Chapter 11Love
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THE SALVATION EQUATION
We now KNOW — from the true meaning (revealed in chapters 9 & 10) behind God’s creation of an “Israelite Bondage-to-Promise-Land” story — the Biblical path to salvation (or obtaining eternal life in the Kingdom of God) is an A + B = C equation:
(A) Mankind’s Repentance
+ (B) God’s Forgiveness of Sin
= (C) Eternal Life
In other words, for a soul to obtain eternal life it MUST REPENT of SIN — which is totally and completely defined by a soul making a choice to turn from willful disobedience to willful obedience of God’s 10 Love Commandments. When a soul chooses to live its daily life on Earth in this manner, God will choose (on the Day of Atonement) to apply Christ’s “sinless sacrificial spiritual death” as full payment (or ransom) for the sins that soul committed on Earth. And when THIS happens, it means that soul has officially been “forgiven of its sin”, because the “spiritual death penalty” for the “wages of sin” no longer applies to it, which automatically returns the soul to perfect spiritual union with God, which means eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Now, please understand term “B” in the salvation equation is a fact for EVERY single soul on planet Earth, no matter when or where they lived, or if they ever heard about the story of Jesus or not! In other words, “forgiveness for sins” is available to ALL mankind because Jesus died for EVERYONE! Do you understand? See, millions of people have lived and died on Earth having never heard of him or his story, but did that matter towards the eternal destiny of their soul? NO!!! Nor do your thoughts on the matter. Truth is truth! It cannot be changed. No matter what you think (or don’t think) about the “earthly story of Jesus”, it will not change the fact that “B” still sits there available to you.
“He (Jesus Christ) died for ALL so that all who live … might live no longer for themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them” (II Corinthians 5:15, Living Bible).
Many people today (mostly in Churchianity) think ALL they have to DO to obtain eternal life is hear the story of Jesus (born of a virgin, died on a cross, rose again, etc.) and then make a mental acknowledgment that that story is true (meaning he did those things for them). Then, they sit and foolishly wonder what happens to all the people who never hear the story of Jesus? Friend, this is ALL a satanic LIE!!! Again, your thoughts (or lack of thoughts) concerning “B” in the salvation equation will NOT change the fact that God’s “forgiveness of sin” (through Jesus) is available to you, nor will they obtain your soul eternal life. The ONLY thing that will is YOUR REPENTANCE.
So, knowing all of this, it is profitable that we take a long look at ALL the Bible has to say about REPENTANCE. And there is a lot! This chapter will focus on “Love” and how it relates to “repentance”.
THE 10 LOVE COMMANDMENTS
Alright, this is really simple, someone who “obeys the 10 Love Commandments” is someone who thinks and does the deeds of LOVE. How awesome is that? In other words, not lying but telling the truth to someone is love, not stealing but giving to someone is love, not hating but forgiving someone is love. Do you understand? That is why Paul wrote:
“… love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10).
But when we scrutinize the 10 Love Commandments further, we notice an awesome thing: The first 4 are how to LOVE GOD directly and the last 6 are how to love God indirectly by LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR as ourselves. And what is THAT? That is the TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS! And all of this is simply the GOLDEN RULE of love: “do unto others as you’d have done unto you“. Allow me to make a brief list of the 10 Love Commandments in this fashion:
LOVE GOD
| DON’T | DO |
1. Have gods Before God (Love)
|
Make God (Love) First In Life
|
2. Worship Idols (Dirt)
|
Worship God (Spirit)
|
3. Blaspheme God’s Name
|
Glorify God’s Name
|
4. Keep Sabbath Day Holy
|
Keep Sabbath Day Holy
|
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
| DON’T | DO |
5. Dishonor Father & Mother
|
Honor Father & Mother
|
6. Murder
|
Forgive
|
7. Commit Adultery
|
Honor Marriage Bed
|
8. Steal
|
Give
|
9. Lie
|
Speak Truth
|
10. Covet Possessions
|
Be Content
|
So a person who REPENTS of sin (by choosing to change from willful disobedience to willful obedience of the 10 Love Commandments) is really just a person who chooses to change from “NON-LOVING thoughts and deeds” to “LOVING thoughts and deeds” towards God and their neighbor. Which brings up a clear point, sin is just anything that is opposite of love!
