The Second Is Like unto It

2021-08-31

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:39-40)

Previously, I wrote about “the great commandment in the law” (Matthew 22:36). A lawyer asked about the greatest commandment, and the Lord responded with loving God, but He also added an additional commandment: “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (from Leviticus 19:18).

I think the primary relationship between these two commandments is that if we love God, we also should love whom He loves: “For God so loved the world...” (John 3:16). The Lord has given us a gage for how well we are doing on the first commandment, “for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20). The conclusion is twofold: we see how we need the Savior and how we need His strength to do His will.