Loving Others - Way Of Truth Book

Lev. 19:17, 18

You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your fellow, and you shall not bear a sin on his account.

You shall neither take revenge from nor bear a grudge against the children of your people; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am YHWH.”

Everything we say and do begins in the heart. Good or bad, our interactions with others reflect our character. For this reason, we are taught to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (In this passage, it is a given that we love ourselves and look out for our best interests. It is said to love and treat others like we would “look after number one”).

It must be noted that the word neighbors in this passage is not limited to our friends and family. Nor is it meant to be understood simply as those who live next door. Instead, it refers to everyone. We are taught to “love strangers as we love ourselves” (Lev. 19:34; Deu. 10:19). We are also taught to love our enemies in practice (Exo. 23:4-5; Pro. 25:21).

The apostle Shaul also taught this to the set-apart ones living in Rome. Quoting the Proverb, he said:

Therefore, if your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink: for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

(It should go without saying that our motivation behind loving those who hate us is not to place burning coals on their head.)

We are not simply taught to help them by feeding them (Pro. 25:21; Rom. 12:20) and caring for their general welfare (Exo. 23:4-5). We are also taught to forgive them. What does it say? “You shall neither take revenge nor bear a grudge against…” (Lev. 19:18a)

When someone hurts us, we naturally want justice. We often seek to avenge ourselves. According to Scripture, not only should we leave this to YHWH (Deu. 32:35, 43; Psa. 94:1; Nah. 1:2), we should not even hold a grudge.

“Turning the other cheek” (Mat. 5:39) is rarely easy. Nonetheless, we are taught to do this without fail. When asked how often we should forgive someone who harms us, Yeshua responded this way:

I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Mat. 18:22)

Without true forgiveness, we can harbor resentment and bitterness. This can then lead to feelings of hatred. These feelings can then lead to harmful words and harmful actions toward others.

This is why forgiveness is so important. This is why we are taught:

You shall not hate your brother in your heart.” (Lev. 19:17a)

Additionally, we are taught to love them by pointing them back to Scripture—the ultimate source of correction.

You shall surely rebuke your fellow, and you shall not bear a sin on his account.” (Lev. 19:17b)

Because we love them, we want to help them find their way back to YHWH’s instructions (that is, if they truly have the desire to live for Him). We would certainly not want to follow their sinful behavior.

Jacob McKessey says

May 12, 2024 at 2:24 am

Rom. 7:1-3

Don’t you know, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

For the woman which has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives; but if the husband is dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

So then if, while her husband lives, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband is dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she is married to another man.”

Many suppose that the apostle was referencing the books of Moses, when he said, “For I speak to them that know the law”. However, this cannot be true because nowhere in the books of Moses can such a law be found. The opposite is stated in Deuteronomy 24:1-2:

When a man has taken a wife, and married her, and it comes to pass that she finds no favor in his eyes because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

And when she left his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”

While the apostle said that the “law” stated that she may not marry another if the first husband is still alive, Moses said she may do so. Deuteronomy 24:4 clarifies that the first husband was alive in this scenario.

This is how we can know with certainty that Paul was speaking of a different law. Moreover, the apostle tells the Corinthians exactly where this law came from.

1 Co. 7:10-11, 39

And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Master, let not the wife depart from her husband: But if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.”

“The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Master.”

It should be realized that the Hebrew understanding of the word Torah is teaching or instruction. While it is translated into the English word Law and the Greek word Nomo, it comes from the word Yarah, meaning to instruct. Thus, Paul’s use of the word “law” in Romans 7:3 and 1 Corinthians 7:39 can be better understood as teaching. According to the apostle, this teaching came from Yeshua.

Our Master taught that if a wife is put away and marries another (assuming her first husband is still alive), she is an adulteress.

Mar. 10:2-9, 11

And the Pharisees came to Him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?”, tempting Him.

And He answered and said unto them, “What did Moses command you?”

And they said, “Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.”

And Yeshua answered and said unto them, “For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, the Mighty One made them male and female.

‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh’ (Gen. 2:24). So then, they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore the Mighty One has joined together, let not man separate.

“And He said unto them, whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery.”

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Jacob McKessey says

May 12, 2024 at 2:24 am

Rom. 7:1-3

Don’t you know, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

For the woman which has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives; but if the husband is dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

So then if, while her husband lives, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband is dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she is married to another man.”

Many suppose that the apostle was referencing the books of Moses, when he said, “For I speak to them that know the law”. However, this cannot be true because nowhere in the books of Moses can such a law be found. The opposite is stated in Deuteronomy 24:1-2:

When a man has taken a wife, and married her, and it comes to pass that she finds no favor in his eyes because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

And when she left his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”

While the apostle said that the “law” stated that she may not marry another if the first husband is still alive, Moses said she may do so. Deuteronomy 24:4 clarifies that the first husband was alive in this scenario.

This is how we can know with certainty that Paul was speaking of a different law. Moreover, the apostle tells the Corinthians exactly where this law came from.

1 Co. 7:10-11, 39

And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Master, let not the wife depart from her husband: But if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.”

“The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Master.”

It should be realized that the Hebrew understanding of the word Torah is teaching or instruction. While it is translated into the English word Law and the Greek word Nomo, it comes from the word Yarah, meaning to instruct. Thus, Paul’s use of the word “law” in Romans 7:3 and 1 Corinthians 7:39 can be better understood as teaching. According to the apostle, this teaching came from Yeshua.

Our Master taught that if a wife is put away and marries another (assuming her first husband is still alive), she is an adulteress.

Mar. 10:2-9, 11

And the Pharisees came to Him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?”, tempting Him.

And He answered and said unto them, “What did Moses command you?”

And they said, “Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.”

And Yeshua answered and said unto them, “For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, the Mighty One made them male and female.

‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh’ (Gen. 2:24). So then, they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore the Mighty One has joined together, let not man separate.

“And He said unto them, whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery.”

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