Raising the Bar!
The two commandments that are a whole lot harder to keep than the Ten
“And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And 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. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’ ”
— Matthew 22:35-40 ESV
Have you ever heard someone say something along the lines of: “Oh, we don’t need to keep the Ten Commandments anymore. Jesus said we only had to keep two.”?
Well, besides the fact that Jesus did not say that — rather, He said those two commandments were the foundation of the whole Law — the truth is that those two commandments are way harder to keep than the Ten.
Outward vs. Inward
Before we get into it, let’s do a quick recap of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are:
You shall have no other gods before the Lord.
You shall not make graven images to worship.
You shall not take the Name of the Lord in vain.
Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.
Honor your father and mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness.
You shall not covet.1
Now, numerically speaking, it would seem that keeping only two commandments would be simpler than keeping ten, right?
However, when we look at what the commandments address, that belief is flipped on its head.
Nine out of the Ten Commandments deal mostly with outward actions. (Coveting is the exception because it is a heart issue.)
However, the two commandments Jesus says are the foundation of the Law deal with heart issues — HUMONGOUS HEART ISSUES.
It’s pretty easy to keep from bearing false witness, right? Either keep your mouth shut or tell the truth.
The same goes for stealing. Keep your hands away from things that aren’t yours.
Murder? Don’t point a weapon at people!2
I won’t go through all ten, but you get my point.
Now, what about loving the Lord with all of your being and loving your neighbor as yourself?
That’s a whole lot harder. This involves taking control of not only your actions, but your thoughts and feelings as well.
I can keep myself from stealing from my neighbor, but it is really hard not to get angry at her for constantly stealing flowers out of my flower bed.
I can keep myself from lying about my neighbor, but how do I control my feelings toward him after he slanders me to his family?
I can keep myself from making an idol, but that doesn’t mean that I give time to the Lord.
I can keep my mouth from ever speaking the Lord’s Name in vain, but does that mean I truly love Him with all my being?
If we keep those two commandments perfectly, we will also keep the Ten Commandments perfectly.
But humanly speaking, keeping those two commandments is impossible.
Our sinful human nature is selfish and prideful. We are wired to put ourselves before both God and our neighbors.
The only way we can hope to keep these commandments is to have our hearts and minds renewed by the Holy Spirit as we follow after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we grow spiritually through time spent with God in His Word and prayer, our hearts will grow closer in line with the heart of Jesus. We learn to let go of our selfish pride and put God and others before ourselves.
Even then, we will make mistakes.
That is why I am thankful that no matter how many commandments God has given that I have broken, He forgives me because I have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of Calvary. And if you have confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you can also experience the forgiveness of God.3
In Closing
Jesus did not abrogate the Ten Commandments in Matthew 22. Rather, He gave the two commandments that are foundational to the rest of the Law.
Nine out of the Ten Commandments deal with outward actions, whereas the two commandments given in Matthew 22 deal with inward actions that are often beyond our control.
Outwardly keeping the Ten Commandments is a whole lot easier than loving God with all our being and loving others as ourselves.
God should be first; others should be second; ourselves should be last.
When we have the Holy Spirit, He helps us to be able to let go of our selfishness.
We will make mistakes, but God forgives us when we are in Christ.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
I am a selfish person. More often than not, I put myself first and ignore both You and my neighbor. Renew my heart through the Holy Spirit. Give me a selfless love for others. Help me to love you with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind. Please forgive me when I fall short. Thank You for forgiving me through Jesus’ sacrifice.
Amen
Related Song:
Taken from Exodus 20
This is without taking into account Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:21-26. I am looking at these from a purely OT perspective.
Taken from Romans 10:9-10
Amazing as always, Mel!