The disannullment of the two greatest commandments
Dec 29, 2013 0:58:32 GMT
Post by Colossians on Dec 29, 2013 0:58:32 GMT
This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.
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THE DISANNULLMENT OF THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS
Christians almost invariably think that what Jesus declared at Mt 22:35-40 to be the two greatest commandments in the law and indeed those upon which the whole law was based – "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind", “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” – are in fact part of the New Testament, or New Covenant.
The reason for this belief is two-fold:
1. Jesus doesn’t indicate any disagreement with the commandments, but seems to rather embrace them.
2. Because such commandments have love as their focus, this would on the surface of things appear to make them synonymous with the many adjurations to love found in the pages of the New Testament epistles, most notably 1 Corinthians 13 and the first epistle of John.
But the two greatest commandments are part of the law, and if part of the law, then necessarily part of that which was ‘nailed to the Cross’ as per Col 2:141: they are therefore inapplicable to the believer in Christ. For if the law is nailed to the cross, of necessity is that also nailed to the cross upon which the whole law is based.
1 The legalist spins all sorts of yarns concerning Colossians 2:14, the two most prevalent being that “ordinances that were against us” is simply in reference to charges that were against us, or, that “ordinances” is merely in reference to (what the legalist likes to partition off as) 'the ceremonial law' as distinct from the decalogue. But "ordinances" means neither “charges” nor “(mere) ceremonial law”: “ordinances” means “divine decrees” and is thus inclusive of every instruction in the law, including the decalogue and including the two greatest commandments.
Accordingly, what most overlook about the two greatest commandments is that, along with all other commandments of whatever nature, their modality is deontic: they begin with "thou shalt": they constitute demands.
And so contrary to what is commonly held, the two greatest commandments in fact have no part in the New Testament at all.
For in our being told:
“charity seeketh not her own” 1 Cor 13:5 (“love does not demand”)
we understand that the basis for such is:
“where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” Heb 9:16,17
: the testament (covenant) by which we live, is based on the very antithesis of demand, being rather written with the blood of its Testator.
Shall then He who formulated this covenant of liberty which is our very life, Himself be found a transgressor in reinstating the demands of the law upon us? For it is written:
“For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor” Gal 2:18.
God forbid.
But unfortunately for the Jew, he was so blinded by the law and his own efforts to please God, he did not notice that “thou shalt love” is probably the greatest oxymoron that has ever been written.
And of course that the two greatest commandments were in fact nailed to the Cross, is (further) confirmed in the enunciation by our Lord of “a new commandment” (John 13:34), for given that the two greatest commandments in the law covered everything conceivable, then if they were still in force, what the need for a new one?
And of course there would be no such need.
But the new commandment differs from the two greatest commandments in that it does not demand, but rather makes appeal to the (power that is) the Third Person of God who dwells within the Christian, and that on the basis of the personal example of "the forerunner" (Heb 6:20), which two facets respectively are represented below:
“the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” Rom 5:5;
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you" John 13:34.
By “personal example” then, we mean not the 'mere' story of Calvary in scripture, but the receiving in our behalf of that story by the Holy Spirit who lives within us, that same “Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15).
That is, whereas the two greatest commandments were of an external nature – God 'over there' (so to speak) telling us 'over here' (so to speak) to do as He says or else! – the "new commandment" was rather predicated on the basis of the fact that "he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor 6:17), and would accordingly put the responsibility for our righteousness cleanly on Christ's shoulders instead of our own: Christ would be required by the Father to elicit an irresistible response of love from us in the Spirit, by that same Spirit working in the behalf of us, and this in turn by virtue of His unconditional blood covenant which declares that no matter how much we have sinned, and no matter how far we have fallen, if we shall confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. (See Rom 10:9.)
So the Psalmist:
"if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there" Ps 139:8.
So the writer to the Hebrews:
“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” Heb 7:25.
And so we thank God that we no longer have to love Him: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart” was nailed to the cross.
