10 Commandments Today, 12of14

~ Jesus Christ Summarized the Ten Commandments ~

The Scripture  ~  “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that Jesus had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’  Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31, parallel passages Matthew 22:34-40 and Luke 10:25-28). 

First  ~  “You shall love the Lord your God with [1] all your heart, with [2] all your soul, with [3] all your mind, and [4] with all your strength.”  This sums up the first four of the Ten Commandments!  

[1] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  You shall have no other gods before Me.  [2] You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.  For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.  [3] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.  [4] Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 

Second  ~  “You shall love your neighbor [your fellow humans] as yourself.”  This sums up the last six of the Ten Commandments!

[5] Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.  [6] You shall not murder.  [7] You shall not commit adultery.  [8] You shall not steal.  [9] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  [10] You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.  

Additional Comment  ~  Shortly before returning to heaven to sit on the right hand of the Father, Jesus gave His followers—those who already loved God—a new commandment, reinforcing what we have seen above:  “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.  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’” ( John 13:33-35). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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