Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Law of Love

The Law Of Love Fulfills All Of God's Law
The "Law Of Love" fulfills all of God's law for mankind.
If we truly love others as we love ourself, we have met all of God's requirements for us.
"LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." The Law Of Love
"LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"
_____________________________________________________________

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 RSV)
_____________________________________________________________

The Law Of Love is derived from The Great Commandment, given by Jesus in three different places in the Bible: in Matthew, in Mark, and in Luke. The Great Commandment, In Three Different Places

MATTHEW 22:34-40 (RSV)


34
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the
Sad'ducees, they came together.
35
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him.
36
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"
37
And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38
This is the great and first commandment.
39
And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.
40
On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
MARK 12:28-31 (RSV)

28
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with
one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him,
"Which commandment is the first of all?"
29
Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is one;
30
and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your
strength.'
31
The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no other commandment greater than these."

LUKE 10:25-28 (RSV)


25
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test,
saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?"
26
He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you
read?"
27
And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as
yourself."
28
And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and
you will live."
The Great Commandment was based on two earlier commandments given in the Old Testament. Old Testament Roots Of The Great Commandment
DEUTERONOMY 6:4-5 (RSV)

4
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD;
5
and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your might.

LEVITICUS 19:18 (RSV)


"You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons
of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself:
I am the LORD."
Jesus broadened the Old Testament concept of "neighbor" to include all people, not just "the sons of your own people." When He did this, He opened up God's Kingdom to all people, not just the people of Israel. Jesus Answers The Question, "Who Is My Neighbor?"
LUKE 10:29-37
29
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And
who is my neighbor?"
30
Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and
beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31
Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when
he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32
So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw
him, passed by on the other side.
33
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was;
and when he saw him, he had compassion,
34
and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil
and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him
to an inn, and took care of him.
35
And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to
the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever
more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'
36
Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the
man who fell among the robbers?"
37
He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said
to him, "Go and do likewise."

God accepts our love for others as if it were love for Himself. So when we give love to other people, we are giving it to God, Himself. Thus the Great Commandment requirement to love God is fulfilled when we love our neighbor.
This is the meaning of the Parable Of The Sheep And The Goats.
MATTHEW 25:31-46 (RSV)
The Sheep And The Goats
_____________________________________________________________
31
"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the
angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
32
Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will
separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats,
33
and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the
goats at the left.
34
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come,
O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world;
35
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and
you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36
I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited
me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
37
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see
thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?
38
And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or
naked and clothe thee?
39
And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit
thee?'
40
And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as
you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you
did it to me.'
41
Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from
me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels;
42
for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty
and you gave me no drink,
43
I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you
did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not
visit me.'
44
Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison, and did not minister to thee?'
45
Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did
it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to
me.'
46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life."
_____________________________________________________________

So now we have shown The Great Commandment and its roots in the Old Testament. We have seen how Jesus expanded the definition of "neighbor" to include all people. And we have seen how God accepts our love for other people as if it were love for Himself.
Thus we arrive at The Law Of Love, which is LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. And we see that The Law Of Love fulfills all of God's law, as stated directly in Galatians 5:14. _____________________________________________________________

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 RSV)
_____________________________________________________________

Other Scriptures confirm that the The Law Of Love fulfills all of God's law. Romans 13:8 (RSV)
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves
his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:9 (RSV)
The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not
kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other
commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Romans 13:10 (RSV)
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law.
James 2:8 (RSV)
If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.
Proverbs 10:12 (RSV)
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
1 Peter 4:8 (RSV)
Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love
covers a multitude of sins.


as found on http://patriot.net/~bmcgin/pearl-lawoflove.html

Friday, April 25, 2008

Do we have to follow the Sabbath?

Well, this has been a debate for a long time and in my quick little blog post I'm not going even try to go into all the different scriptures that could support or oppose the notion that we are obligated to keep a strict Sabbath.

I thought God gave the Jews the day off, so they wouldn't have to work for someone else on that day. They could attend to their own personal business, they certainly could worship God, and they could do nothing if they so wanted. Do nothing? God wants us to worship him. Amen, but do you thing God is understanding? (Have you ever had a child not want to participate in a family event? Did you punish them or did you let them sit it out even though you wanted them to participate and have fun. I bet you didn't love them any less).

I will say this: If the Sabbath was given to the Jews so they had a day where they could appreciate God and that they could rest, why is it that the CoG members treat it as a work-a-thon? My buddy who is a member goes in really early and comes home real late. I'm mean he puts in an 18 hour day. The CoG works him to the bone...mandatory study.....after mandatory study...after mandatory study. Where's the rest? I guess if that's what you want to do, then it fits within what I stated above. But if you feel, guilty about not participating, or pressured that if you don't spend as much time as everyone else...then it's for the wrong reasons.

Now keep in mind, if you're not Jewish this isn't even an issue...Christians have never been told explicitly that the Sabbath is a requirement. Some will say because Jesus kept the Sabbath that you need to too, but keep in mind Jesus was Jewish...are you?

God Bless,

CoGinator

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Only Follow God Commanded Feasts and Rituals

If you've ever had the fun of have a discussion with a COGbot member about whether it's ok or not to celebrate Easter and Christmas. Then you know it can be a heated discussion. Church of God members, under the teaching of the dead Ahnsahnghong and the control of Korean-ONLY spoken Mother Jerusalem, feel that because it's not listed in the bible and a commanded celebration and that the origins dirive from pagan celebrations that its not going to please God.


Many, if not the vast majority, of mainstream Christians feel that these man made celebrations are indeed ok, since we personally celebrate them for our Lord and Savior. It's not about the roots that matter, as it's about what's in our hearts that drives our desire to celebrate them. I think we'd all agree that if your only celebrating Christmas for the presents and not for the sake of recognizing Jesus Christs Birthday, then it's for the wrong reason and could indeed be a pagan ritual. (Yes, we are all aware that Dec 25th is most likely not the actual day that Jesus was born...)
With that said, I'm currious as to where in the bible these celebrations are? Did I miss the scripture that commanded us to dress as a clown?




Wednesday, April 16, 2008

DO NOT WORSHIP FALSE IDOLS!

I agree with the the COG's interpretation of the bible with regards to not worshiping false idols. (OK, that one is pretty obvious)

Now, I don't agree with COG's assumption that if a church displays a cross outside or inside or if an individual wears a cross on their neck that they are worshiping the cross. It's simply a symbol of what Jesus did for our sins. If you start praying to the cross, and treating the cross as a god, then you're in false idolatry.

But having a cross that when you look at it reminds you of Jesus, is hardly a false idolatry.

So if the COG is against the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, and Papa Smurf, because they consider it a false idol and a pagan symbol, what do you call the orange thing in the picture below (Santa COG, World Mission Carrot Man, or maybe the Brainwash Bunny). I hope they aren't forcing the children to bow down to it.


Oh well, what does it matter? They worship some old bag who claims to be the female half of god (as if). Yet she wears a hearing aid, and only speaks Korean. Don't you think God could speak multiple languages and heal himself. Maybe that's how she gets away with not answering prayers..."Oh I didn't hear your prayer for healing."

New Blog Set up

Members of World Mission Society Church of God are doing their best to remove information on the Internet about the criticism of their misguided interpretation of the bible.

This blog was set up to point to location of more information about the cult that worships Ahnsahnghong and Mother Jerusalem. Check back for updates, and check out the links to others who share my same view.