What is the first of all commandments?

 

What is the first of all commandments?

 

In Mark 12:28, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first (Prote) commandment of all?”

Prote (πρώτη) does not mean an ordered story, but rather a central one in importance. In chapter 12 verses 29-30, “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart (kardias καρδίας), and with all thy soul (psyche ψυχῆς), and with all thy mind (dianoias διανοίας), and with all thy strength (Isquios ἰσχύος): this is the first commandment.』

Four things appear here. The same word cardias is used in 1 Thessalonians 3:13. 『To the end he may stablish your hearts (cardias)unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.』Cardias is the spiritual heart. Parousia is translated as advent, and church people think of it as the second coming of Jesus on earth at the end of time. However, it depicts Christ entering into the hearts of the saints (second coming) and being present in the temple built in the hearts of the saints. So, Cardias is a spiritual mind in the body of a new person.

Psyche is the soul. It refers to the soul received from parents. This soul is a soul that must die. Just like changing clothes, the former soul (old self) must be crucified with Jesus. So it(with all thy soul) means crucifying the old man.

Dianoias is also expressed in Ephesians 2:3. 『Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind (Dianoias); and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.』

It is translated as “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν), which in Greek means “what the flesh and its mind desire.” Since that mind comes from the flesh, it is a carnal mind. The physical self cannot know God. However, in the parable of sowing seeds, just as the farmer plows the hard ground, sows the seeds, and cultivates them to obtain fruit, it means that we must realize the logic and discover the kingdom of God.

Isquios symbolizes power, authority, and strength. Jesus is given authority by God the Father. In Matthew 11:27, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.』Saints also receive this same authority from Christ. This tells us to remember that saints who receive authority come from God.

『And the second(Deutera:Deuteros) is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.』

Deutera (δευτέρα) means next. The most important thing is love of God, but next is love of neighbors. The word love (agapao) refers to reviving a dead spirit through death on the cross. The believer believes that he died in union with Jesus on the cross, is resurrected together, receives a new soul, and the spirit comes back to life, thus establishing the kingdom of God in the believer's heart. This is what it means to love God.

In order to achieve this, as in the parable of the sower, one must awaken the hardened physical self (dianoias), discover God, die of the old soul (mortify the Psyche soul), and put on new clothes with the mind of the spirit (cardias: the mind of the spirit). ), a temple in the heart is established, the kingly priestly power (Isquios) is granted, and the dead spirit is revived. In the same way, agapao is when believers make their neighbors (church members) realize the same principle and revive dead spirits.

Jesus spoke in the form of an answer to a scribe's question, and had just previously spoken on the topic of resurrection. Jesus explained that it was not a physical resurrection as the Jews thought, but a resurrection of the soul (spirit and soul). So, Jesus metaphorically used four words to explain the resurrection of the soul and the love of God.

However, the scribe said, “And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:”

The Jewish leaders, including the priests and scribes, had a firm belief in God who had given them the law, and when they heard Jesus speak, they must have realized in their hearts that this person was the true Messiah. Although the Bible uses different expressions, it also expresses that the God the Jewish leaders believe in is different from the God Jesus believes in. They believe in their own God. It is clear that there is one God, but each person believes in it differently. Today, all church believers believe in one God. But what happens if they say they believe in the God they want?

This is no different from the situation where “while Moses went to receive the stone tablets of the commandments on Mount Sinai, the people made a golden calf idol and sacrificed it to God.” Humanism, legalism, and gnostic thinking similar to other religions based on faith in blessings and fortunes create a different God.

『And to love him with all the heart(Cardias), and with all the understanding(Syneseos), and with all the soul, and with all the strength(Isquios), and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burned offerings and sacrifices』(Mark 12:33)

Cardias means spiritual heart, Syneseos means spiritual wisdom, and Isquios means power from God. This scribe probably saw Jesus' miracles and heard him talk about various things about the kingdom of God. Even in everyday life, he was thinking about the promise of a woman's descendants through animal sacrifice. He must have thought that this was the Messiah, the promised seed who was the descendant of the woman. Although he could not express it specifically, he must have had a great desire for the kingdom of God, just like Nicodemus.

『And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.』(Mark 12:34)

Jesus said, “I saw a scribe saying this and said, ‘I am not far from the kingdom of God.’” He means that the kingdom of God is near to him, but it has not come to him as an enemy now. In order to achieve the kingdom of God, they must abandon their faith and come to Jesus. At that time, excommunication from Judaism was considered death. It's a story that's almost impossible.

