Essential Goal of Christianity???

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Esaias

They did not have the Spirit of Christ and they did not express the biblical definition of love. Here is how we know if anyone loves God -

Deu 11:1
Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

Deu 30:16
In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

The above statements would be with regards to the Law given to Israel, not necessarily to the NT church.

Jhn 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Jhn 14:21
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Let's look closely at Christ's point in this passage... Jesus continues on through chapter 15...

John 15:7-12 (ESV)
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Christ's commandments to the church are distinctly related to the universal law of loving God with all one's being... and demonstrating that love by loving others.

1Jo 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.


2Jo 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.

John actually explains this well...

2 John 1:4-6 (ESV)
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

It's all about loving God and loving others. No legalistic requirements are set down.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Aquila

The above statements would be with regards to the Law given to Israel, not necessarily to the NT church.

I quoted Jesus speaking to his disciples, he affirmed the truth that if we love Him we will keep his commandments. Is He not God?

Let's look closely at Christ's point in this passage... Jesus continues on through chapter 15...

John 15:7-12 (ESV)
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Christ's commandments to the church are distinctly related to the universal law of loving God with all one's being... and demonstrating that love by loving others.

The scriptures I posted show HOW to love God. Simply saying 'love God and your neighbor' explains nothing.

To love our neighbor one does not murder, bear false witness against them, covet their stuff, commit adultery, steal, etc etc. In other words, the commandments of God relating to our interactions with other people define how 'love' works itself out in various situations and under various circumstances. The commandments of God give us the best, most expedient and wisest manner of 'loving God and our neighbor'. Thus, it is written 'love is the fulfilling of the law'.

This does not mean we can 'love' and do away with God's commandments. If it did, we could 'love our neighbor' and yet commit adultery. Adultery is a sin because God said it is a sin. Why did He say it is forbidden? Because it is not an act of LOVE, it is an act of selfishness.

Rom 13:9
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.

Here Paul expressly declares and teaches what I just said - that the commandments of God are comprehended in the saying 'love they neighbor'. Love is not a replacement for the commandments of God, they are part and parcel of love.

It's all about loving God and loving others. No legalistic requirements are set down.

What is with this bandying of the terms 'legalistic' and 'legalism' whenever the commandments of God are mentioned? Legalism is not even a biblical word.

Legalism means one of two things - either it means attempting to be justified under the terms of the old covenant (which will not happen for anyone), or it is a term used erroneously as an emotive slogan in opposition to any call for actual and/or specific obedience.

Is it not commanded that we love our neighbor? Then how is THAT itself not 'legalism', if by legalism is meant a demand for obedience to a command of God?

All the commandments, statutes, judgements, and ordinances of God can be related to the 'Big Ten'. They serve as 'explanatory' dicta on those 'Big Ten'. And the Big Ten teach us how to love God and to love our neighbor.

God did not leave it to us to just figure out what is expected, otherwise everyone would have occasion to complain against God on the basis of equity at the Judgement. 'You said love your neighbor, the woman was my neighbor, I loved her, we slept together. How can I be guilty of anything?'

To which God may justly reply, 'It's spelled out for you, it's called FORNICATION and it is identified in the Word as SIN (aka CRIME).'

God will not say 'well, you have this in-built sense of right and wrong, and you should have listened to your inner voice', because the hypothetical fornicator may very well say in reply 'my inner voice said only that she was sweet and beautiful and she wants me and I want her and no harm no foul!!!!!'

Man by his wisdom did not know God. Nor does man by his wisdom know what love actually is. Thus the need for Revelation, ie the Word, and the public display of the Word in action in the life of Jesus Christ.