Putting God First

I have the one ring to rule them all!

Last time I mentioned that God said we were to love Him above any other as to how we put Him first, and that I would have more next time. After all, the next logical question is "how do we put God first?"

Our verse selection for this devotional spills the beans:

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31 KJV)

Jesus tells the questioner that he is not far from the Kingdom of God when he agreed with Jesus. In Luke's version of this story, Jesus actually says, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." (Luke 10:28)

Now, we are generally not akin to hearing "do this and you shall live." It sounds too much like a works-based salvation for many from the Protestant tradition. Yet Jesus said it. Much like when a man inquired to Jesus how he could be saved:

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother." And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:17-22  KJV)

The ten commandments? Really, Jesus? 

Shouldn't he have said something like, "Believe in Me, be Born Again™, or have faith in Me?" Anything but to quote the Law. What a way to blow it, Jesus!

Okay, obviously I'm being a little sarcastic here, for we all know Jesus knows what he is doing. He is using the ten commandments to point out this sinner's need, that he had failed to love God above all else. He does this primarily by the parts of the ten commandments He quotes here. Notice that Jesus never mentions the first and second commandments, rather he quotes those that deal only with other people. He leaves out the parts about having no other God before you, and not to bow down to idols to worship them. Why? Because Jesus knew this man had a problem with those specific parts of the Law.

This brings us back to the first and second greatest commandments, as they are known.  Because Jesus also says that by doing these two commandments, we fulfill all of the law and the prophets. (Matt 22:40)

But, you may question, what about St. Paul's response to the jailer:

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:30-31 KJV)

You see, this is the disconnect we have in regards to salvation. It has been ingrained into so many of us that any work, anything one does at all is a work to receive salvation. But that is not the case. We have to do some things to obtain salvation, because salvation isn't a one-time transaction with God, it is a life-long relationship with God. And relationships are defined by our works.

"Then what is all this stuff about we are saved by grace through faith and not of works, lest any man should boast?" ( Eph 2:8-9)

The key here to understanding these seemingly contrasting verses is twofold. One, specifically what St. Paul is speaking of is works of the Law. He is saying that by doing the Law, one cannot be saved. However, it is a gift of God through His grace. But there is one requirement he places upon it: that it is through faith.

Two, we must ask, faith in what or who? For faith doesn't stand by itself. One is putting their faith in someone. One believes in someone in order to be saved. That is our part of the deal. We like to treat faith as some type of substance or entity that will work in isolation of other things or of God. But it is not, it is faith in Christ. It is belief in Christ. And if we have faith in Him, we will believe Him when he says, "Do these and you shall live."

Now we return to the first and second commandments. We are to love God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves. By so doing, we fulfill all the Law. You see what I said before is true. Salvation is about a relationship, a right relationship with God and those around us. That by loving God and others, we automatically fulfill the whole Law.

It doesn't matter if your circumcised or not. It doesn't matter whether you've ever sinned before or not. You can be justified through faith in Christ, that is, having a loving relationship with Him. It isn't anything we can earn apart from what Christ did on the cross. That is very true. It is a gift of God's given to us through His grace. But while being able to fulfill the Law doesn't guarantee us salvation, we do it because we have faith in Christ. If we don't fulfill the Law, it shows we don't have faith in Christ.

Still not sure how this works? Let's liken it to a marriage. You have the marriage ceremony. A lot of the commentary down through Church history has been about this analogy in relation to being baptized into the Faith. It is a one-moment decision and rite that inducts one into the Body of Christ. Why baptism? Because it points to our death and resurrection through Jesus to new life. (Rom 6). But like a marriage, one doesn't just forget about God after that.

Unfortunately, too many of us are like the proverbial husband who tells his wife, "I told you on our wedding day that I loved you." If you need to not only say it more, but demonstrate it in word and deed, how much more so with our heavenly Father? You see, in a relationship you don't do the things you need to do because you have to, but because of the love overflowing from your heart and this is how God has said we can best love Him.

The great thing is that God doesn't expect perfection out of us. He knows our limitations and our finitude. That's why He is a merciful God, slow to anger and quick to forgive. As long as we retain that right relationship with Him, we can slip up here and there, confess it, and He'll forgive us, without us "backsliding" to square one and starting all over again. It is only when our love grows cold, when we become lukewarm in our love for God and each other, that our salvation is endangered.

So, we can say with Christ, love God with all your heart, mind, soul and body; and love your neighbor as yourself, and you will be saved. Why? Not because you've earned it by doing those things, but because you are trusting in Him and you love Him.

Jesus said doing that, you will not be far from the Kingdom of God.