But thanks be to God
that there is definitely a code of conduct, some basic principles that is
assigned to perfectly joined all believers together and having them to be of
the same mind and in the same judgement all speaking the same thing and that is,
the commandments of God which Jesus Christ condensed into two great
commandments and state as follows; “You shall love the LORD your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
Now since all the law
and the prophets are hanged on these two commandments how do we distinguish or
differentiate the first great commandment from the second great commandment? This
is very important to know because love towards God is expressed by keeping the
commandments as Jesus Christ emphatically stated; “If you love Me, keep My
commandments” (John 14:15).
The crux of the matter
is, the root cause of the divisions that exist in the body of Christ (the
church) is disobedience to the first and great commandment resulting in the sin
of irreverence and self-righteousness. The constitution of the first great
commandment is stated as follows: “You shall have no other gods before Me. "
You shall not make for yourself a carved image --- any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.”
“For I, the LORD your
God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me but showing mercy to
thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." You shall not
take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
" Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but
the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no
work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your
female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For
in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is
in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath
day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:3-11).
So why is the first
great commandment so important and why it holds the key to the unification of
the body of Christ? The first great commandment holds the key to the
unification of the church (the body of Christ) because it differentiates true
worship of the one and only true God from false gods and gives us guidelines
and the code of conduct on how and when to worship and give honor and glory to the
One and only true God.
The crux of the matter
is, God has established specific rules and guidelines as to when and how we are
to appear before Him and ascribe to Him to honor and glory that is due to Him
and we should also be aware of the fact that, Satan the devil seeks to be
worshiped just as God is worshiped.
To be continued
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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