Living Christianity The Secondary Doctrines of Christ

By Frank J. Verderber

Many Christians are faced with the challenge of how to work out their own Salvation in a way that is pleasing to God. A rudimentary understanding of Scripture is not enough. Sunday sermons and daily devotionals will not give the needed instruction from which to solve a serious problem, or point Believers onto the road that God has prepared for them.
Many times Jesus used the phrase, “To those who have ears to hear.” God has locked up, in his word, the wisdom of ages - to solve every problem and to lead believers to the reception of their hope – Eternal Life. Each Christian’s journey is not a cookie-cut format that everyone follows. God has made a specific path that each believer must look for, and follow, to become a disciplined learner. There is life yet to partake of - beyond repentance and belief, baptism and Sunday service. Who has the ears to hear the Spirit’s call into serious discipleship, and pragmatic and fruitful personal ministry?
The author, Frank J. Verderber, has used the received Greek and Hebrew texts, along with the KJV and NIV as primary Translations. His work is fact based, linear in syntax, with word studies exegeted formally – yet, he has added common place examples and commentary where needed.
Written for use by all denominations, this book follows the unadulterated word God in the raw, and avoids sectarian bios.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frank J. Verderber
• Release date: Mar 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310400872

Frank J. Verderber

FRANK J. VERDERBER resides in Sandisfield, Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Westfield University and has authored several non-fictions,historical fictions, and professionally written for several trade journals and served as a news reporter.He served in the USAF during the Vietnam War, from 1968-1972, and was employed as a technician and engineering specialist in the Nuclear, Night Vision, and Metals Plating industries - later teaching high school biology and physical science.He worshiped at First Congregational Church of Otis, Massachusetts, First Baptist, Chicopee, Christian Life Center and Bethany Assembly of God, Springfield, Massachusetts. He has held secular educational positions and music ministry posts at the aforementioned churches.Frank, likes outdoors, and specifically, the mountain woodlands. He has interests in studying wildlife and photographing the flora and fauna in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts.

Book preview

The primary Doctrines of Christianity define the nature of God, of man, of Sin, of repentance, and of redemption. However, this understanding leads the disciple to the secondary doctrines - that of loving God; out of that love service is produced. That service must be completed God’s way, and it demands that all the attributes of man will be at the disposal of our Heavenly Father.

"Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength." [Deut.6:4-5]

The greatest commandment of God is to love God, and was presented to Israel in the desert as found in Deut.6:4-5. Jesus gave that command back to all of us when he repeated it to the Pharisees - in the hearing of his disciples. We should respond to this command inductively – which means we are to take it at face value.

After a summation of the Ten Commandments in chapter five of Deuteronomy, the Shema-Yisreal [see Doctrines of Christianity pgs. 59-66] is presented along with the command to the assembled crowd of listeners to make sure they get the next part right – love is the subject and God is the object. The listeners are further encouraged to write the ten commandments with its first emphasis, loving God, on their hearts – teaching them to their children, and discussing them among themselves on all occasions.

How are we different in need of this instruction, than that of the Israelites? The moral requirements of God start with this command, because how we respond to the ultimate authority of God, will affect how we respond to the people around us.

The first part, verse 4, is presented as an understanding - specific to the nature of God. The purpose is to establish in their hearing that there are not many gods, but one God whose name is articulated, and that name presents the plural nature of God, as a cluster of grapes is one, that he is ONE in his policies, and ONE in his Name. He is never against himself or found teaching anything apart from what he has stated from the beginning of time.

The second part, verse 5, orders our response to his person – we are to love Him, with all of strength of you, and with all of soul of you, and with all of heart of you [literally translated]

Each time we demonstrate out affection toward God, it is to be done with all of our being. This prompts the questions: what does the scripture mean by the word love, and why are there three ways of demonstrating our being and not just one, and what do these specific attributes of man (strength, soul and heart) exemplify as active forces?

