Jesus only gave 1 commandment

[radhead]

"Love your neighbor"

Love your neighbor. That is the only one. There are not 2 commandments. He never gave a requirement to have "faith" or to "believe" in a certain thing. You don't even have to acknowledge Jesus because he said there were true followers outside of the fold. In fact there are so many false "Christians" claiming to represent Jesus, that it may even be a virtue not to even acknowledge him. Even their "God" should be questioned if they are the sort of people who represent him.

The first thing I ever accepted from Jesus was his message of LOVE. If an apostle, an angel, Paul, or any preacher gave a different commandment, may he be condemned to Hell. That is what Paul stated. Which means that he may have done the same thing.

So you can rest assured that if anyone claims to be a "Christian" but has substituted Jesus's 1 commandment with anything else, then that person is surely a liar and the Beast.

Anyone who would replace love with ANYTHING else is not to be trusted. These people deny love and so they could never possibly know the true God. Their definition of "faith" does not include love or anything of substance. Therefore they are empty and devoid of God's spirit.

 

[miamited]

Hi radhead,

I am going to assume that you haven't actually read the passage in which Jesus spoke that law.

God bless you,
In Christ, ted

 

[2PhiloVoid]

"Love your neighbor"

Love your neighbor. That is the only one. There are not 2 commandments. He never gave a requirement to have "faith" or to "believe" in a certain thing. You don't even have to acknowledge Jesus because he said there were true followers outside of the fold. In fact there are so many false "Christians" claiming to represent Jesus, that it may even be a virtue not to even acknowledge him. Even their "God" should be questioned if they are the sort of people who represent him.

The first thing I ever accepted from Jesus was his message of LOVE. If an apostle, an angel, Paul, or any preacher gave a different commandment, may he be condemned to Hell. That is what Paul stated. Which means that he may have done the same thing.

So you can rest assured that if anyone claims to be a "Christian" but has substituted Jesus's 1 commandment with anything else, then that person is surely a liar and the Beast.

Anyone who would replace love with ANYTHING else is not to be trusted. These people deny love and so they could never possibly know the true God. Their definition of "faith" does not include love or anything of substance. Therefore they are empty and devoid of God's spirit.

So, I guess that Jesus' saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," which according to Matthew marks the beginning of Jesus' ministry, does not count as an imperative statement or a command?

I guess you're going to have to explain your exposition of Jesus' overall meaning in the Gospels for me to then, in turn, understand your meaning better, Rad.

 

[Soyeong]

"Love your neighbor"

Love your neighbor. That is the only one. There are not 2 commandments. He never gave a requirement to have "faith" or to "believe" in a certain thing. You don't even have to acknowledge Jesus because he said there were true followers outside of the fold. In fact there are so many false "Christians" claiming to represent Jesus, that it may even be a virtue not to even acknowledge him. Even their "God" should be questioned if they are the sort of people who represent him.

The first thing I ever accepted from Jesus was his message of LOVE. If an apostle, an angel, Paul, or any preacher gave a different commandment, may he be condemned to Hell. That is what Paul stated. Which means that he may have done the same thing.

So you can rest assured that if anyone claims to be a "Christian" but has substituted Jesus's 1 commandment with anything else, then that person is surely a liar and the Beast.

Anyone who would replace love with ANYTHING else is not to be trusted. These people deny love and so they could never possibly know the true God. Their definition of "faith" does not include love or anything of substance. Therefore they are empty and devoid of God's spirit.

In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was not asked asked about what the one commandment that should be followed, but about what the greatest commandment was. He responded by saying to love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, and mind, the a second is like it to love your neighbor as yourself, and on those two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. So right there he gave two commands, but really he gave all of them because he said that they all hang on the greatest two. In other words, the greatest two commandments are the greatest two because they encapsulate all of the other commands and all of the other commands are examples of how to correctly obey the greatest two commands that define what it means to love God and our neighbor. The command to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind is a lot easier said than done, so thankfully we have all the other commands to paint us a picture of what the at looks like.

But really, the only way to hold the position that he gave only one command is to ignore everything else he commanded. He gave a number of commands just in Matthew 5 alone. Many other verses, such as Mark 1:15, Mark 16:14-18, John 6:35, John 7:38, John 8:24, and John 11:25-26 very clearly indicate that we should believe in him. It is contradictory for you say that Jesus had followers outside the fold so you don't need to acknowledge him because you can't follow him without acknowledging him.

