THE TWO LOVE COMMANDS VS THE DECALOGUE (TEN COMMANDS)
The argument is frequently made that the two love commands just restate the ten commands, as if they are equivalent to each.other.
This is not so.
The first obvious difference is there are no days commanded to be kept in the two love commands.
But the most glaring difference between them isn’t readily apparent, but is a huge difference indeed.
So let’s compare them.
If you keep the two love commands you keep some of the ten commands, but in reality the two love commands far exceed the ten.
The ten commands - as they pertain to our relationship with other people - are negative commands: they only limit BAD behavior, by telling us what harm we CANT do to others - yet they don’t promote ANY positive acts of good will or good behavior towards your neighbor.
And they were kept not out of love, but kept out of fear of punishment - they had the death penalty by stoning, for breaking them.
And there’s not one drop of love for your neighbor found in the Decalogue.
Whereas in comparison, the two love commands are positive commands, instead of negative.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you won’t kill him, steal from him, or lie against him, etc, and therefore in effect keep 6 of ten.
But when you love your neighbor as yourself, you’ll go far beyond a mere six negative commands, that only tell you what harm you CAN’T do to your neighbor.
You won’t gossip about him for just one example - and there’s no command that says thou shalt not gossip about your neighbor.
In fact you won’t do ANY of the things that would do some kind of harm to your neighbor, which far exceeds a mere 6 limitations.
Jesus didn’t say, “love does none of the 6 things to harm your neighbor prohibited by the ten commands, thus love fulfills the law”.
He said instead, that love does NO HARM to your neighbor, so love fulfills the law.
Get the difference?
The two love commands go far beyond the ten commands in how well you treat your fellow man - instead of limiting any harm you’d do to your neighbor to six, if you love him you won’t do ANY HARM to him in any way, shape or form.
And the two love commands also go far beyond not doing any kind of harm to your neighbor: if you love him as yourself - besides NOT harming him - you will HELP him in every kind of way.
If you love your neighbor you’ll mow his lawn when he breaks his leg,or feed him and his wife when he’s out of work and the pantry’s empty, for just two examples.
If you’re just keeping the Decalogue, you can do things harmful to him NOT prohibited by the 6 limitations in it, and ignore any dire needs he has - yet still pat yourself on the back for keeping the Ten commands to a tee.
That’s why the two love commands are far superior to the very limited and negative ten commands, and they’re kept for a very different motive than fear of being stoned to death under the law.
Thus you really can’t equate the ten commands to the two love commands, nor claim that the two merely restate the ten - when in reality they are far different - as different as night and day.
The argument is frequently made that the two love commands just restate the ten commands, as if they are equivalent to each.other.
This is not so.
The first obvious difference is there are no days commanded to be kept in the two love commands.
But the most glaring difference between them isn’t readily apparent, but is a huge difference indeed.
So let’s compare them.
If you keep the two love commands you keep some of the ten commands, but in reality the two love commands far exceed the ten.
The ten commands - as they pertain to our relationship with other people - are negative commands: they only limit BAD behavior, by telling us what harm we CANT do to others - yet they don’t promote ANY positive acts of good will or good behavior towards your neighbor.
And they were kept not out of love, but kept out of fear of punishment - they had the death penalty by stoning, for breaking them.
And there’s not one drop of love for your neighbor found in the Decalogue.
Whereas in comparison, the two love commands are positive commands, instead of negative.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you won’t kill him, steal from him, or lie against him, etc, and therefore in effect keep 6 of ten.
But when you love your neighbor as yourself, you’ll go far beyond a mere six negative commands, that only tell you what harm you CAN’T do to your neighbor.
You won’t gossip about him for just one example - and there’s no command that says thou shalt not gossip about your neighbor.
In fact you won’t do ANY of the things that would do some kind of harm to your neighbor, which far exceeds a mere 6 limitations.
Jesus didn’t say, “love does none of the 6 things to harm your neighbor prohibited by the ten commands, thus love fulfills the law”.
He said instead, that love does NO HARM to your neighbor, so love fulfills the law.
Get the difference?
The two love commands go far beyond the ten commands in how well you treat your fellow man - instead of limiting any harm you’d do to your neighbor to six, if you love him you won’t do ANY HARM to him in any way, shape or form.
And the two love commands also go far beyond not doing any kind of harm to your neighbor: if you love him as yourself - besides NOT harming him - you will HELP him in every kind of way.
If you love your neighbor you’ll mow his lawn when he breaks his leg,or feed him and his wife when he’s out of work and the pantry’s empty, for just two examples.
If you’re just keeping the Decalogue, you can do things harmful to him NOT prohibited by the 6 limitations in it, and ignore any dire needs he has - yet still pat yourself on the back for keeping the Ten commands to a tee.
That’s why the two love commands are far superior to the very limited and negative ten commands, and they’re kept for a very different motive than fear of being stoned to death under the law.
Thus you really can’t equate the ten commands to the two love commands, nor claim that the two merely restate the ten - when in reality they are far different - as different as night and day.