LOVE:

The Hebrew word for to love is: ‘aheb’ [ ב ה א ] and it is first used in Gen.22:2, …your only son Isaac, whom you love…

Wilsons [unabridged] Old Testament Word Studies defines this Hebrew word as: to love that in which a man delights, or which he earnestly desires; it implies ardent and vehement inclination of the mind, at the same time tenderness and fullness of affection and is to be taken in the same extensive sense as the English word love; and is used of the unspeakable love and tender mercies of God in covenant with his people…

The idea here is to bring to the mind of the Israelites that God is to be considered precious in their sight, and in their beliefs and in their doings, even as their most precious relationship, whether spouse or child, they were to regard God as precious as family. He becomes to them a real person, not an abstract concept.

WITH ALL YOUR HEART:

The Hebrew word for heart is: ‘iebab’ [ ב ב ל ] and is first used in Gen.20:5, I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands. [KJV has: …in the integrity of my heart and innocency…] The literal Hebrew is …conscience-of-me… and attests to the deepest thoughts and intents of ones being or the heart of their being.

Wilsons [unabridged] Old Testament Word Studies defines ‘heart’ as: This word in its primary meaning is supposed to express constant motion to and fro, and to be the root from which the heart is deduced… – rather than used as a literal expression of the material organ or of emotion – …the Hebrews regard it more generally as likewise the seat of intellect; hence, (1) mind, purpose, intention… It is used to search or seek out.

God defines how to love him with each descriptive word. To love with all ones heart means to seek it your intention of mind - to act toward God as one’s precious relationship. It is the impetus that creates the focus.

But the description does not stop there so a believer must love God…

WITH ALL YOUR SOUL:

The Hebrew word for soul is: ‘nephesh’ [ ש כּ נ ] and is first used in Gen.2:7, …and the man became a living being… The KJV has: …and man became a living soul… The literal Hebrew is: …and he formed living into-being the man…

Wilsons [unabridged] Old Testament Word Studies defines ‘soul’ as: "…the animal [animate] life, or that principle by which every animal, according to his kind, lives; hence life, vital principle, animal spirit, which is often translated soul or spirit… The rational soul, mind, as the seat of the feelings, affections, emotions of various kinds…"

We can equilibrate this expression for soul into: love God with all your emotion. We can reason an object as the intent of our seeking, but emotion expresses the degree of love.

At this juncture we have added to the definition of to love, the attributes via the heart and the soul - to love via purpose of soul and with the effect of feelings. But concerning this soul-love toward God, its defining is not yet finished, as God delivers the full intent of his desire by a third parameter…

WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH:

The Hebrew word for strength is: ‘meod’ [ ד א מ ]. This word is used only twice, Deut.6:5and 2Kg.23:25. The King James translates this as, "might"

Wilsons [unabridged] Old Testament Word Studies defines ‘strength’ as: might, ability on the stretch; a strong vehement endeavoring…

This word is sometimes translated differently [might, strength, money]. 2Kings chapter 25, follows an identical phrase used in Deuteronomy, but attributes the activity to King Josiah, who was praised for his quality of love, as Moses was for his faithfulness. When we read the total account of Josiah’s life, found in 2Kg.22-23 and 2Chron.34-35, Scripture expresses the great detail of the relentless physical efforts Josiah made to right the unfaithfulness of the past monarchs. It can be said that he went beyond what would normally be considered quality effort, but "stretched his ability to its bounds. This then is what it means to love God with your physical strength or might.

We now have a total picture of how to love God. If God is our delight [our love], we demonstrate it by a continual and deliberate searching [our heart], while applying every positive emotions toward hum [our soul], and give our total ability of endure nce, vigor and solidity [our strength].

JESUS QUOTES DEUT.6:5, WITHIN MT.22:37

The Expositors Bible Commentary [Zondervan Publ.] evaluates the difference in Hebrew and Greek expressions, in its note section [found in book 3, pg. 65, note verse 5]: "The quotations of v.5 in the NT vary: Matt.22:37 has kαρδια (kardia, heart), ψνχη (psyche, "soul), and διανοια (dianoia, mind). Mark 12:30 has the same series but adds ισχυω (ischyos,strength) The Talmud (Sanhedrin 74a et al.) translates the last phrase: ‘and with all your money’"

The language in Deut.6:5 should not be interpreted as a physiological, psychological, and spiritual geography or make-up of man that renders, or defines, a triad of man’s being. Of this exposition the commentators Matthew Henry [1704] and Dr. Earl S. Kalland [Western Baptist Seminary - circa 1980] are in agreement. The language conveys a very practical forfeiting of all that man is - and has - when he submits his loyalty to God. To loose one’s life to gain Christ, is an apt expression.

