The Christian of today sees the laws of God as a very negative thing. Thou Shalt NOT do this, thou shalt NOT do that. To them, there is nothing positive about this – no way to show a positive feeling or show love to your neighbor, only things you can’t do.
And that’s fair… but it’s also wrong. Because, remember the golden rule is the source of all laws, and the golden rule is a positive law – thou SHALT do unto others the same thing you want them to do to you! And Jesus said that the laws were all summed up by this POSITIVE saying!
It can also be expressed as a negative – thou shalt not do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do – but unless someone is really dense, it’s not necessary to express it as such. I mean, just go back to the Golden Rule:
If someone is hurting you, which would you prefer – that they simply STOP… or that they turn around and HELP you? Therefore, that’s what the greatest law requires you to do to them! Not just to obey the negative, but the positive as well!
Each of God’s laws are like this. It seems like to obey “thou shalt not lie”, you simply have to say nothing untrue. But… we can do that by simply being silent! A person with a vow of silence cannot lie… but is that truly what God wants from us?
Ephesians 4:25 (NKJV) Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,”
Did Paul say “stop lying and be silent”? Or did he say “stop lying and do the opposite and tell the truth”? So simply avoiding untruth isn’t enough. Silence is not perfect obedience to that law! Instead, you must tell the WHOLE truth to dwell with God! (Psalms 15:2).
So we could express the 9th commandment in three ways:
- Thou shalt not lie (the negative commandment).
- Thou mayest say nothing.
- Thou shalt tell the truth (the positive commandment).
If you can’t tell the truth, it’s better to say nothing at all than to lie; that at least obeys the negative commandment. But it does not keep the whole law, for it does not obey the positive commandment! Hence, if you say nothing you are not a doer of evil… but not a doer of good either!
THE POSITIVE LAW
Another example of this idea is “thou shalt not kill”. Anyone who has not killed anyone today has kept that commandment perfectly! But is that all God wanted us to do? To simply not kill? Remember: never stray far from the golden rule. So what would you want? Someone to merely not kill you… or to actually help you stay alive?
1 John 3:15-16 (WEB) Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Thus, the full version of this commandment, as understood by John, is not simply don’t kill; because he applied the golden rule to this law and realized there was much more to it than that!
- Thou shalt not kill.
- Thou mayest do nothing.
- Thou shalt give life!
So on one side of the spectrum, we have doing evil – murdering. To avoid that, we can do neither good nor bad, and stay out of it; or we can keep the law perfectly by giving life to our fellow man! With that in mind, consider the story of the good Samaritan – for all three of these reactions to the law appear there!
Luke 10:30-34 (WEB) “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
The thieves robbed a man and left him for dead – they were (attempted) murderers. They broke the negative law, “thou shalt not kill”.
The priest and Levite saw this man dying, and neither finished killing him nor helped him live. This perfectlyobeyed the negative commandment! They did not kill! It wasn’t their problem! They minded their own business, and were completely obedient to that part of the law!
But the Samaritan not only did not kill this man, he gave him back his life by helping him! For which Jesus praised him because well, duh! Which of us wouldn’t rather meet the Samaritan than the other three people??
Then you’ve been #goldenruled! So go, and do likewise!
THE MIRROR IMAGE OF THE LAW
This principle applies to every law, and every commandment in the Bible. For example, what is the positive side of the tenth commandment, “thou shalt not covet”? (Exodus 20:17). Coveting means you want his stuff;or at the very least, that you feel resentful that he has it and you don’t.
You could ignore his stuff, and neither covet nor not covet; this is the best most people manage. But to properly keep this command in the positive way required by the golden rule you must wish he had even MORE stuff! I mean… isn’t that what you want people to want for you??
3 John 1:2 (WEB) Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers.
Instead of envying his prosperity and wishing you were as happy as him, you should wish he were as happy and prosperous as you – or more so! Instead of wishing for his goods, you wish for his good! And the golden rule requires you to treat all people this way, as you would want to be treated – even if they’re your enemies!
Luke 6:27(WEB)“But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don’t withhold your coat also. Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again. “As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them.
