- Love, the Greatest Commandment, Is the Fulfillment of the Law
- The Way to Keep the Greatest Commandment Is the Feasts of the New Covenant
- The Passover of the New Covenant Is the New Command, “Love One Another”
- The Principle of Love Contained in the Passover of the New Covenant
- Good Deeds to Practice the Greatest Commandment, Love
Two thousand years ago, an expert in the law asked Jesus what the great commandment was. About this, Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” It meant that the fulfillment of all laws is love.
In this age, Ahnsahnghong the Christ who came a second time taught us the true meaning of the greatest commandment that Jesus spoke, and the way to put it into practice. He taught that we can fulfill perfect love by keeping the feasts of the New Covenant, including the Passover, and that we must follow Christ’s love and sacrifice by doing good deeds.
Love, the Greatest Commandment, Is the Fulfillment of the Law
In order to save His people, God gave the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ in the Old and New Testament times, respectively. Jesus said that the fulfillment of all these laws is the greatest commandment, that is, love.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Mt 22:35–40
He said that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, and the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Then He said, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” This means that these two commandments can represent all the Old Testament laws, including the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments, which represent the laws of the Old Testament, are grouped into two: The first four commandments are the commandments that we must keep in our relationship with God, and the commandments five through ten are the commandments that we must keep in our relations with other people.
The former can be fulfilled with the commandment, “Love God with all your heart”; because those who love God cannot worship other gods or idols, nor misuse God’s name. The latter can be accomplished through the commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself”; because if we love others, we cannot do harm to them. So Jesus said all the laws represented by the Ten Commandments are fulfilled by love. Apostle Paul realized that and testified, “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”
[F]or he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Ro 13:8–10
The Way to Keep the Greatest Commandment Is the Feasts of the New Covenant
In the Old Testament times, the commandment, “Love God with all your heart,” could not be fully fulfilled. The Ten Commandments are the same as the Feasts of the Old Testament (Ex 34:18–28). People in those days kept the feasts by sacrificing animals. It was difficult for them to fully realize God’s love and love God with all their heart through the sacrifice of animals.
However, in the New Testament times, God Himself came in the flesh for the salvation of humankind and sacrificed Himself as a ransom. He established the feasts of the New Covenant, including the Passover, by shedding His precious blood on the cross. Whenever God’s people kept the feasts of the New Covenant, they commemorated the love and sacrifice of God, and reminded them of their love for all souls whom God saved with His greatest love (1 Co 10:16–17).
Thus, when we realize God’s love and sacrifice through the feasts of the New Covenant, we can keep the greatest commandment, “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.”
The Passover of the New Covenant Is the New Command, “Love One Another”
Ahnsahnghong the Christ who came a second time, taught that the New Covenant established with the bread and wine of the Passover is essentially the same as the new command, “Love one another.” Love, the greatest commandment that fulfills all the laws, is in line with the Passover of the New Covenant.
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Lk 22:20
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jn 13:34
Both Luke 22 and John 13 record what happened at the Holy Supper of the Passover. The “new covenant” in the Gospel of Luke and the “new command” in the Gospel of John were given by Jesus in the same place at the same time. Nevertheless, in the Gospel of Luke there is no record of the “new command,” and the “new covenant” in the Gospel of John. It is because the covenant and the command are the same in the Bible. For example, in the Old Testament, God referred to the Ten Commandments as the covenant (Ex 34:28; Dt 4:13). Therefore, the Passover of the New Covenant is the new command, “Love one another.”
The Principle of Love Contained in the Passover of the New Covenant
When we know the principle of love contained in the Passover of the New Covenant, we can understand that the new covenant and the new command are the same although the words are different. Through the Passover of the New Covenant, Jesus let the saints become one body with Him by letting them eat His flesh and drink His blood (Mt 26:17–28; Lk 22:7–20; Jn 6:53–56).
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. 1 Co 10:16–17
God’s people become one body by participating in the flesh and blood of Jesus through the Passover of the New Covenant. How can we hate our own body when we are one body in Christ? God let them become one and love one another through the Passover of the New Covenant.
The Holy Supper of the Passover is a ceremony to eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood. By doing so, we can realize the love and sacrifice of Christ, whose flesh was torn off and whose blood was shed on the cross for our salvation. We did not know how to love others as our own body because we are evil by nature. However, we can fully realize the love and sacrifice of Christ through the Passover of the New Covenant and love others. We also put the new command into practice thanks to the principle of love contained in the New Covenant.
Good Deeds to Practice the Greatest Commandment, Love
Christ Ahnsahnghong taught that people who’ve received salvation through the New Covenant must practice the new command, “Love one another.” He asked us to fulfill the greatest commandment, love, by doing so. Christ had compassion on us who did not know God and went to the path of death in our sins, and saved us with love. He wanted us to practice love, following His example, and save souls from death.
The practice of love, which is the greatest commandment, includes not only preaching the words of life directly, but also revealing God’s glory through good deeds and turning people’s hearts to God. People who are freed from their sin by the grace of God should show their repentance through good deeds and live a life that pleases God. Jesus told us to glorify God through our good deeds, and Apostle Peter exhorted us to live good lives.
“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Mt 5:16
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1 Pe 2:12
No matter how right the truth is, if the deeds of the saints are evil, the light of the gospel will be dimmed. On the contrary, if the truth is right and people who preach the truth do good deeds, the light of the gospel will shine even brighter. God is pleased when the good deeds of the saints made unbelievers repent and lead them to God.
Therefore, God’s people in this age should keep the feasts of the New Covenant and fully realize the love and sacrifice of God through those feasts. We also should strive to practice love which is the fulfillment of the law. In other words, first, we should love God with all our heart; and second, we should love our neighbors as ourselves.