The idea when compounding all these attributes is that the adherent will love God not only as he would his own flesh and blood, but that he will love God with purpose of mind – deliberately - with emotion - so that his life is at the Lord’s disposal. Additionally, he will love God with all his resources: physical strength, talents, goods and money. And this he will do this continually.

To reiterate in common speech: a person will make up his mind, with an strong emotional desire to follow and love God, and he will complete God’s desires and orders, by actively engaging his abilities, goods, and finances.

It can be understood clearly, that the Greatest Commandment demands that nothing is to be withheld from God. It is the total sum of man that must love the Lord God. This is the nature of a disciple of Christ. This definition is a strong dose of spiritual reality for a contemporary people that are used to arm chair supervising, soft cushions, and scheduled activities of banal work, and expected pleasures. But it is the truth of what God desires from us.

However, Jesus continues delineating the steps of a true disciple. Loving God was paramount, but he taught that the Second Greatest Commandment was similar to the first, and quoted from Leviticus 19. A man must also serve God by loving his neighbor. And so, The Way of discipleship [pgs. 11-12 this book], and as expressed in the Book of Acts, and in the Didache, teaches that the life that Jesus lived in service to God, should cause us strive to serve and meet the needs of others, as Jesus did.

CHAPTER TWO

Love Your Neighbor

Who has not heard the Beatles’ song, All You Need Is Love? The word is simple, the thought is nice, and everyone agrees that we should love one another – in principle that is. However, our nature is exposed when we read carefully the exchange between Jesus and the expert in the Law, found in Luke chapter 10.

After repeating: love your neighbor as yourself [Lev.19:18; Lk.10:28] and receiving the Lord’s approval of his statement, the expert then says, And who is my neighbor? [Lk.10:29]

The Gospel of Luke states that the Expert’s reason for his query was that He wanted to justify himself. The word justify dikaioo- (δικαοω) in the Greek, means: to make or declare a right. The expert wanted a right to determine who his neighbor was, and so he put it as a rhetorical question that Jesus chose to answer by way of the allegory of the good Samaritan - though some commentators interpret it as a real event. Suffice to say, the moral of the anecdote is: everyone you see or have contact with, is your neighbor!

The original scripture used by both the Expert in the Law and by Jesus, is taken from Lev.10:18, and is wholly rendered;

"Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD" [YHWH or ה ו ה י ].

These particular verses are the summary of the previous verses that started at Lev.19:9. As well, they represent an expansion of the Ten Commandments – specifically 6-10, which represent the general categories of sin done against one’s neighbor: lack of hospitality and lack of sharing what God has given freely, theft, lying, deception, falsely swearing, defrauding, humiliating the physically or mentally impaired, withholding wages, perverting justice by preference for rich or poor, spreading slander, deliberately endangering one’s neighbor to harm or death, hating one’s brother, and allowing one’s neighbor to conduct himself in these activities, and remaining silent in the face of these evils.

The last part is exceptionally instructive – allowing someone else to hate, steal, humiliate, to cause death or injury etc, renders the silent person equally guilty of the same sins! This is called guilt by omission, not by practice.

Scripture makes clear that Christians responsibility to teach and practice righteousness, and they are told to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness. [Eph.5:11]

Much of Leviticus and Deuteronomy were used to expand the meaning of the Moral Law, but as one can observe by history and everyday living, we like the Expert of the Law, and we want to justify and make up our own rules. In our personal desire, we declare a right. That right is called ETHICS.