It all comes back to that, because that is a GREATER law than “thou shalt not desire thy neighbor’s stuff”, OR its positive version “thou SHALT desire thy neighbor’s good” because these and all other laws derive from the Royal Law!
Every negative law has a positive, and every positive law has a negative – and obeying BOTH is necessary! Another example is the fourth commandment, which contains both positive and negative; to rest on the seventh day, and to work the other six days! (Exodus 20:8-11).
“Thou shalt not work on the Sabbath” is only the negative half of the law. But the same law ALSO said “six days thou SHALT labor”! Therefore not working the other six days is just as wrong as working on a holy day!
2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 (WEB) For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: “If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.” For we hear of some who walk among you in rebellion, who don’t work at all, but are busybodies.
In rebellion to what? To the positive side of the 4th commandment to get off the couch and do SOMETHING productive! For even if you don’t have a job, at least you can be helping someone else!
And isn’t that what you’d want your neighbor to do for you if he had nothing better to do? #goldenruled once again!
All the commandments have a mirror image, and when you start discovering them, you’ll realize you already knew about these mirror images! You just never realized that’s what they were!
For example, the first commandment said “thou shalt not have any other Gods”; that’s a negative. The positive is found in Luke 4:8, where Jesus said “You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only”!
The second commandment forbids images and idols even of the true God. This is negative – but Jesus gave us the positive side in John 4:24, saying “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”.
A spirit can’t be worshipped with silver, gold, or wood! He must be worshipped with spirit… which is a POSITIVE command!
The third commandment said not to take God’s name in vain – in other words, not to said “God said”, when God said no such thing. Not to take an oath on God’s name, then break it; in other words, to make God’s name have no meaning.
Matthew 5:14-16 (WEB) You are the light of the world. … Even so let your light be shining before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Thus, to properly obey the command not to make God look bad, you are commanded to make him look good instead! All of these concepts that everyone knows are good, Christian concepts are simply the COMPLETE, positive obedience to one of the “negative” Ten Commandments!
Because all those laws are part of ONE law, the same law the New Testament says is the greatest law of the universe – do unto others! God made a glorious law that men only partially understood and rarely obeyed!
By understanding that, you are justifying God: proving to the world that He is good. And by doing that, we’re obeying the perfect, whole version of the positive third commandment! We’re making God look good!
HALF A LAW
Most people in history who boasted – loudly (Luke 18:11-12) – how well they kept the law were merely in the middle of this spectrum – not hurting, but not helping either. But we now know they were not keeping the law, they were keeping HALF the law – and that is hardly something to be boasting about.
John 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
This had to be a huge shock to the Pharisees because there never was a people more obsessed with keeping the letter of the negative laws God gave them! But none of them would help the guy the robbers left for dead, so in Jesus’ eyes NONE of them truly KEPT the law!
They, at best, kept half of it! For by doing nothing, even though you don’t do the wrong thing, you also fail to do the right thing! But to receive praise, you must do more than not do bad things!
I mean just think about it; so you haven’t killed anyone today – good for you. Does that mean God OWES you something now? You have done the bare minimum, good for you – but you don’t deserve any praise for not being evil. That is just what is expected of you!
Why should you be rewarded for not doing all the bad things you didn’t do? What is Christianity, some sort of Mafia protection racket?
Luke 17:9-10 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded? I think not. Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’”
The world thinks of the laws as evil – or at best, useless – because most of the examples they’ve seen of law-keepers, like the Pharisees, have been people who are in the MIDDLE of this spectrum! Such people only keep the negative half of law – at best!
Their GOAL is to keep the negative half of it, and then to call themselves righteous, their jobs done. And because of that, ironically, they are breaking the negative third commandment by making the law itself, and the God who gave it, look bad! (Romans 2:23-24)
But the positive side of the law, the side Jesus brought to our attention in a hundred places, is what they are missing – and one of the key teachings of the New Covenant!
Romans 2:14 (WEB) (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,
Which is why a great many atheists are better people than many Christians… because humanist philosophers have learned, through reason, pieces of the positive side of the law and become a law unto themselves! For they have a better law than the half most Christians half-heartedly attempt to live by!
