COV LIFE BLOG

Mark 12:13-34 – The Greatest Commandment

True religion is all about loving God and loving people. It is that simple. Yet it is impossible. The GREAT COMMANDMENT is not the way of salvation. It is the evidence that convicts us of the guilt of sin. No one loves God with all his heart, soul, and mind. And no one loves his neighbor as himself. You may love God with my heart, soul, or mind; but not with all three or with all of all three. We have not loved my neighbor as myself. We fight with family, we mistrust friends, and we avoid neighbors. If getting to heaven is as simple as loving God and loving people, I cannot trust the best five minutes I have ever lived to get me to heaven. Neither can you. The Great Commandment is impossible for sinners to obey.

Mark 12:32-33 records the lawyer’s response to the Great Commandment: “And the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” He came to Jesus with ulterior motives. But he could not deny the truth when he heard it. In Mark 12:34, Jesus replied, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But how far is not far? To be not far is to still be lost. True religion is all about loving God and loving people. But you cannot be saved by religion. You need a Savior. You need Jesus. You need the blood of his cross to atone for your failure to love God and love your neighbor. 1 John 4:10 6 says: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God does not love you because you are loveable. You are loveable because God loves you. Only the love of God the Father, the blood of God the Son, and the power of God the Holy Spirit can enable you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

I WAS SINKING DEEP IN SIN, FAR FROM THE PEACEFUL SHORE
VERY DEEPLY STAINED WITHIN, SINKING TO RISE NO MORE
BUT THE MASTER OF THE SEA, HEARED MY DESPARING CRY,
FROM THE WATERS LIFTED ME – NOW SAFE AM I.

H.B. Charles Jr.

---

SCRIPTURES FOR THIS SUNDAY
Read Mark 12:13-34 and notice how Jesus approaches the three groups in the midst of their specific conflict and each time he confronts them with what God really requires. Do any of these admonitions point you to any idols or false teaching that has taken root in your heart?

SONG FOR THIS WEEK
‘Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus by Louis M.R. Stead