Yet, Jesus has said love God and love your neighbor and we shall live. The antithesis follows that, if we don’t love by God’s design, then we die! One cannot love God and hate his neighbor, so says John in his first epistle.

"We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his bother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And he [Jesus] has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." [1Jn.4:19-21]

In the Gospel of John, Jesus said:

"By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another" [Jn.13:35].

The use of the word love is so inclusive, we have some difficulty extracting out its specifics in life, because of the rational decisions we must make on a daily basis. For example, we have only so much money. To which work of Christ shall we grant a gift? It works the same with time, and with our talents. The opportunities are many and the sheer magnitude of requests dulls the mind, and the justifications with their declared rights start to flow out of our mouths.

It is not within our natural state to believe we can achieve this sort of behavior on a daily basis – a behavior that God has required - and actually, it is true – we cannot! However we can, in Christ, – opt for his desire and ask for the help to accomplish this task.

The nature of God’s business is to daily stretch us beyond our capacity to do the things he wants us to do – to do the very deeds that Christ did. The unmitigated requests of God, force us to either seek his help or we restrain ourselves to the natural. We either trust him, or trust our own devises.

I once asked a friend why she worked extra jobs, when her children were still under the age of twelve – didn’t her children need her more? She told me that that she was simply trying to receive what God promised her in Mal.3:10-12. In effect, she was helping God open the windows of heaven to meet his promise.

If as a Christian you thought you were doing well in following Christ, reconsider your life again according to these aspects of this desire of God;

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves…" [2Co.13:5].

The context focuses on the power of Christ resident in believers – examine your selves to see if Christ is resident - by virtue of your professed weakness and reliance on God. This is the very same stretching of God we discussed earlier.

Consider the common ventures of Churches or individual believers; were they stretched by God to rely on him in faith, or did the success of a new building or a new business strategy come out of their own devices? The works of God must include the direct plans, and blessing of God;

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders build in vain…" [Ps.17:1]

Contextually, a work done in love toward another person must rely on the power of God not vanity. The Hebrew word for vain is shav [א ו ש ] and means falsehood. As believers we don’t want to fool ourselves into accepting our own devices or power.

Let us go back to the original scripture that we might build upon it. "… but love your neighbor [Heb., ‘rea’ = relative or nearby friend] as yourself…" [Lev.19:18] The Hebrew word love, is the same as that expressed in chapter one - that of "aheb." It is used to describe our love toward God, as well. This same chapter of Leviticus reasserts verse 18, and 34 specifically to the alien;

"When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living among you must be treated as one of your own native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God" [Lev.19:34]

Spiritual and Social Moral Laws of Israel [Lev.19:9-18

9 When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.

11 Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.

12 Do not swear falsely by name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

13 Do not defraud your neighbor [‘rea’ = friend, relative or spouse] or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.

14 "Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.

15 Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor [‘amith’ = a citizen or stranger] fairly.

16 Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s [‘rea’= close friend, relative, spouse, child] life. I am the Lord.

17 Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor [‘amith’ = a citizen, an equal] frankly so that you will not share in his guilt.

18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor [‘rea’ = relative or someone nearby your home] as yourself. I am the Lord.

33 …The alien living among you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself…

34 Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity.

As verse 18 was prefaced by an extended series of unethical, unsafe and reprehensible activities that rejected love (do not steal, do not defraud, do not deceive), verse 34 is suffixed by an extended series of objectionable activities against aliens (dishonest standards of length, weight, and quantity). God demands that commerce be done honestly, regardless of the person’s parentage or national status. The implications are as meritorious today, as they were then.

Comparatively, the word neighbor in Lev.19:15 and 17 is the Hebrew word amith [ ת מ ע ] and means equal or fellow, such as a citizen – but the Hebrew word for neighbor in Lev.19:16 and 18 is rea [ ע ר ] and means friend or companion, such as a spouse or relative. In both cases the word neighbor reflects anyone you know or have come in contact with. This is made clear from the context and by Jesus’ Good Samaritan epic.

