We are commanded to love
You will recall that Christians’ fellowship (koinonia) is the sharing our lives with each other. It means we ought to become involved in each other's lives. Christianity is a team game that needs every player taking part. We saw previously in our Body Ministry message that every part of the body of Christ has its unique part to play. No believer is independent of each other but rather we all are inter-dependent on each other, and we will only reach full maturity in the faith by working with each other.
You will have certainly realised by now that Christianity is all about love meaning that our Christianity means for us to love God and to love our fellow man.
New Testament Commandments
Jesus commanded his followers to keep his commandments.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.
They are not suggestions or helpful hints, but they are Jesus' express commands to his followers and as such apply to us as part of his church.
We are going to have a quick reminder as to what his commandments are.
The two greatest commandments
Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:40 is a verse in the Bible that says, "On these two - hang all the law and the prophets.
This means that the two great commandments, loving God with everything in our being and loving our neighbours as ourselves, are like the first and last links of a chain, and all the intermediate ones depend on them.
Jesus upholds Deuteronomy 6:5 (the Shema), indicating that loving God with everything within us, is the great and first commandment. Think of the cross; Loving God is the vertical dimension and the loving our neighbours as ourselves is the horizontal dimension of our love.
Who is your neighbour? As explained in the parable of the Good Samaritan, our neighbour is anyone who needs our help!
A new Commandment
John 13:33 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”
Well, how does Jesus love his followers? Take a moment to think. He loves us unto death!
His love was so great that he gave his life’s blood that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God. Jesus expects that our love for each will be sacrificial putting the needs of one another ahead of our own.
In the early Church, Tertullian tells us that the witness of Christian love, struck pagans. “See how they love one another!” they would remark. I wonder if any people today could look at us today say the same thing as Tertullian.
Our love for one another should be the hallmark of our Christian faith and be the major characteristic of how we deal with one another.
Amen
Personal Prayer
In Part 2 we consider some scriptures that tell how to deal with one another, relating to each other, and things we do together.
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