Having Faith and Hope in God, living righteously, doing what is good and refraining what is evil are in accordance with the will of God. The term refers not to human theories or opinions about what is right or wrong but to God's revealed truth.

God's people are called to holiness because they are God's people: 'You shall therefore be holy for I am holy'. - Lev. 11:45 - The New Testament counterpart to this principle is found in Matthew 5:48 - You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

God gave the Law to the nation of Israel as a standard of righteousness. This was the revealed will of God for His people. But His commandments were given in a context of Grace. When the Ten Commandments were given through Moses, they were introduced with a statement supporting the relationship that had already been established between God and His people whom He delivered from Egypt. God's commandment are always given to those who are already His people by grace. - Exodus 20:2; Duet. 5:6 -

This truth carries through to the New Testament. Jesus' ethics teaching in the Sermon on the Mount was preceded by the Beatitudes which reminded Jesus' disciples that God's grace comes before His commands. - Matt. 5:3-12 -

This connection between God's demands and His grace means that scriptural/biblical ethics must always be understood in terms of what God has already done for His people. Grace precedes Law. So ethics should not be regarded as the center of the Christian faith. Proper and correct behaviour is the outflow or product of grace, that is, the proper response in those who have experienced God's grace.

Jesus' commandment to love is the essence of Christian ethics. Jesus said, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it; You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets also'. - Matt. 22:37-40 -

The apostle Paul also declared that all the commandments are summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself'. Love does no harm to a neighbour, therefore, love is the fulfillment of the Law.

All the commandments: you shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: you must love your neighbour as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments. - Rom. 13:9-10 - This great love commandment summarizes and fulfills the intention of the Old Testament Law.
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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -