comes to understanding this concept is other believers studying and putting into application God's Word! Not the unbelievers we're all surrounded with in this world! We love them too, yes, of course but we do not fully fellowship with them... we do not share this spiritual love we have as fully as we do with fellow disciples! We hold each other accountable. We expect each other to rise up in a knowledge of the Truth and proper application of it. Not the clowns that reject our Father's Word or even those that do nothing with it! The only "all-inclusive" about this is all with distinction. Not all without exception. Those that make up the true household of God is a believer's neighbor. Those that are adhering to the Truth! Those that are born again and rightly dividing God's Word!
Sons and daughters of God are to be love generating human beings in this world. That love will attract those that are God's household... even if they don't know they're household yet! It's the truth in love we speak to each other than encourages our brethren in Christ and is the catalyst for our own personal growth. NOT the twisting of this concept by religion and politics which tells us we have to accept everyone and everything. This only encourages political correctness and intimidates many into accepting lifestyles and behaviours contrary to God's Will. And weakens many. It is a very loving thing we do to offer the Truth of God's Word to others that they may recover themselves. Truth is eternal. Truth is what strengthens. If the love you operate isn't manifested according to the Truth you will find yourself weary of it and wondering why you don't get the benefits of it. A word of advice? Try to waste as little as possible of the spiritual love we've been filled with on those that outright reject it or do nothing with it. Love your spiritual neighbor as you love yourself. Forgive your spiritual brother "7 times 70" if needed. And don't put up with all this nonsense we have to be politically correct. We should be more concerned about being biblically correct!
Related Links
Mark 12:30, 31 Galatians 5:14 Agape. Such A Love As This!
Matthew 15:21-28 II Timothy 2:14-16 Ephesians 4:14-20
2 Timothy 2:25-26 Matthew 18:21-35 James 2:8
This post originally published on my blog TheHollerinStump.com on 02/05/2016. The blog is built on Blogger and hosted by Google. They have locked me out of my account there until I update my payment details. Therefore it won’t be getting registered and will cease to be available in the late spring of 2023. I am reposting as many of these posts here as I see relevant before then.
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