"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Today's lesson contains a definition of "sin" that I believe is overlooked, or simply ignored, by the majority of modern gospel preachers, and teachers.
There is no more honorable and worthwhile calling than that of preaching or teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, far too many who undertake this calling spend the vast majority of their pulpit time condemning the "sins" of the world and referring to scripture that pertains only to the Jewish race.
There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING we, as Christians, can, or are even scripturally authorized to do, that can in any way affect "sin", one way or the other.
Sin is present everywhere, it always has been and will always be until Jesus returns to destroy it. Not nearly enough time is spent simply spreading the glorious good news that through faith in Jesus Christ, the lost can attain eternal life.
Sin is present everywhere, it always has been and will always be until Jesus returns to destroy it. Not nearly enough time is spent simply spreading the glorious good news that through faith in Jesus Christ, the lost can attain eternal life.
When modern "ministers of the gospel" stop wasting valuable pulpit time on scripturally illegitimate rants about how evil the world has gotten, the purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ will be much more affectively served.
In today's lesson, Jesus, when asked, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?", responded, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.".
Take note that the question that was asked restricted Jesus' answer to the "Great commandment IN THE LAW". His answer was that the first of the Ten Commandments was the "great" commandment. With that, we should also remember that Jesus, upon His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, FULFILLED the "law" for the redeemed, and released all the Jews, who would accept His saving grace, from it.
Jesus went further to say, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Although the Ten Commandments had no great nor second great commandment, Jesus, by identifying these two "great" commandments, provided that if we love God with all of our being and love those around us as we love ourselves, we will have obeyed, what is today, the entire commandment of God.
What we should condemn as "sins" today, are only those things that are done that ultimately offend, hurt, or cause harm to someone else. We are neither qualified, nor scripturally authorized, to condemn the actions (sins) of others, EVER. If we would simply treat everyone around us as we would have them treat us, we would all be sinless by the standard Jesus defined.~
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