However, in verse 15 and 17 the word reflects equality in legal status, since in one case [v.15], to judge or decide a judgment, one must do it as an equal, with no preconceived mitigation. In the second case [v.17], the judgment is offered as unofficial, - one unto another, but it carries as much spiritual implication as that of verse 15.

It should be noted that the cases reflected in Lev.19:13 and 16, the issue was not about an official judgment, for or against a party, but a reflection upon one’s own personal relationship toward someone who is in close quarters. The issue reflects the emotive sins of theft and gossip - not status. After all, the greatest portion of common theft has been shown to occur from

people who know the victim. Who, may I ask, would spread tales about some secret peccadillo, better than a close friend, a spouse, or a relative?

In retrospect, when love is pursued among spouses, relatives, next door neighbors and wayfarers, the crime rate drops precipitously, and there is harmony and peace in the land. The fruit of love will flow only from individual effort, not from magistrates exacting corporal penalties and monetary fines.

It follows that objective judgments based upon controlled emotion and qualified evidence, are to be used with people we encounter for the first time or of whom have no personal knowledge. This fits well with Paul’s statement: So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view [2Cor.5:16] - the application of which, would remove all forms of cultural bias and evil discrimination.

However, for those neighbors we know personally, the emotional rebuke is required, when there is a great breach of the moral law [Lev.19:17]. It does not say rebuke them for minor irritations, or misdemeanor’s, but rebuke them for sins that lead to death [Lev.19:13-16; 1Jn.5:16-17 - also see Doctrines of Christianity, pags.73-77].

Additionally, Christ’s teaching on the greatest commandment was followed by a similar command to love ones neighbor, as one would love - show deference for - God.

To love others out of respect for God is hard enough, but doable with reservations, for a very committed person. However, to demonstrate a similar patience with joy for a sinning neighbor as one would demonstrate for God, is hard to grasp. But we must remember, that our Father’s desire is to have us conform to the image of Christ [Rom.8:29]. The joy is not happiness in seeing another discount your righteous judgment, but the joy comes from completing God’s command – that we might demonstrate his mercy.

We motivate others toward the family of God, as we demonstrate godly love [Phil.2:2]. If we cannot prompt their salvation with love, we can never secure their salvation any other way. That we have no capacity in and of ourselves to win a person to Christ is factual. It is what we receive from God and use that contains the power to convince others. To reiterate; God wants us to recognize our need of him in completing our stewardship. He is our absolute resource, not an addition to our own abilities. Who then can brag? – Except to brag in Jesus [Gal.6:14].

Photo by: Frank Verderber

EVENING AND MORNING

"And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse to separate water from water’…and he called the expanse sky. And there was evening and morning on the second day." [Gen.1:6-8]

CHAPTER THREE

Do Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly With God!

Micah the Prophet, who lived during the reigns of King Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, [760-700 BC] declared a prophetic message like that of the prophet Isaiah, his contemporary.

During this time of unprecedented wealth and military prowess, the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of the Jews worked with each other and dominated the region. Even so, with all the affluence, greed was the state of affairs - not only for the governing authorities, but for those Hebrews who managed large commerce. Filled with poetic license, metaphors and allegories, Micah’s theme focused on social justice, especially justice and mercy for the poor, the widows and the orphans.

Micah’s melancholy words chastened the rich and powerful, encouraging and pleading with them, to remember their fellow Brothers in the Covenant with Yehovah. In his complaint Micah cries that the wealthy;

"…covet fields and seize houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance…you strip the rich robe [garment of distinction] from those who pass by, without a care, like men returning from battle. You drive the women of my people from their pleasant homes. You take away my blessing from their children forever" [Micah 2:2, 8-9].

In essence, Micah’s herald for social justice was as simple as Lev.19:18 – to love your neighbor.

The gospel accounts find Jesus making the same charge against the Pharisees in Mt.23:23, …you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness… and as well, in Mk.12:38-40, …you steal the widow’s mite…

The situation has not changed today, as we read of notable mega-banks foreclosing in frenzy, due to the housing bubble burst, We find that they neither have a legal leans against a property, nor do they care if they foreclose, even if the occupants have been meeting their required payments. The plight of the poor was meaningless to those leaders found in Micah. Their principles revolved around profiting ill-gotten gain from their fellow Israelites.

