Love Your Neighbor as Yourself!

Love Your Neighbor As You Love Yourself!

Both Jews and Christians claim that Jehovah is their GOD and they try to live by the 10 Commandments. So when JESUS spoke to Jews – whether to one or to the whole nation what He said also applies to the Church. Such as the poor you will always have and you should minister to them. (Deuteronomy 5:11; Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8) This is proof that GOD does not want all Christians to be rich or materially wealthy, that even in “Christian” communities and nations there will be those who are poor and destitute.

Like love your enemies and pray for those who spitefully use you. In Proverbs GOD says that if we see our enemy under judgment and trials that we should not gloat (rejoice) or He may relent. Why? Because His purpose is not to bless us over them but to bring them to the place of seeing that He is GOD and that He wants to redeem them. This is why in the Church there is much sin! We judge others believers and non-believers, we condemn them and take joy in their adversity and trouble, we pray against them and for their condemnation. “For GOD so Loved the world…that who so ever believes in Him…that none should perish but that all would be saved.” The Church is full of hate because Christians are full of hate, we hate sinners, especially ones we consider to do worse sins than our sins.

A big one is sexual sin, under the Law all sexual sin was judged equally – death; fornication (sex between a man and a woman outside of marriage), adultery (sex between a married person and someone other than their spouse), sodomy (sex where a man puts his penis into a woman’s anus) homosexuality (sex between people of the same sex, man with man, woman with woman) and bestiality (sex between a human and an animal). In our modern society outside the Church all of these are acceptable and even approved forms of sexual relationships. In the Church we only condemn and judge homosexuality and bestiality. Why does GOD judge them all the same? Because they all destroy marriage, they are acts of lust that lead to sin which leads to death (eternal death).

When JESUS met the Samaritan woman at the well He ministers Love to her and over the next two days the whole village is saved. Now many Christians believe that because He did this that divorce and remarriage and even living in an unmarried relationship is ok. Not so! Jesus clearly taught the importance of the marriage covenant and stated that divorce could only be granted due to sexual immorality and that if a divorced person remarried while the ex-spouse was still alive, that was an act of adultery. What Jesus did in the Samaritan village was minister Forgiveness and Love to dozens if not hundreds of Samaritans and bringing a whole community into GOD’s Kingdom ready for the salvation message after His resurrection.

All Christians who hate sinners rather than the sin that binds them – Stop judging, that is a sin! JESUS said you will be judged as you judge…that if you do not forgive you will not be forgiven. The Kingdom message is about GOD’s Love for every person ever born, now alive and all who will be born; that He Loves us and that JESUS died in our place to deliver us from the power of sin and death – He redeemed us to The Father. That is the only message that we are to preach!

If you are born and live you are condemned to hell, salvation is the gift of GOD that redeems all who believe, confess and live accordingly. JESUS told us not to fear those who can kill us but to fear GOD who can destroy body and soul in hell, Paul told us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, Peter told us, “Since you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, so that you have a sincere love for your brothers…” James told us to show our faith by our works. Being born again is not just having our sins forgiven and waiting for Christ’s return. It is about doing the Father’s work in the earth as it is in Heaven; we all have a call and gift from GOD and He does expect us to fulfill it. Being a Christian is not about judging sinners, it is about telling sinners that GOD loves them and Jesus died for them. That is the work of GOD’s Kingdom and we will be judged by our fulfilling His will for us.

Todd Burpo said, “10,000 times I’ve been here and talked about on earth as it is in Heaven and I don’t know if I’ve ever listened to that…did GOD want me to have the same vision as you…of course not…He crushed my pride and opened my heart – to love and the one thing love requires is that I let others know they are not alone.”