Did the Messiah "Just Love Everybody"?

We need to talk about this. Right out of the gate, let's turn our attention to John 3:16.

"For YHWH so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but possess everlasting life."

YES. There is no doubt that the Creator does indeed love us. No matter our past, no matter our circumstances now. 

Lately I've been hearing a lot of discussions and seeing articles about how the Messiah "just loved everyone." And while that's true, I take issue with the point that is (typically) being made. That point is often that believers need to be quiet and not say anything about the things that others or society are doing that the Bible calls sin. We are told that saying things is rude and unloving and definitely not what the Messiah would have done. The Messiah gets presented as jovial guy who is never bothered by what others are doing; he hangs out with all sorts of people, never saying anything that could be offensive or hurt anyone's feelings. And I think...are we reading the same Bible?

How much Scripture do you have to skip to think the Messiah did nothing but hug everyone and avoid touchy topics? Yahusha frequently offended others, and didn't hesitate to correct wrong beliefs.

To brush up, the Messiah is the guy who...

-Called a follower Satan.

-Got out a whip, turned over tables, and threw merchants out of the Temple.

-Tarried in going to see his friend who was sick, letting him die, and devastating family who had asked him to come.

-Told us to judge others!

-Caused the death of an entire herd of pigs, to the financial detriment of the farmer.

-Deliberately put things into parables making them hard to understand.

-Totally ruined a Hanukkah party.

-Once told a woman who was serving and feeding him that she wasn't even doing the most important thing.

-Frequently told people to stop sinning.

Many of these stories don't seem so nice and kind and warm and fuzzy do they? How would you feel if you were on the receiving end of any of those interactions? Wouldn't you be upset if he destroyed your whole business and financial livelihood? Or publicly forced you out of a church? Would you be hurt if you were trying to give him good advice and he called you Satan? Or if you asked him to come and heal your dying brother and he deliberately didn't show up? If he called your lifestyle and choices sin and told you to change, would that sting a little?

That last one really gets me. You know what "sin no more" implies? That you're sinning. That you're making choices that aren't acceptable to the Creator. This statement would not be appreciated on a college campus today, or really anywhere for that matter.

Please, please hear me: I am not saying our Messiah wasn't loving or doesn't love everyone. But I do think he needs to be accurately represented. We need to realize that love isn't all compliments and presents, sometimes love looks like saying the hard things and having uncomfortable discussions. Loving someone doesn't mean that you don't confront lies they believe or hold them accountable for the choices they are making. Love doesn't mean that you just sit there and smile while someone says or does whatever they want, to their own detriment.

When you tell someone to stop sinning, are your words condemning or freeing and empowering? If you just hear, "You're doing this wrong," that causes frustration and hurt. But if you hear, "This is how you live your best possible life," that gives direction and shows us what is possible. Love is empowering someone to stop sinning, so that they might be free from the pain and bondage they are in. 

The Messiah does love people and we are called to that as well. Love means sticking up for the truth. To be sure, we need to use wisdom at all times - especially when we are sharing truth with someone. Work to control your tongue and speak words that are beneficial to those who hear them. Pray for wisdom about what to say and when to do that, please. We have all seen too many believers use the word as a weapon to attack someone, when we should be using it to plant seeds of truth and hope. Ask for wisdom and discernment and remember that real love and compassion is sharing the hope and the promises of YHWH and his Messiah with the people we encounter, no matter what we may get called or how we are treated for doing that. Love is being willing to be slandered to share his hope with others. Love doesn't hide behind lies. Love means risking our own comfort so that someone else can catch a glimpse of the fullness that the Creator has for them.

Love like the Messiah!

Faith and Works: The Meaning of James 2:26

"It's not about works." Many of us have been taught that trying to 'earn' our salvation by what we do is an insult to the Messiah's blood. Since he paid the price for us we are free to do, well, almost anything we want so long as we are trying to serve him and mean well. We can set aside the commandments of the Creator if they aren't convenient to our lifestyle today. All we have to do is believe, any expectation on ourselves to live a certain way is an affront to the Messiah himself.

Is this what Scripture teaches? James 2:26 says that faith without works is dead. This passage makes it clear that our actions and deeds are significant to YHWH. James makes it clear that faith and works go together. Works alone aren't enough, but just having faith shows there is a conspicuous lack in our lives. This used to be a confusing concept to me (and no doubt to those who tried to remove this passage of Scripture from the Bible), I would hear it and then remember Galatians 2:16, that we are declared righteous by faith in the Messiah and not by works of the law. How do these fit together?

Let's take a step back to see that a better rendering of this passage from Galatians would be, "We are declared righteous by faith in the Messiah, and not by the works of the Aaronic priesthood." Scripture is not teaching that the commandments given to  the priests are wrong or bad, but they were only a temporary covering of sins until the Messiah came. We are not made righteous by the sacrifice of animals. It is not saying that the choices we make have no consequence before YHWH or in our lives. 

Like with the animal sacrifices, our actions alone are not going to make us righteous. You could keep every Sabbath of your life and never covet your neighbor's possessions, but without the Messiah it is not enough. However, once we have faith in the Messiah our works should reflect that! He himself said that if someone loves him they keep his commands (John 14:23), so don't think for a minute that your actions don't matter to him.

The Messiah wants us to love him, and therefore he wants us to be obedient to the commandments in Scripture. Not that our salvation depends on being able to perfectly walk that out every day. Like a loving husband, he offers grace and mercy when his bride is not perfect. Not to worry, your salvation doesn't depend on you. But you showing love to the Messiah? You get to do that by keeping his commands.

Keeping the Commandments Because of Love for Messiah

This weekend I heard a beautiful analogy. I was listening to a pastor and she spoke these words:

"I am not faithful to my husband because I am afraid of what he would do to me if I wasn't. I am faithful to him because I love him and want to honor him."

She went on to talk about the good things that come from faithfulness in marriage. Reliability. A stable family for their children. Relationships filled with trust and peace. A home where everyone can flourish.

Her point was this works the same way in our relationship with YHWH. We don't work to keep his commandments because we are scared he might punish us if we don't. We follow YHWH's instructions because we love him and want to bring honor to him. This issue is so central to his heart that Yahusha spoke of it.

As the Messiah said in John 14:15:

"If you love me, keep my commands."

If we love him, our actions should reflect that!

Which commands exactly is he talking about? The Hebrew word for commands is 'mitzvoth', and it means YHWH's commandments or obedience in keeping Torah. The Messiah is calling us to be obedient to Scripture's instructions, including things found in the Old Testament such as Sabbath, Biblically clean eating, and the set apart times. We aren't called to these things because God is really angry with us, but because he wants us to live as closely to him as possible! YHWH does not want us to reap the consequences of disobedience and distance from him, just as a loving spouse longs for faithfulness from their beloved. He desires that we follow his ways so our lives may be filled with good things. If you love him, choose to honor him. The point isn't to avoid punishment or even to receive blessing. Simply honor him by keeping his word because he is worthy.

Related posts:

Ten Commandments as Marriage Vows
Traffic and Laws and the Benefits of Scripture's Instructions

King David's Final Advice