Love your neighbor" is the Idol of our Age.”

I regularly publish brief  "Quotes", which are short phrases that hopefully elicit thoughtful reflection. Recently, I posted a Quick Quote that read, 

“SADLY, MANY SKIP SALVATION “LOVE GOD” AND JUMP RIGHT TO A FALSE SANCTIFICATION “LOVE THY NEIGHBOR”. 

Conclusion

Many in this country, regardless of their religious affiliation, care for the downtrodden. We are a nation of good Samaritans, though sadly, I think we have lost some of that neighborly love out of fear of violence and retribution, just for trying to do good. 

However, the point of this post, and the Scriptures in general, is that to be saved, to spend eternity in Heaven with God, one cannot just be a “good person”. The Lord wants us to be more than that. He first wants our love, allegiance, and a personal relationship with Him. There is nothing wrong, and everything right, with “loving thy neighbor”. However, if we miss “loving God” first and foremost, we miss out on the rest of what God has to offer His children. 

This podcast is based on original BCWorldview.org content. Some episodes are narrated using an AI-generated version of the author's own voice.

Transcript

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Welcome to Biblical Christian Worldview's Selective Article Podcast. So let's get started. Today's podcast is entitled Love Your Neighbor is an Idol of Our Age. I regularly offer brief quick quotes, which are short phrases that hopefully elicit thoughtful reflection. Recently I posted a quick quote that read, Sadly, many skip salvation, which is love God, and jump right to a false sanctification, love thy neighbor. Of course, this is a direct reference to Luke 10 27, Mark 12 31, and Matthew 22, 39 and following, among other verses in Scripture. This is a fundamental biblical concept, in my view, for two reasons. First, Jesus makes the point that these two commandments define all of Scripture. In Matthew 22, 37 through 39, Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. And secondly, there is an order to God's commandment to love, which is often overlooked. So the meaning of my quick quote In today's culture, uh there is a trend toward emphasizing, quote, love thy neighbor, unquote, in the here and now, and assuming by doing that, one is also demonstrating a quote of God, unquote, for those who see that as having any value. Respectfully to those who practice this site theology, I would offer a strong counterpoint. So I think when we get to the other side of the grave, excuse me, we'll be amazed at many things, not the least will be the incredible intricacies and interconnections to be found in the Bible. Much of what challenges us today regarding God's nature and his actions, for example, in the Old Testament, so easily condemned by those without faith and or trust in the inerrancy of Scripture, I think will be cleaned up and clarified. Since loving God and our fellow man is so integral to all of God's commands, I suspect or expect we will see a much clearer understanding of what God intended in these words. There seems to be an order to these two commandments that is missed by many. The order is to love God first and then under the banner of that love to love our neighbors, which is all of mankind. It was with that order in mind and the reality that a biblical Christian worldview continues to deteriorate in this country, that I publish the quotable quote of quote, sadly, many skip salvation, which is to love God, and jump right into a false sanctification, which is love thy neighbor. So salvation. God desires a relationship with each of us. He cares for mankind and desires the best for us. However, he is also a righteous God, who as creator of the universe expects to be honored and respected. Mankind is made up of sinners, Romans three twenty three, and from that position we do not have the capacity to love God as we need to Romans six twenty-three. So he provided a solution through the sinless life of his Son and Christ's death on the cross for our sins. Romans five eight. To accept the gift of salvation one needs to acknowledge the resurrection of Christ and that God is our Savior and our Lord. Once we accept God and Christ is our Savior and Lord, we're able to love God as He asks us to, which is the first part of that quick quote. However, in our post-Christian nation, many reject the concept of a loving God. And that's a reference to the quote, sadly, many skip salvation. Instead, the focus is on a, you know, jump right to a false sanctification. I use the word false because without faith in Christ to be our Lord and Savior, those who think they are following God's commands are scripturally incorrect. They have skipped the personal relationship with a loving God, often because they disagree with his other principles found in Scripture, or they reject the Bible entirely. They believe one can have a relationship with God without accepting the truth of what his Son did for us, and that we must come under God's authority in order to have a relationship with him. Sanctification is a lifelong process of drawing closer and closer to God as we learn from the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. So if we reject God as our Lord, even if one thinks of Jesus as their Savior, that is a false theology and therefore false salvation and subsequent false sanctification. There is a clear order to quote loving God unquote and then quote loving thy neighbor, unquote. To love our neighbor as God commands us to do, one must first accept what Christ did for us on the cross, i.e. as our Savior, and then accept God as our master, i.e. as our Lord. Then and only then can we, quote, love our neighbor, unquote, through Christ, as much of the scripture calls us to do. So a reader's comment on this quotable quote. This quick quote above elicited a response from a longtime reader whom I respect very highly. It was I was tempted to simply add a new quick quote to my published list, recognizing her authorship. However, given the quote, just publishing it without comment could result in a dangerous theological misunderstanding. So her response was Love your neighbor is an idol of our age. So why did she say that? How could loving mankind be an idol today? Her point, which was an excellent one, was that many Christians have either jumped over love God in an attempt to conform to social norms which run counter to scripture, or has simply lost their first love God. Revelation two four. Yet I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love. So jumping to quote loving our neighbor, unquote, has replaced loving God through following his principles, reading his word, praying to him, fellowshipping with other believers, and holding each other accountable. So in conclusion, many in this country, regardless of their religious affiliation, care for the downtrodden trodden. We are a nation of good Samaritans, though sadly I think we've lost some of that neighborly love out of fear of violence and retribution just for trying to do good. However, the point of this post and this podcast and the scriptures in general is that to be saved, to spread to spend eternity in heaven with God, one cannot just be a good person. The Lord wants us to be more than that. He first wants our love, our allegiance, and a personal relationship with Him. There is absolutely nothing wrong and everything right with, quote, loving thy neighbor, unquote. However, if we miss loving God first and foremost, we miss out on the rest of what God has to offer his children. God bless you as you serve him today. Today's podcast article was brought to you by bcworldview.org, providing honest reporting and analysis on the intersection of contemporary issues and theology based on a biblical Christian worldview. May God bless you as you continue to walk through this life with our Savior and Lord.