And for that, we love Him all the more.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" Is 9:6.
Amen.
_________________________________________________________
THE DISANNULLMENT OF THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS
Christians almost invariably think that what Jesus declared at Mt 22:35-40 to be the two greatest commandments in the law and indeed those upon which the whole law was based – "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind", “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” – are in fact part of the New Testament, or New Covenant.
The reason for this belief is two-fold:
1. Jesus doesn’t indicate any disagreement with the commandments, but seems to rather embrace them.
2. Because such commandments have love as their focus, this would on the surface of things appear to make them synonymous with the many adjurations to love found in the pages of the New Testament epistles, most notably 1 Corinthians 13 and the first epistle of John.
But the two greatest commandments are part of the law, and if part of the law, then necessarily part of that which was ‘nailed to the Cross’ as per Col 2:141: they are therefore inapplicable to the believer in Christ. For if the law is nailed to the cross, of necessity is that also nailed to the cross upon which the whole law is based.
1 The legalist spins all sorts of yarns concerning Colossians 2:14, the two most prevalent being that “ordinances that were against us” is simply in reference to charges that were against us, or, that “ordinances” is merely in reference to (what the legalist likes to partition off as) 'the ceremonial law' as distinct from the decalogue. But "ordinances" means neither “charges” nor “(mere) ceremonial law”: “ordinances” means “divine decrees” and is thus inclusive of every instruction in the law, including the decalogue and including the two greatest commandments.
Accordingly, what most overlook about the two greatest commandments is that, along with all other commandments of whatever nature, their modality is deontic: they begin with "thou shalt": they constitute demands.
And so contrary to what is commonly held, the two greatest commandments in fact have no part in the New Testament at all.
For in our being told:
“charity seeketh not her own” 1 Cor 13:5 (“love does not demand”)
we understand that the basis for such is:
“where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” Heb 9:16,17
: the testament (covenant) by which we live, is based on the very antithesis of demand, being rather written with the blood of its Testator.
Shall then He who formulated this covenant of liberty which is our very life, Himself be found a transgressor in reinstating the demands of the law upon us? For it is written:
“For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor” Gal 2:18.
God forbid.
But unfortunately for the Jew, he was so blinded by the law and his own efforts to please God, he did not notice that “thou shalt love” is probably the greatest oxymoron that has ever been written.
And of course that the two greatest commandments were in fact nailed to the Cross, is (further) confirmed in the enunciation by our Lord of “a new commandment” (John 13:34), for given that the two greatest commandments in the law covered everything conceivable, then if they were still in force, what the need for a new one?
And of course there would be no such need.
But the new commandment differs from the two greatest commandments in that it does not demand, but rather makes appeal to the (power that is) the Third Person of God who dwells within the Christian, and that on the basis of the personal example of "the forerunner" (Heb 6:20), which two facets respectively are represented below:
“the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” Rom 5:5;
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you" John 13:34.
By “personal example” then, we mean not the 'mere' story of Calvary in scripture, but the receiving in our behalf of that story by the Holy Spirit who lives within us, that same “Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15).
That is, whereas the two greatest commandments were of an external nature – God 'over there' (so to speak) telling us 'over here' (so to speak) to do as He says or else! – the "new commandment" was rather predicated on the basis of the fact that "he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor 6:17), and would accordingly put the responsibility for our righteousness cleanly on Christ's shoulders instead of our own: Christ would be required by the Father to elicit an irresistible response of love from us in the Spirit, by that same Spirit working in the behalf of us, and this in turn by virtue of His unconditional blood covenant which declares that no matter how much we have sinned, and no matter how far we have fallen, if we shall confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. (See Rom 10:9.)
So the Psalmist:
"if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there" Ps 139:8.
So the writer to the Hebrews:
“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” Heb 7:25.
And so we thank God that we no longer have to love Him: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart” was nailed to the cross.
And for that, we love Him all the more.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" Is 9:6.
Amen.