If a Christian can be defined as one who is living out the Great Command, then what exactly does living out the Great Command look like?  The term “Christian” is used so loosely in today’s culture, so much so that I don’t even like to use the term.  Therefore, if we define a Christian as one who is living out the Great Command, then one who is not living out the Great Command is one who is not a CHRISTian; for sake of my terminology, this person is a CHURCHian (one who follows perceived Biblical morals).  The passage from Mark reads:

“One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’  Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, “HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD YOUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 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.” And the second is this, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”  There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31, NASB).

One thing to note is that with these four aspects of who we are, it is pretty much impossible to separate out one from the other.  Basically I am stating that the mind, heart and soul have influence over what the flesh does.  And likewise the actions of the flesh have direct influences to the heart, mind and soul.  So in this writing we will look at one aspect of flesh, noting that it is not just an action of flesh alone.

As stated in the previous post, we summarized loving God with all our strength by stating we shall love our God with all our flesh.  What does loving God with ALL our flesh look like?  The truth is, we are always battling two different natures; the sinful nature of flesh (darkness) in which we were created and the nature of the Spirit of God (light) as in the nature God calls to live in.  We cannot live under both natures.  Therefore, if we love God with 100% of our strength, then there is no part of our body left to even desire the sinful nature of the flesh (Gal. 2:20).

If we love God with 100% of our body, then we are not enticed to commit the only sin against the body, immorality (1 Cor. 6:18).  We are not enticed to be fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, or homosexuals (1 Cor. 6:9-10) if our entire bodies are sold out for Jesus.  For sake of clarity, we will quickly define these four sinful desires of the flesh that we are not partakers in whenever we love God with 100% of our bodies.

A fornicator is one who has consensual sex with another individual of the opposite gender outside of marriage; commonly called pre-marital sex.  An adulterer is one who has sex with an individual who is married to another person.  An effeminate is one who submits there body to unnatural lewdness, indecent sexual conduct such as forced sex or sex with an underage individual; and an effeminate has also been defined as masturbators such as that stated in the NRSV.  A homosexual is one who has sex with another of the same gender.

The reason these are listed out is because of the effect these actions have on not just the flesh, but on all four aspects of a person since the body is made up of all four aspects.  We must take note of what Paul is stating when he quotes Old Testament in stating that a sexual act unites the two persons (1 Cor. 6:16).  There is a spiritual uniting that takes place in the act of sex.  In the marriage of a male to a female, this is a beautiful connection of oneness, but in regard to the four immoral sexual acts it is the connection to the nature of flesh, the nature of sin.  In the uniting of two spirits in sin, a spiritual bond is formed that the enemy uses for destruction on a person’s heart, soul, mind and body, restricting the fullness of the love of God to both individuals.

Please understand that my whole point of writing this is not to condemn anyone for any previous acts in their life.  The enemy is a deceiver and tries to say that these acts are okay as long as you remain a good person (a CHURCHian).  I do not want anyone to be deceived and miss the fullness of the love of God.  God loves you and desires you to be free of this bondage to the nature of flesh, so you can live in the freedom of His Nature.  God says you can be washed and sanctified from this old nature (1 Cor. 6:11) and be joined completely to Him (1 Cor. 6:17); no longer living to obey the law of Biblical morals, but instead living in the fullness of a love relationship with God.  Repent, and ask God to break the unhealthy soul ties in your life.  Then give God your flesh, so that you can love Him with all your strength.

I desire to live a Faith-Full life, in the fullness of His love, as a CHRISTian.

What is a Christian called to do other than to live out the Great Command?  Or is it better to describe and define a Christian as being one who lives out the Great Command?  The passage from Mark reads:

“One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’  Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, “HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD YOUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 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.” And the second is this, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”  There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31, NASB).

This passage has led me to believe that there are four parts of a person; their heart, soul, mind and flesh.  A person’s heart is best described as their spirit; it is their passion, their drive, it is what makes them tick.  To love God with ALL our heart means that we love God with every bit of passion and drive we have.  God is our only motivation, our only desire; it means we are completely desperate for Him and Him alone.

The term soul is commonly translated with words similar to breath and life.  Here in this passage when the soul is tied directly to the person and given an action it is defined by deep feelings and affections (Strong’s 5590, 2); which is much easier to state it as being our emotions.  To love God with ALL our soul means we are giving God all of our emotions; we are not holding back any of our emotions at all.

The mind of a person is not too hard to define at all as it is our mental capacities.  The question that comes into play is when we link our mind to the passage of loving God with all of our mental capacities.  Essentially, when we love God with ALL our mind, God begins to teach us as He originally desired (Hebrews 10).  In this learning we receive the mind of Christ as Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 2.

Lastly is the strength of a person mentioned; as in one’s might or power.  To love God with ALL our strength is to love Him with everything we can muster up in our flesh; to love Him with our entire physical body.

We will break these down over the days to come, but for now I simply ask if your way of living defines a CHRISTian?  One who is completely desperate for God, who is not holding back their emotions in their worship of living with God no matter who is around them, who is living under the same love of Christ sharing His mind, who is loving God with every aspect of their physical bodies has nothing left that could even be tempted to sin.  This is true death to self as Paul taught by saying I have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20).

I desire to live a Faith-Full life, in the fullness of His love alone.

What is a Christian called to do other than live out the Great Command?  Jesus’ teaching in Mark on what we have coined The Great Command is the one I prefer to use because of the four aspects listed compared to the three aspects of the other gospels.  The passage from Mark reads:

“One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’  Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, “HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD YOUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 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.” And the second is this, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”  There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31, NASB).

[I first want to make a quick note how I like that NASB always places Old Testament quotes in capital letters, in case you were wondering why parts of this passage was capitalized.  So yes, Jesus was reciting scripture in His answer of the question, much like all His answers.]

To start this discussion, look how this passage opens; a scribe hears people arguing.  We can make the assumption that he hears the Sadducees and Pharisees arguing with themselves or at Jesus over what they believe and understand, not Jesus arguing with them because Jesus was able to address the question asked of him by the scribe.  After the Pharisees failed at trapping Jesus, the Sadducees gave it a shot.  Both failed, and the attempt at uniting these two very different groups against Jesus ended up with returning to “normal” in their argument with each other.  Unfortunately, I perceive the church to still be discussing their own perceived beliefs about scripture, not yet living the true understanding of what is the foremost of all; love.

Even in the request of what is the foremost commandment, it was a request based upon what law should we be living?  What law does God the Father say we should place at the highest importance?  In the question of law, Jesus replied an answer that is the opposite of law.  The response was this is what you are to be!  Not what you are to do.  We still try to make Jesus’ answer a law type answer and create a law of love.  In our minds we try to define what a “Christian” is using proper Scripture and be obedient to our learning.  This becomes a “striving” of doing good Christian moral things and calling that loving God.  I am reminded of the first line of Psalm 46:10, “Cease striving and know that I am God” (NASB).  Our living is not about doing as much as it is about being; being in His love and living from His love.

The scribe understood Jesus’ answer to be more of who a person is to be by stating “[this] is much more than burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33b, NASB).  To love as a law is making love a sacrifice or offering, a striving to do the right thing(s).  Love is so much more.  To me the question becomes, what exactly is love?  Are you living your Christian life based upon what has been taught to you as what to do or not to do (are you living Christian Law)?  Or has love transformed you into a new being; a CHRISTian?  Are you willing to ask God where He sees you in this regard?

I desire to live a Faith-Full life, in the fullness of His love alone.