 

[Anguspure]

"Love your neighbor"

Love your neighbor. That is the only one. There are not 2 commandments. He never gave a requirement to have "faith" or to "believe" in a certain thing. You don't even have to acknowledge Jesus because he said there were true followers outside of the fold. In fact there are so many false "Christians" claiming to represent Jesus, that it may even be a virtue not to even acknowledge him. Even their "God" should be questioned if they are the sort of people who represent him.

The first thing I ever accepted from Jesus was his message of LOVE. If an apostle, an angel, Paul, or any preacher gave a different commandment, may he be condemned to Hell. That is what Paul stated. Which means that he may have done the same thing.

So you can rest assured that if anyone claims to be a "Christian" but has substituted Jesus's 1 commandment with anything else, then that person is surely a liar and the Beast.

Anyone who would replace love with ANYTHING else is not to be trusted. These people deny love and so they could never possibly know the true God. Their definition of "faith" does not include love or anything of substance. Therefore they are empty and devoid of God's spirit.

You are correct, He gave only one commandment and that commandment of Agape, properly understood encompasses all of the Law and the Prophets, both in that it serves to convict all of us who have failed to keep it perfectly (in far more detail and depth than any of the other laws), and that it shows us the way of perfection which the other laws were only a shadow of.
The one Law of Christ Jesus did not diminish the Law of Moses, rather it upholds and fulfills it.
Better to live by the fruit of the Tree of Life than die by the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, my brother.

 

[radhead]

Hi radhead,

I am going to assume that you haven't actually read the passage in which Jesus spoke that law.

God bless you,
In Christ, ted

I've read the Bible numerous times. The gospels probably more than any other. The message I've gotten from the Bible does not match what I hear self-labelled "Christians" preaching. Therefore I know that they read the Bible out of context. And I have to assume that you are in spiritual darkness if you try to replace the commandment of love with anything else.

To anyone else, quoting verses holds no authority for me. They are empty and void of any meaning when you try to use them against what I know to be true. Those verses can even be evil if used for that purpose.

Also, professing "faith" in your own "God" is meaningless. It is the principles that you believe in that matter, and how you live them in practice, not the name of your god or what you believe about your own god.

 

[Anguspure]

I've read the Bible numerous times. The gospels probably more than any other. The message I've gotten from the Bible does not match what I hear self-labelled "Christians" preaching. Therefore I know that they read the Bible out of context. And I have to assume that you are in spiritual darkness if you try to replace the commandment of love with anything else.

To anyone else, quoting verses holds no authority for me. They are empty and void of any meaning when you try to use them against what I know to be true. Those verses can even be evil if used for that purpose.

Also, professing "faith" in your own "God" is meaningless. It is the principles that you believe in that matter, and how you live them in practice, not the name of your god or what you believe about your own god.

Given that we are all corrupted and given up to death from the beginning, how much good do you think our dirty rags of morality do for the redemption of the world?
I would suggest that Who we trust for salvation and righteousness is a consideration of foremost priority and it is only once we have a clean slate, a redeemed life to work from that our Love truly counts for something.

 

[Soyeong]

I've read the Bible numerous times. The gospels probably more than any other. The message I've gotten from the Bible does not match what I hear self-labelled "Christians" preaching. Therefore I know that they read the Bible out of context. And I have to assume that you are in spiritual darkness if you try to replace the commandment of love with anything else.

To anyone else, quoting verses holds no authority for me. They are empty and void of any meaning when you try to use them against what I know to be true. Those verses can even be evil if used for that purpose.

Also, professing "faith" in your own "God" is meaningless. It is the principles that you believe in that matter, and how you live them in practice, not the name of your god or what you believe about your own god.

Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his commandments (John 14:15), so there is no way to interpret that verse as not contradicting your belief that he only gave one command. If you think that I am taking that verse out of context, then by all means please do explain how it should be understood in context. As you've clearly demonstrated, reading the Bible numerous times is sadly not the same thing as understanding it. If the message the message you God from the Bible doesn't match what you hear Christians preaching, then perhaps you should consider whether it is you who have read the Bible out of context. After all, it is you who are refusing to consider the context of the many verses that contradict your position, and furthermore that is something that you necessarily need to do in order to continue to hold your position. No one is replacing the command to love with anything else, but rather we are trying to help you to understand what it means to obey that command. Everything in the Bible is about God and how to have a relationship with Him, and if you do not see this, then it is sadly you who are in spiritual darkness.

