The Second Command

Intro

“I remember,” says C.S. Lewis, “Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate a bad man’s actions, but not hate the bad man: or, as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner. For a long time I used to think this a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man?"

“But years later,” Lewis continues, “it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life—namely myself. However much I might dislike my own cowardice or conceit or greed, I went on loving myself. There had never been the slightest difficulty about it.”

“'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:31; cf. Matthew 22:39).

Mark 12:28–31 ESV

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Believers have two primary responsibilities: Love God and Love others.

1. What does it mean to love God?

a. Believers love God with all of themselves.

Luke 10:27 ESV

27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

and

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

b. Believers love God because he loved us first.

1 John 4:19 ESV

19 We love because he first loved us.

c. Believers love God because God loved us sacrificially.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

d. Believers love God through obedient living.

John 14:21 ESV

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

e. Believers love God because he is worthy off our love.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Psalm 86:15 ESV

15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

f. Believers love God because He is love.

1 John 4:16 ESV

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

g. Believers love God because he is our master.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

h. Believers love God because we have been given his love.

Romans 5:5 ESV

5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Application

We love God through obeying his word.

We love God through spending time with him.

We love God through singing praises to him.

We love God through worshipping in services with him.

We love God through sharing our faith with others.

We love God through praying for others needs.

We love God through speaking truth about God’s word to others.

We love God through being focused on giving him glory.

2. What does it mean to love others?

a. Believers love others passionately.

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

b. Believers love others because God first loved us.

1 John 4:11 ESV

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

and

1 John 4:19–21 ESV

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

c. Believers love others out of a genuine interest in other people’s well being.

Philippians 2:3–4 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

d. Believers love others because we are peacemakers.

Proverbs 10:12 ESV

12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

1 Peter 4:8 ESV

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

e. Believers love others because we are children of God.

1 John 4:7–8 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

f. Believers love others even their enemies because God loves them too.

Matthew 5:43–48 ESV

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

g. Believers love others because all we do is to be done out of love.

1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

14 Let all that you do be done in love.

h. Believers love because it proves we belong to Jesus.

James 2:14–17 ESV

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Application:

We love others selflessly, placing others before ourselves.

We love abundantly, whether it is an enemy or a friend we love equally.

We love the person not their sin.

We love people enough to share with them kindly when they are not living a Christ centered life.

We love others through meeting their needs.

We love others through listening and supporting others.

We love others through spending time with them.

Conclusion

We cannot love if we do not first love God. It is out of God’s love we are empowered to love others powerfully. Yet, the only way to receive God’s love is through repentance.

Invitation

Call to repent and turn to Jesus for salvation.

Call to repent of not loving God like a child of God should.

Cal to repent of not loving others and asking for God to help us love others as he loves us.