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Author: Stephen Weller
682 words, 4 minutes read time

The Second Most Important Commandment

Scripture: Matthew 22:38-40; Mark 12:29-31

It was established in the previous lesson that loving God with our whole person was the most important commandment. In this lesson we will look at the second most important commandment.

^{Mk 12:29} Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ 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.’ ^{Mt 22:38} This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. ^{Mk 12:31} There is no other commandment greater than these.”

One might ask the question, “If we love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength, then how can we possibly have any love left to love our neighbor as our self?” It is possible to go even beyond that and love our enemies because the source of this love is not us but God’s Spirit that lives within us. God is love and the fruit of the Spirit is love, and therefore, we can love as he commands because we allow him to love through us.

Examples of loving your neighbor as yourself is found in Leviticus 19:18, 34 ESV: ¹⁸ “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. ³⁴ You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Life in God’s kingdom can be summarized by these two commands, and as we live in this way, we are able to satisfy the deepest longing of our human being as created in the image of God. God is love and “[he] so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). We see this great love in action in Ephesians 2:1 – 10, and from verses 4 – 5, we read, ⁴ “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” We see this great love being expressed by Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the ross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV) died in our place, taking upon himself our sin and in exchange he clothed us with his righteousness. Since God is love and we are created in his image, we in a very real sense are also love and will come to fully realize that in heaven.

On these two commandments depends all the Law and the Prophets. Looking at Galatians 5:22 – 23, we see that the fruit of the Spirit is love. In a footnote in the NET translation it is explained that the comma following love can be replaced by a colon yielding “love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love. Thus, we can express our love by living out these characteristics in our relationships and if we were to do it perfectly, we would live as Jesus lived. This is how we will live in heaven and should be how we live in this life.

Conclusion

God is love and being created in his image the characteristics of love (joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) should thus define how we live.