This is similar to how believers today who are obsessed with doctrine think that if they deviate from doctrine, they will die spiritually. If the saints do not believe in the present death of the cross and the present resurrection in their hearts, there will be no second coming of Christ in their hearts. Then everyone becomes under the law. Those who are in the law must perfectly keep the laws given by God, and if they break even one, they will be judged. Which one to choose? This is the gospel.

At that time, a scribe answered wisely and Jesus told him that the kingdom of God was not far away, but most of the church today does not answer wisely. The reason is because of the attitude toward John 14:21. 『He that hath my commandments, and keepeth(τηρῶν) them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Regarding the first commandment, Jesus said, “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.』

To love God is to believe in the death of the cross and resurrection. So, those who have my commandments that Jesus talks about in the Gospel of John are those who have faith in the death of the cross and resurrection.

And 『those who keep them』 are those who keep their faith in the cross and resurrection. Teron (τηρῶν), translated as “keep,” means to keep a defensive line, protect, and maintain the state. This does not mean carrying out the regulations of the Bible, but keeping the death and resurrection of the cross in mind and protecting it from being lost. The goal is to keep it from falling out of their minds.

The most core problem today is the legalistic interpretation and application of the meaning of “keeping the commandments.” The commandment is to love God and neighbors, but legalists say that if you do not love God and neighbors, you are not keeping the commandments. It is a misunderstanding that loving means keeping rules and regulations. Is there anyone in the church of this world who perfectly observes love for God and love for neighbors, as if they were following some rules? Are there any rules for loving? If there are regulations, what do they contain? If they say that they have perfectly complied with the rules, on what basis can they say so? Who admits to having loved themselves perfectly? Is the person who says that really keeping it perfectly? If you try to answer this, you are a legalist.

In Revelation 14:12, 『Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.』Most church pastors interpret these words to an extent that in the end times, there will be beasts and beasts. It is said that tribulation will come that will force people to worship idols, but believers must persevere in keeping God's commandments and faith in Jesus. So, since God's commandment is love for God and his neighbors, believers must keep this. Pastors say that since believers cannot keep it humanly, God can keep it by sending the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is emphasized that those who keep the commandments can become God's bride and that they enter the new heaven and new earth.

This is because “keeping the commandments” is interpreted in a legalistic way. This is because they think that taking action on something is “keeping it.” In Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth(theron) the sayings of the prophecy of this book.』Here too, the Greek word for “keep” is theron. In other words, it means to preserve, to maintain.

The meaning of the word keep is to protect and not lose faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross. Heresy arises because there are those who interpret this in a legalistic way.

Heretics apply keeping the commandments to keeping the Ten Commandments. In other words, let’s keep following the law. The purpose of God giving the Ten Commandments (Law) is to try to keep them, realize that it is impossible to keep them perfectly, confess to God, "I am a sinner," and look to Christ, the woman's descendant. This means having faith that “the Messiah who will replace this beast” will come through the repeated act of killing the beast. However, the Jewish leaders at the time of Jesus broadly interpreted this law as legalism and said that it must be kept literally.

Even today, in theological doctrines, we can see talk about Jesus' active and passive obedience.

Theologians say: "Active obedience means that Christ observed the law for sinners as a condition for eternal life; passive obedience means that Christ suffered by paying the penalty of sin and paying the debt of all his people. "So, Christ's subjection of himself to suffering and death is a part of his active obedience; The fact that Christ lived in subjection to the law and acted in the image of a servant is a part of passive obedience. Even within Christianity, there are factions that support active and passive obedience, while others oppose it.

It is difficult for believers to understand the law as a national or moral law given by God to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. Even before that, there were regulations that God commanded humans. The law is God's message to the people of the eternal truth of God's kingdom, and it contains life and salvation. If believers do not find life and salvation through the law, it is no different from the moral law or the general laws of each country that must be observed. If believers think that way, what does keeping the law have to do with gaining life and salvation? If a believer does not understand the content contained in the law and views it as legalism bound by the regulations of the law, he can be said to be far from life and salvation.

The meaning of the commandment spoken by Jesus is love of God and neighbors, which is fundamentally a belief in Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection. Those who talk about this in a legalistic way, saying it is better to keep the commandments than not, do not understand the meaning of keeping the commandments.

“Keep the commandments” means protecting the commandments in your heart. Although today's church rejects heresy, if there are people who speak of false doctrines or misinterpret the Bible differently from the Greek Bible, what else is that but heresy?