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We all know love is a central teaching of the Bible, but what is love? Simply put, love is keeping God’s commandments.
2 Jn 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
We love our brothers and sisters in Christ by loving God, and we love God by keeping His commandments.
1 Jn 5:2-3
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1 Jn 2:3-5
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Jesus Himself told us that the law and the prophets – in other words, the entire Old Testament – are all about loving God and our neighbor. If you want to know what love is, open up your Bible to Leviticus or Isaiah, and you will see love on every page.
Mat 22:35-40
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Jesus also told His disciples they would love Him by keeping His commandments.
Jn 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Paul tells us the law is summarized by the commandment to love our neighbor as ourself. If we want detailed instructions on how to love our neighbor, we look to the law. The law tells us we love our neighbor by not committing adultery, not murdering anyone, not stealing, not lying and not coveting our neighbor’s property – like his wife, for instance. By this all men will know we are Christ’s disciples (Jn 13:35). The ability to love our neighbor by not killing him or stealing from him makes us Christians unique. People will look at us and be able to tell by our actions we are Christians. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor.” God commanded that those who work ill, such as adulterers, should be put to death (Deut 22:22).
Rom 13:8-10
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Gal 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The Old Testament tells us in many places that love for God is synonymous with keeping His commandments. Here are just a few examples.
Ex 20:4-6
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Deut 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deut 11:1 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
A lot of people are under a misapprehension of what love really is. They think love is a feeling of fondness or affection. Or they confuse lust with love. Unbelievers don’t understand the highest form of love, True Christian™ agape love, which is obedience to God’s commandments. It is beyond their comprehension and indeed paradoxical. For instance, Jesus commanded us to fear God because He can cast us into hell (Mat 10:28). So if we love God, we will keep His commandment to fear Him, yet perfect love drives out all fear.
1 Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Only True Christians™ can understand what it’s like simultaneously to love God by fearing Him and have no fear because they love God.
We are often accused of preaching hate on this forum. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we warn homosexuals that God hates them, we are showing love by following God’s commandment to rebuke our neighbor.
Lev 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
When we lobby lawmakers to bring back the death penalty for sodomy, we are demonstrating that we want to show the fullness of God’s love by obeying His commandment to execute homosexuals (Lev 20:13). On the surface this may seem to work against the fact that “love worketh no ill to his neighbour,” but the death of homosexuals is for the benefit of society as a whole. We work ill to our neighbor if we turn a blind eye and let homosexuality go unpunished. Genesis 19 and Judges 19 show us that the entire male population of a city can turn gay if the cancer of homosexuality isn’t removed in time. San Francisco is probably well on its way to becoming the next Sodom.
And when we don’t take the law into our own hands and execute vigilante justice on homosexuals, we are showing love by keeping God’s commandment to obey the laws of the land (Rom 13:1-7). Let it never be said that True Christianity™ is not about love. When we preach that all God’s commandments should be upheld (Jas 2:10), we are not preaching hate but love.
2 Jn 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
We love our brothers and sisters in Christ by loving God, and we love God by keeping His commandments.
1 Jn 5:2-3
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1 Jn 2:3-5
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Jesus Himself told us that the law and the prophets – in other words, the entire Old Testament – are all about loving God and our neighbor. If you want to know what love is, open up your Bible to Leviticus or Isaiah, and you will see love on every page.
Mat 22:35-40
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Jesus also told His disciples they would love Him by keeping His commandments.
Jn 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Paul tells us the law is summarized by the commandment to love our neighbor as ourself. If we want detailed instructions on how to love our neighbor, we look to the law. The law tells us we love our neighbor by not committing adultery, not murdering anyone, not stealing, not lying and not coveting our neighbor’s property – like his wife, for instance. By this all men will know we are Christ’s disciples (Jn 13:35). The ability to love our neighbor by not killing him or stealing from him makes us Christians unique. People will look at us and be able to tell by our actions we are Christians. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor.” God commanded that those who work ill, such as adulterers, should be put to death (Deut 22:22).
Rom 13:8-10
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Gal 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The Old Testament tells us in many places that love for God is synonymous with keeping His commandments. Here are just a few examples.
Ex 20:4-6
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Deut 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deut 11:1 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
A lot of people are under a misapprehension of what love really is. They think love is a feeling of fondness or affection. Or they confuse lust with love. Unbelievers don’t understand the highest form of love, True Christian™ agape love, which is obedience to God’s commandments. It is beyond their comprehension and indeed paradoxical. For instance, Jesus commanded us to fear God because He can cast us into hell (Mat 10:28). So if we love God, we will keep His commandment to fear Him, yet perfect love drives out all fear.
1 Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Only True Christians™ can understand what it’s like simultaneously to love God by fearing Him and have no fear because they love God.
We are often accused of preaching hate on this forum. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we warn homosexuals that God hates them, we are showing love by following God’s commandment to rebuke our neighbor.
Lev 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
When we lobby lawmakers to bring back the death penalty for sodomy, we are demonstrating that we want to show the fullness of God’s love by obeying His commandment to execute homosexuals (Lev 20:13). On the surface this may seem to work against the fact that “love worketh no ill to his neighbour,” but the death of homosexuals is for the benefit of society as a whole. We work ill to our neighbor if we turn a blind eye and let homosexuality go unpunished. Genesis 19 and Judges 19 show us that the entire male population of a city can turn gay if the cancer of homosexuality isn’t removed in time. San Francisco is probably well on its way to becoming the next Sodom.
And when we don’t take the law into our own hands and execute vigilante justice on homosexuals, we are showing love by keeping God’s commandment to obey the laws of the land (Rom 13:1-7). Let it never be said that True Christianity™ is not about love. When we preach that all God’s commandments should be upheld (Jas 2:10), we are not preaching hate but love.
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