 

[radhead]

Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his commandments (John 14:15), so there is no way to interpret that verse as not contradicting your belief that he only gave one command. If you think that I am taking that verse out of context, then by all means please do explain how it should be understood in context. As you've clearly demonstrated, reading the Bible numerous times is sadly not the same thing as understanding it. If the message the message you God from the Bible doesn't match what you hear Christians preaching, then perhaps you should consider whether it is you who have read the Bible out of context. After all, it is you who are refusing to consider the context of the many verses that contradict your position, and furthermore that is something that you necessarily need to do in order to continue to hold your position. No one is replacing the command to love with anything else, but rather we are trying to help you to understand what it means to obey that command. Everything in the Bible is about God and how to have a relationship with Him, and if you do not see this, then it is sadly you who are in spiritual darkness.

How do you know what Jesus even said. No one really knows. No one even knows for sure if the character in the gospel stories was based on a real human being.

 

[Soyeong]

How do you know what Jesus even said. No one really knows. No one even knows for sure if the character in the gospel stories was based on a real human being.

Then how do you know Jesus only gave one commandment? For that matter, how do you know what anyone in history has said? No one really knows. No one even knows for sure if any person in any historical account was based on a real human being. Great job, you've just done away with all of known history. If you want to embrace radical scepticism, then that is your choice, but then don't act like you have absolute knowledge of the one command Jesus gave while everyone else doesn't really know for sure anything he said. If you want to randomly make up what he said without regard to what is recorded that he said, then you are free to do so, but then don't act like the people who are going by what is recorded that he said are ones who are taking his words out of context.

 

[radhead]

Then how do you know Jesus only gave one commandment? For that matter, how do you know what anyone in history has said? No one really knows. No one even knows for sure if any person in any historical account was based on a real human being. Great job, you've just done away with all of known history. If you want to embrace radical scepticism, then that is your choice, but then don't act like you have absolute knowledge of the one command Jesus gave while everyone else doesn't really know for sure anything he said. If you want to randomly make up what he said without regard to what is recorded that he said, then you are free to do so, but then don't act like the people who are going by what is recorded that he said are ones who are taking his words out of context.

When I read the Bible I get a clear message. A very clear and LUCID message. That message is that God cares about how we live and treat each other. The central message is social justice. I don't find any other message.

Not faith in the supernatural. Not belief in ancient miracles. Not anything of that sort.

Therefore, whenever I hear a self-labelled "Christian" try to bypass this message with anything else, such as belief in the supernatural, then I know without a doubt that the person has not received the true message. Those parables are meant and INTENDED to blind people to the truth. The Bible actually says that. They are not meant to be believed.

So if a person professes belief in them, then he has already shown and PROVEN that he doesn't care about the central message and command of the Bible.

 

[Anguspure]

How do you know what Jesus even said. No one really knows. No one even knows for sure if the character in the gospel stories was based on a real human being.

Why would anybody disbeleive the writers of the gospels? Certainly in every way that can be historically tested they are all impecable in their record, certainly in the way they record the human interactions they are candid, even at their own expense and certainly the accounts as they are written do nothing to pander to any contemporary or subsequent religious or political heirachy or authority.
I think on a historical basis it is very safe to say that what we have is a true reflection of the life, death, ressurection and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth as passed on by those who were His Apostles.

 

[Anguspure]

When I read the Bible I get a clear message. A very clear and LUCID message. That message is that God cares about how we live and treat each other. The central message is social justice. I don't find any other message.

Not faith in the supernatural. Not belief in ancient miracles. Not anything of that sort.

Therefore, whenever I hear a self-labelled "Christian" try to bypass this message with anything else, such as belief in the supernatural, then I know without a doubt that the person has not received the true message. Those parables are meant and INTENDED to blind people to the truth. The Bible actually says that. They are not meant to be believed.

So if a person professes belief in them, then he has already shown and PROVEN that he doesn't care about the central message and command of the Bible.

The central message is the Love of God towards the salvation of those who trust Him.
Certainly a redeemed act of Love brings His Light to the world, and this is desirable. But we must never forget that the end of the world and judgement come to hundreds of thousands of people daily and that no amount of moralizing, even Loving moralizing will save anybody from death except through Christ Jesus.

 

[radhead]

Anguspure, the central message throughout the ENTIRE Bible is "Love your neighbor". Our neighbor includes people outside of our family or country. Anything that would try to replace that with something else is the Beast. The antichrist. Satan. Whatever you choose to call it. Even if it comes from what others have defined as "God's word". Because how do you ever determine what is or is not God's word if all you are capable of doing is just accepting someone else's definition?