I declare to you, the ONLY reason a soul will end up in hell one day (and ultimately the lake of fire) is because they willingly refused to love! They will have willingly refused to love God by continuing to willfully disobey His 10 Love Commandments. It is really that simple! And ALL mankind has known the difference between what “love is” and what “love is not” because God placed the difference between GOOD and EVIL inside of all hearts. (Remember the story of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden from Chapter 3?) So, yes, God has been fair to ALL mankind down throughout the course of history with regards to their ability to obtain eternal life!
Knowing the connection between Love, the 10 Commandments, the Golden Rule, and Repentance, you should now be able to clearly understand Jesus’ words to people when they asked, “What MUST I DO to obtain eternal life?” Listen to him:
“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I DO that I may have eternal life? And he (Jesus) said unto him … if thou wilt enter into life, keep the (10 Love) Commandments … Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and mother …” (Matthew 19:16-19).
Another time:
“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I DO to inherit eternal life? He (Jesus) said unto him, What is written in the Law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he (Jesus) said unto him, Thou hast answered right: THIS DO, and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:25-28).
See, God gave Moses the words of the Golden Rule (or what became known as the greatest 2 commandments) in the wilderness and he wrote them in the Law (Torah). It was these words the man was referring to above, and Jesus’ two answers to the same question above prove the Golden Rule is identical to the 10 Love Commandments.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
“thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18).
Jesus further confirmed the Golden Rule is equal to the 10 Love Commandments by having the following dialogue with a certain lawyer:
“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 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. This is the first and great commandment. 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 22:35-40).
Do you see? “ALL the LAW” of Moses (which includes the 10 Commandments) hangs on “LOVING GOD” because “loving your neighbor as yourself” is like “loving God” because He is the spirit material inside of everyone, for we are ALL His spirit children. This is why God will say on Judgment Day:
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, YE HAVE DONE IT UNTO ME” (Matthew 25:40).
So, simply put, if you want to obtain eternal life for your soul, all you have to DO is willingly … LOVE GOD!!!
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TO KNOW GOD
Jesus said, “God is Love”. And since “love” is only demonstrated by “obeying the 10 Love Commandments” the Bible states a person who continues to willfully disobey the 10 Love Commandments proves by those non-loving thoughts and deeds that they DO NOT KNOW GOD. How about that? Listen to the Apostle John:
“And hereby we do know that we KNOW HIM (GOD), if we keep his (10 Love) Commandments. He that saith, I know Him (God), and keepeth not his (10 Love) Commandments, is a liar” (I John 2:3-4).
See how harmonious Scripture is? Look, you show me a person who goes around willfully disobeying God’s 10 Love Commandments and I will show you a person who does not know God! It is that straightforward.
Are you starting to recognize how “what a soul must DO to obtain eternal life” is bigger than any religion? Friend, this truth is all pervasive! It is inside of every heart inside of every person across all of planet Earth! People just need to love! Listen to Paul:
“Own no man anything, but to LOVE one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 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 neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).
Jesus simply said it like this once:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
I mean seriously … how simple is that? If you want to obtain eternal life, treat others the way you would like to be treated! Do you live like that? Do you want people to give you a deal (or a break) in a business transaction? Then give others a deal! Do you want people to tell you the truth? Then tell others the truth! Do you want people to forgive you? Then forgive others! Do you want people to give to you? Then give to others! And on and on you can go with each of the 10 Love Commandments.
Furthermore, put yourself in other people’s shoes. If you were starving, would you want someone to give you something to eat? Then feed those you see who are starving! If you were sick, would you want someone to visit you? Then go and visit the sick! And on and on you can go with each of the 10 Love Commandments.
Jesus said:
“By THIS shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).
See, you cannot tell a disciple of Christ (God) by church attendance! You can only tell a disciple of God (Love) by a person’s willfulness to live their life in accordance to God’s 10 Holy Love Commandments.
Well, now you know mankind’s part “A” of REPENTANCE (from sin) in the “salvation equation” is really just a willful choice a person (soul) makes to turn from “non-loving thoughts and deeds” to “loving thoughts and deeds” towards God, which is fully accomplished by aligning one’s life up to the 10 Holy Love Commandments. To love God like THAT is to know Him, which is to obtain eternal life:
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life (eternal life), which the Lord hath promised to them that LOVE HIM” (James 1:12).
“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that LOVE HIM” (I Corinthians 2:9).
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