John 12:43-50, "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." If He didn't come to judge the world, why are we?
Matthew 7:12 "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Who among us wants other people to judge what we do? Ultimately, we will judge ourselves by the actions we take, John 12:48, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." This is only possible because Jesus came and showed us how to love others.
Who here has never sinned? Who has not sinned in the last 10 years? Who has not sinned in the past year? Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, Proverbs 30:6, "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." and 1 John 1:10, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
Matthew 7:1-5, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Notice he did not say pull the beam out of your brother's eye; He said pull the beam out of your own eye. Why, then, do we still judge others?
James 2:10-11, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." When we hold others to the letter of the law, we also hold ourselves to that very same law. We know that man cannot keep all of the laws, that is why we needed Jesus to come and die for our sins, Galatians 2:21, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
Luke 18:18-22, "And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." Jesus wants this ruler to understand that keeping the law requires keeping all of the law, and the rich often hold back their wealth. Only when we follow Jesus will we be covered by His blood and free from the law.
Matthew 5:21-22, "Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matthew 5:22 is the only passage in the Bible where the term raca is used. Raca comes from the Aramaic term reqa. It was a derogatory expression meaning “empty-headed,” insinuating a person’s stupidity or inferiority. It was an offensive name used to show utter contempt for another person. Jesus warned that the use of such a word to describe someone was tantamount to murder and deserving of the severest punishment of the law. From Got Questions)
Matthew 19:7-9, "They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." How many times and in how many ways must Jesus tell us before we understand that His law is simple. We need no other laws if we just love others the way Jesus loves us.
Luke 10:30-37, "And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."
Who then is the neighbor to the woman that is pregnant who is unable to afford the costs of having or caring for her unborn child? Is it the person who quotes the law to her? Or, is it the one who offers to help pay the costs of having the baby, or the who is willing to make sure someone can care for the baby so the woman can finish school or go to work, or the one who makes sure she has a place to sleep, food to eat, diapers, etc.?
The Pharisees were good at quoting the law. They even tithed everything they gained, including each individual spice. However, they forgot the most important thing, Luke 10:38-42, "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." The doing comes after the hearing. We must first listen to Jesus with a heart set on understanding. Then, the doing will pour out of our hearts.
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
Pro-Love is a new movement to provide women with previously unavailable choices when they find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy. Pro-Love is not giving women the choice of abortion; women already have it. If we take that choice away, how are we following Jesus? How are we any better than Levite who knew the law and walked by the wounded man while the good Samaritan helped him. Jesus never advocated for new laws to force people to live under the Ten Commandments. He only gave us one new commandment: love as He has loved us. Please consider joining the Pro-Love movement. For information on Pro-Love or how to partner with Pro-Love, please email bill@reasoningwithgod.com.
The next four weeks will be dedicated to helping us understand how Pro-Love will reduce the number of abortions, without creating laws that forbid women from having one.
God has placed us in unique places throughout this world. This blog is about sharing His Word; please share it with those you believe would be blessed by hearing it. Bless you! If you want to receive the Quarterly Newsletter, email us at bill@reasoningwithgod.com. If you want to read past blogs, go to https://www.reasoningwithgod.com/blog.
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