Stephen was very CLEARLY attacking Moses and the god of Moses in regards to building a temple and stoning a grown child. But that challenge to Moses and his god is an attack on "God's word" from your perspective it appears.

It usually involves people in authority wanting to control others below them. And wanting to have control over another person. Even in the case of a parent and a grown child. (This is why a man must leave his parents and unite with his wife.) The times are constantly changing which means that we should move away from the values of our ancestors and see when they were just wrong.

 

[radhead]

In other words, most Christians and other religious people try to control others with fear and the supernatural. They promote the Bible (and other ancient texts) as a story of magicians and wizards who are to be feared and worshipped. Their purpose is money and control. But the Bible really has a simple, natural, common sense message. There is no magic or supernatural, in reality. And fear is the only thing that would make you believe anything that goes against your common sense.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

"Love your neighbor"

Love your neighbor. That is the only one. There are not 2 commandments. He never gave a requirement to have "faith" or to "believe" in a certain thing. You don't even have to acknowledge Jesus because he said there were true followers outside of the fold. In fact there are so many false "Christians" claiming to represent Jesus, that it may even be a virtue not to even acknowledge him. Even their "God" should be questioned if they are the sort of people who represent him.

The first thing I ever accepted from Jesus was his message of LOVE. If an apostle, an angel, Paul, or any preacher gave a different commandment, may he be condemned to Hell. That is what Paul stated. Which means that he may have done the same thing.

So you can rest assured that if anyone claims to be a "Christian" but has substituted Jesus's 1 commandment with anything else, then that person is surely a liar and the Beast.

Anyone who would replace love with ANYTHING else is not to be trusted. These people deny love and so they could never possibly know the true God. Their definition of "faith" does not include love or anything of substance. Therefore they are empty and devoid of God's spirit.

So, what is the purpose of the Shema, as far as you see it, Rad?

 

[Anguspure]

Anguspure, the central message throughout the ENTIRE Bible is "Love your neighbor". Our neighbor includes people outside of our family or country. Anything that would try to replace that with something else is the Beast. The antichrist. Satan. Whatever you choose to call it. Even if it comes from what others have defined as "God's word". Because how do you ever determine what is or is not God's word if all you are capable of doing is just accepting someone else's definition?

Stephen was very CLEARLY attacking Moses and the god of Moses in regards to building a temple and stoning a grown child. But that challenge to Moses and his god is an attack on "God's word" from your perspective it appears.

It usually involves people in authority wanting to control others below them. And wanting to have control over another person. Even in the case of a parent and a grown child. (This is why a man must leave his parents and unite with his wife.) The times are constantly changing which means that we should move away from the values of our ancestors and see when they were just wrong.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4)

 

[radhead]

So, what is the purpose of the Shema, as far as you see it, Rad?

I'm not familiar with it. But as far as the entire Bible, it is like a psychological evolution for the western mind. God progresses from a tribal king to a universal state of mind.

 

[radhead]

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4)

And would you also agree that the story of Jesus exists within each mind? "Christ in us" is what Paul called it. Therefore, that death and resurrection occurs within each mind as a renewal of the spirit.

 

[Targaryen]

"Love your neighbor"

Love your neighbor. That is the only one. There are not 2 commandments. He never gave a requirement to have "faith" or to "believe" in a certain thing. You don't even have to acknowledge Jesus because he said there were true followers outside of the fold. In fact there are so many false "Christians" claiming to represent Jesus, that it may even be a virtue not to even acknowledge him. Even their "God" should be questioned if they are the sort of people who represent him.

The first thing I ever accepted from Jesus was his message of LOVE. If an apostle, an angel, Paul, or any preacher gave a different commandment, may he be condemned to Hell. That is what Paul stated. Which means that he may have done the same thing.

So you can rest assured that if anyone claims to be a "Christian" but has substituted Jesus's 1 commandment with anything else, then that person is surely a liar and the Beast.

Anyone who would replace love with ANYTHING else is not to be trusted. These people deny love and so they could never possibly know the true God. Their definition of "faith" does not include love or anything of substance. Therefore they are empty and devoid of God's spirit.

Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22:

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37 He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

Gospel of Mark, chapter 12:

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29 Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 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.” 31 The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’

Gospel of Luke, chapter 10:

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.* ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 26He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 27He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ 28And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’


So, you are not correct. There are two Commandments but the Great Commandment is not loving your neighbour as yourself as it is loving God to the fullest.