There is a lot
of hatred for God today. Some of it is disguised by tolerance and acceptance of
what He calls sin. Many people think that it is just unloving to speak of sin
and call the, now culturally acceptable behaviors, violations of God's
commands. People think that Jesus came and loved us and died for us, so we
could go to heaven and live forever in some blissful self-existence. Many think
it doesn’t matter if we curse, or we live in sexual sin of any kind, or even if
we simply violate civil laws that we don’t like.
That type of
attitude is a deception of the devil and will result in an eternal destination
that the Bible is very candid about. God has spoken clearly in His Word about
how we are to behave.
Deuteronomy
7:9-11
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Old Testament,
you cry out. Once again, Satan has duped you, if that’s what you think. Here is
what Jesus had to say about the Law.
Matthew
5:17-20
“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. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“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. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
We must understand
the truth of the scriptures and take hold of the facts. No one is saved by the
law, that is scriptural truth. But that does not have anything to do with the
truth that loving God means we love His law and we seek to be Holy, just as He
is.
Listen to this
story from Mark
12:28-34
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.
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.
I don’t care what man-made methods
of interpretation you have been taught, the main principle of Bible interpretation
is that scripture interprets scripture. This means to understand God’s Word you
must read it in the context of the entire Bible, not three verses above and
three below.
If you want to love God listen to
how Jesus said this must be done.
John
14:15
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
We need to wake up. Our hearts need
to be turned towards God and that means what He says, goes. Jesus said we must
deny ourselves. Yet, we are a nation of self-indulgence. Read your Bible from
cover to cover. It’s the only way to escape the deception Satan is reaping upon
God’s people. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in us and that empowers us to not
only understand God’s Word, but also to employ it in our lives.
Loving God’s means loving His
commandments. The opposite of love is hate. Here is what love for God is.
1 John
5:2
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
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