Micah’s words expressed the abuse of the people in terms of, cattle for slaughter [Mic.3:1-4]. He further expressed the sins of the ecclesia, and businessmen as: prophesying for a price, bribes, and the shedding of blood, yet these obstructers of righteousness continued to, lean upon the LORD, saying, no disaster will come upon us [Mic.3:9-11].

Thomas E. McComiskey PhD, in his commentary on Micah, The Expositors Bible Commentary [Zondervan Pub.] states on pg 420:

"These leaders maintained a form of external religion based to some extent on the covenant relationship…but they had lost sight of ethical [moral] requirements…this optimistic, but unfounded trust in Yaweh [YHWH or ה ו ה י ]…is described as Leaning on the LORD. It was a kind of a trust, but one devoid of the fruit of real faith in obedience and ethical [moral] response to God."

In the United States, Christian worship is an easy exercise. Calling upon the name of the Lord becomes a quick prayer for everything - from fashionable dress to acquiring some bobble of adornment. The prayers of personal needs ascend regardless of hidden sins, or ‘white-washed’ sins. After all, the common rational argues, If we can’t be forgiven ‘this sin,’ then who can ever be sure they are forgiven of any sin? However, they forget the primary doctrinal teaching of Christ, and as well, the Apostles Paul and John - that there is need to confess and repent first, and then receive the blessing of forgiveness afterwards [Mk.1:15; 2Co.7:9-10; 1Jn.1:9].

The idea that we can simply say privately to God, that we regret a particular sin and thereafter move on, is greatly exaggerated, and precariously misinformed. If the sin involves the injury of another person, we are told to leave our gift at the altar and be reconciled, or the penalty may increase in the future [Mt.5:23-26]. Without reconciliation there can be no forgiveness. We are required to confess our sins to each other [James 5:16]. [see: Doctrines of Christianity, pgs. 69-74, Repentance]

Micah’s contemporary, Isaiah, refuted the easy religion of the Israelites, when in Isaiah 58 he described their fallacious expectations and self-serving desires, in the face of their neighbor’s needs. He called their attitude rebellion - activity that outwardly appeared to come close to God, yet abandoned their neighbor’s basic needs, while living daily, in strife:

"You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high…the kind of fasting I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free…to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter…and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood" [Is.58:4-7].

In the Gospels, John the Baptist heralded an equally raw rebuke at the leading class of Pharisees and Sadducees:

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think that you can say to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham" [Mt.3:7-9].

Do these words not have meaning for Christians, today? Perhaps the passage should read: You fakers, who said that you were safe in your belief – produce the fruit of repentance and forgiveness – fruit of loving one another. And do not say, ‘we have called on the name of Jesus. We are safe.’ Isn’t it true that anyone can claim the Name of the Lord? If Jesus were your Lord, you would do the very things he did.

This is a somewhat free paraphrase, but it rings true.

If these things were written for our benefit - that we might believe [Jn.20:31] - then how should we interpret the meaning of what God is telling us?

Repenting, confessing, and reconciling are loving acts of kindness toward our neighbor.

To love God is to love our neighbor as God intended – so wrote the Apostle and brother of Christ;

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?...You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?...You see a person is justified by what he does [in faith], and not by faith alone…As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead" [Jas.2:14, 20, 24, 26].

And finally, it was to the abuses, the lack of love, and deeds of unkindness, that Micah asserts his direct rebuke at the leaders of his day, and thereby expands the meaning of Lev.19:18:

"He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" [Mic.6:8"].

Contextually, Micah’s cry must be understood by the charge God leveled at the Nation, in Micah 6:1-5. The charge of God and the response of Micah, as the representative Israelite, broadens the scope of the heart felt desire of God.

God’s Complaint and Micah’s Reply

[Mic.6:1-5]

"Listen to what the Lord says: Standup and plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say" [v.1].

"Hear Oh mountains the Lord’s accusation; listen you everlasting foundations of the earth.