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[summarizing the last six com–
mandments] is like, namely this,
Thou shalt !ove thy neighbour as
thyself ..." (Mark 12:30-3 1) .
Few realize that Jesus was here
quoting out of Leviticus (chapter
19, verse 18) . On another occa–
sion He restated this law in what
is now caJled the famous "golden
rule" of living (in short, do unto
others as you would have them do
unto you)- Matthew 7:12.
When God called Israel out
from Egypt to be a holy people,
He gave them definitive laws in
right and wrong human relation–
ships.
Love toward neighbor was not
bei ng a tale bearer, beari ng
grudges or hate, or dealing decep–
tively or falsely, to name just a
few (see Leviticus 19) .
God also enumerated wrong
sexual passions and perverted
"loves" to be kept out of their
lives: adu ltery, premarital sex,
homosexuality, bestiality, incest
and other sex abuses (Leviticus,
chapters 18 and 20) . These acts
were an "abominat ion" in God's
eyes. 1t did not matter how sur–
rounding cultures or nations la–
beled or justified them.
Flrst Parents Rejected
Knowledge
God taught Adam and Eve the
essential laws of !ove. He taught
them the ultimate purpose of
human li fe- to " be as gods,"
eterna! rulers with God.
But Adam and Eve chose to
believe Satan's lies (Genesis 3).
Satan said they could "be as
gods" right then and there. God
was holding back knowledge self–
ishly for himself, Satan inti–
mated . All they had to do was eat
of the " tree of the knowledge of
good and evi l," of which God
forbade them to eat. Then, he
said , they would be gods and
decide for themselves wbat was
good and evil.
As a result of their disobe–
dience, God cast them from the
Garden of Eden, and from the
opportunity to take of the "tree of
life," which symbolized God's
Holy Spirit and eterna! life.
January
1981
God said, in effect: You have
rejected my way of living, my
way of !ove. You have stolen what
was not yours. You believe Satan.
Go, then. Be under Satan's sway.
Form your own governments,
laws and mores under his in–
fluence. Develop your own ideas
of what is good and evil, your own
idea of !ove. 1 give you 6,000
years to experiment with your
own ideas under Satan's sway and
experience the results.
From the days of Caín until
today, all humanity cut off from
God have fulfilled the scriptures:
" ... ye have set at nought all my
counsel, and would none of my
reproof... . For . .. they hated
~~
It is not possible to
express true spiritual
/ove without
understanding and
appreciating the awesome
potential of every human
being.
' '
[God's] knowledge, and did not
choose the fear of the Lord....
Therefore shall théy eat of the
fruit of their own way, and be
filled with their own devices"
(Proverbs 1:25, 29, 31 ).
The Bible reveals the major
impulse behind human selfishness
and lust, of getting for oneself at
the hurt and expense of others:
These attitudes and motivations
are beamed into human minds by
Satan, the god of this world
(11 Corinthians 4:4).
Satan works to implant his own
wrong ideas and to generate antag–
onisms between and among the
sexes. He injects selfish attitudes
that generate various lusts. Hu–
mans unwittingly inculcate those
attitudes from Satan's spiritual
bombardment through the air and
from his influence within human
cultures (see Ephesians 2:2-3).
The apostle Paul described in
Romans, chapter one, the horri–
ble consequences that have arisen
from human ideas of good, of evil
and of "love" throughout history.
These tragedies affiict all socie–
ties in one way or another.
Ultimate Objective of
Love
It
is not possible to express true
spiritual love without understand–
ing and appreciating the awesome
potential of every human being.
That potential is the potential
of becoming a literal son of God,
with the character and mind of
God. Yes, that is the potential
even of your enemy who may not
yet know God or His ways. But
God will call him in His own time
and plan.
(Write for free reprint, " ls
This the Only Day of Salva–
tion?")
True love, then, is helping
others, as well as yourself, achieve
the incredible potential!
Here is the
agape-the
Greek
word for spiritual love- that the
ancient philosophers, poets
through the ages and modero the–
ologians have talked abou t, but
never really fully understood!
This stupe ndous knowledge
mean s th at ot h er men and
women, and your own body and
mind also, are
not yours
to do
with as you feel. They are not
yours to take, possess, abuse,
degrade or harm.
Al/ lije belongs
to God!
" Behol d , al1 souls a r e
mine~
.. " (Ezekiel 18:4).
" . .. for the world is mine and the
fulness thereof' (Psalms 50: 12).
Worldly or deceptive !ove (bib–
lically, lust) says: "If you really
!ove me, you' ll show me by hav–
ing sex (premarital or extramari–
tal] with me."
True spiritual !ove answers: "If
you really loved me, you wouldn't
ask. You'd prepare yourself in the
fear of God, who will bring every
thought and act into judgment, to
be a right husband (or wife). You
will desi re to be a right example
for others and your chi ldren."
(Continued on page 30)
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