Mark 12:31 Commentary and Bible Study

This second summary is taken from Leviticus 19:18. This the Lord’s summary of the second table of the law, the last six commandments. So, we have our duties relating to God, and our duties relating to our fellow man. But both of them consist of love. Obedience is not to be a matter of mere outward conformity, which can be carried out while the heart is in another place. The commandments are to engage the heart and the whole being towards both God and our fellow man. Love finds a way of obeying the law, because as the Apostle Paul says, ‘Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Romans 13:10).The chief of the commandments, says the Lord, in this beautiful summary, is love for God – sincere and wholehearted love and gratitude and appreciation to God – and love to our fellow man. The Ten Commandments properly understood are departments, out-workings of love, because the law is spiritual. The law is not satisfied by a mechanical unthinking obedience, because our hearts, souls, minds and bodies are all equally under the law. The law addresses our actions, yes, but it also addresses our thoughts, our motives, our affections, as well as our decisions. No part of us is exempt because every part of us has been created by God and we are moral beings through and through. ‘There is none other commandment greater than these.’ These two summary commandments cover the whole duty of man. These two summaries, and the Ten Commandments the two summaries are all the details and the outworking of one supreme virtue – love.