At one point Jesus was approached and asked, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" (Matt 22:36). Jesus didn't appear to hesitate.
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." (Matt 22:37-40)The "great and first commandment" is in relation to God. The simple requirement is to love Him ... with all of your being -- with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Nothing held back. Nothing reserved for you. The standard of "godliness" is perfect love for God with all you have and are. Easy, right? I've known some less-than-honest people who said it was, but I've never met or heard of another human being who was actually capable of that level of loving God. Those who claim it fool themselves. The rest of us are, sadly, aware of our shortcoming. The second commandment -- to love your neighbor as yourself -- is the standard of "righteousness," right relationship with others. Love your neighbors at least no less than you love yourself. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out none of that do that perfectly either.
Paul explained that the gospel is the power of God to save those who believe because it reveals God's righteousness (Rom 1:16-17). The first point of God's righteousness is His wrath toward those who violate God by failing to relate rightly toward Him and toward others in the process of suppressing what we know about God. If the standard of right relationship with God and right relationship with others is a love that transcends self, clearly we're falling short. Clearly we deserve God's wrath. Clearly we need a Savior. You'd think "Love God and love your neighbor" would be simple, but it's not, is it? Simple to say, I suppose, but not so simple to do for self-centered, sinful creatures like us. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift of His Son who paid for our sin!
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“Simply Complex.” Today’s title reminds me of this well-known observation: “The gospel is both simple enough that a child can understand it and profound enough that the greatest minds could never grasp the fullness of its depth.” Equally deep is the notion of loving God with all of my being (and then extending that love to others). Of course, it is violation of that “great and first commandment” (not to mention the second one) that earns each of us eternal punishment. Before there were ever any sins of commission on my part, there was this great sin of omission. Yes, thanks be to God for our Savior!
I have heard a saying a few times lately, "It's simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy." There may not be a whole lot of steps (simple) but accomplishing them is a struggle (easy). Too often we conflate easy and simple.
Right, David; “easy” and “simple” can often be used interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference between them, as you say. “Easy” seems to relate to effort, while “simple” seems to involve concepts. Once one comprehends this simple differentiation, it’s easy to use the words correctly. (I'm sorry--I couldn't resist! :)
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