homoios
Interesting line of thought today: "The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament" says that the word homoios used in Matthew 22:39 means that loving people is literally "equal to" the importance of loving God. What exactly are the implications of that reading of the text? Does it mean that I can't truly love God without actively loving people? Or does it mean that love for God ultimately shows in our love for people? I'm not sure yet. I guess for now, I'll err on the simple side of Christ who tied the two together in practice and perfection. The urgency of this question for me comes when I read about the separation of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. Christ tells us that the final judgement will not be based on how we acted toward God, but in how we treated people. So, instead of ranking love for God versus love for people, maybe it's best to pursue both with equal intensity? Let's see how it lives out. I'll keep you posted.
posted by Will at 2:48 PM
3 Comments:
Nice, I like the idea of love for people and God being intertwined. I also like how you brought in the seperation of goats and sheep, because it was there that Christ said something to the effect of "I was hungry and you didn't feed me." I guess this love for people is an extention of the love for Christ. Just my thought.
3:36 PM
The first commandment is to love God with everything we have.
The second commandment is to love people.
Jesus sums this up by saying that everything hang on these two commandments!
Jesus makes it very clear that both of these are necessary.
We cannot fully love God without loving people, and vice versa.
Technically, you can say that loving God is the fist commandment, but these cannot exist without each other.
With that said, I see a little of the Bible Belt legalism when someone says that Loving God absolutely comes first.
7:35 AM
“Love for God and people cannot be equal because if: Loving God = Loving people then Loving people = Loving God”
Hmm. I wonder if it’s not an either/or though? While not being equal, maybe they’re one and the same? But ONLY if love for people is rooted in the love that God showed us first by sending Christ to die?
10:54 AM
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