THE GREATEST LAW
To show just how good the law can be – if applied properly – it’s time to revisit the sixth commandment, “thou shalt not kill”. But this is just a negative law; just words on stones, and one of the greatest problems with negative laws is that they cannot require you to show love.
Love is compassion for your fellow man, concern for his well-being, and so on; no matter how many “thou shalt not’s” you write, you CANNOT make people love (a positive thing) with laws (negative things).
But see, here’s the thing… the whole law is not negative! For the true law, the golden rule-based law, requires you to BOTH avoid doing bad things, and also requires you to actively do the opposite of those same things and do GOOD! And now you see why Paul said:
Romans 13:9-10 (WEB) …and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love doesn’t harm a neighbour. Love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.
Misunderstanding this is why Christians often say, incorrectly, that Love has replaced Law today. But love has not replaced the law… by adding a positive side to the negative side, love has finished the law, made it whole and perfect… and CAPABLE of creating love!
And I’m about to prove that to you, in the most spectacular way possible!
John 15:13 (WEB) Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
NO ONE can show greater love for his fellow man than when he gives up his own life for his friend.Right? Jesus plainly said so! So when Jesus gave His life for ours, it was the greatest example of love in the history of the universe!
I emphasize this because what I’m about to tell you is shocking. Are you ready? The greatest love it is possible to show, is to give your life to save someone else’s…
But isn’t that what the whole 6th commandment REQUIRES you to do?
You already saw that the law requires us to not only refrain from killing, but ALSO to give life. That means that to perfectly obey the 6th commandment, you HAVE to give life! Even if it costs you your own!
Is Jesus not greater than the Samaritan whom He praised? If He saw His children dying and was in a position to help us, even if it required a huge sacrifice on His part – how could He not help us?
The beautiful and shocking point of all this is that Jesus’ sacrifice for us was quite literally required by the sixth commandment!
But Jesus’ sacrifice was also required by the greater law, “do unto others”! Would Jesus want us to give up our own lives for His sake? We needn’t guess, for that’s exactly what He asked us to do!
Luke 9:24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.
So knowing that He would want US to lay down our lives for Him, if Jesus was to obey what He Himself said was the greatest law, He HAD to lay down His own life so that WE might live! He #goldenruled Himself!
Now of course we know Jesus loved us, and didn’t need the law to tell Him to do this for us… But what if some other person was in a position to give his life for us – someone who didn’t love us?
A stranger would have NO reason to help us! But if only that stranger was absolutely committed to keeping the whole law, then whether he loved us or not he would have no choice but to give his life for ours!
In other words, whether or not he felt the feeling of love for us, complete obedience to the law and nothing else would have caused him to demonstrate the greatest love a person can show for someone else!
When you truly understand the law, you see that every single thing the law requires us to do is an act of love for our neighbor, if you keep the WHOLE law, positive and negative! And how could it be otherwise, since the law is DERIVED from the principle “love all beings as yourself”?
Giving life to your neighbor – and of course, not killing him – is an act of love! Making God look good – and of course, not making Him look bad – is an act of love! Telling the truth to your neighbor – and of course, not lying to him – is an act of love! Worshiping God in spirit – and not through an idol – is an act of love! Working hard six days a week, so you can save up for your grandchildren, is an act of love! (Proverbs 13:22)
There is no single act of true, godly love in the universe that you can imagine which is not already contained in, and required by, a perfect understanding of God’s law! Even the sacrifice of Jesus, the greatest act of love in the history of the universe was literally required by the law of God!
Thus the law is good, because – if fully understood and kept – the law REQUIRES all men to love one another – whether they feel the emotion of love or not, they are automatically led to display the ACTIONS of love!
…which cannot help but lead them to the emotions of love – for who would not feel love for someone who first showed an act of love to them? As 1 John 4:19 tells us “We love him, because he first loved us”.
So no matter what you’ve been told… Love has NOT REPLACED the law! Indeed, the concept makes no sense because Paul plainly told us that love is the perfect keeping of the law!
Therefore, to do away with the law does away with love… and what Christian wants that??
Think about that!