Letters from the Beloved – One degree from Jesus, Part 1.
Have you ever played the game (or seen it played) called “Six degrees of Kevin Bacon”? It’s where you try to link any other actor to Kevin Bacon in 6 steps or less. Well, recently I found myself to be just three “degrees” from the former President, Donald Trump. Why? Because I have met and been in the NYC offices of a couple of employees of the former president’s good friend, David Pecker, who was the CEO of American Media. Pecker is so close to the former president that his offices were raided as part of an investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Trump. Yep. Kind of crazy.
Matthew 5:48 [NKJV] "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
But that association means nothing to me. It’s just an interesting fact. What is more important is to be “one degree from God” by being someone who knows both the Father and the Son. I am not out to prove anything by being two degrees from Trump. But I have everything to prove by being a real connection to God and Christ.
John, the beloved, talks about this in 1 John 2:3-6 [NKJV] 3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Who is the “He” in this passage? Is it God the Father or Jesus? I believe John is speaking of Jesus because of the last sentence “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” Jesus walked this earth and set an example for us as to how we should live/walk on this earth.
So, how do we know that we “know” Him? Verse 4 tells us that it is by keeping His commandments. First, let me say that here is no degree of separation between the Father’s commandments and those Jesus. I don’t want anyone to get the impression that Jesus had different commandments than the Father. When people try to separate them, they forget that Jesus was the one who spoke the 10 Commandments to Moses and wrote them with His own finger onto the tablets of stone. Jesus spoke the statutes and the laws to Moses as well.
So, following the commandments of Jesus is following all the commandments He outlined. In Matthew 19, we read that someone asked Jesus what to do to have eternal life. Jesus’ response was, “But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” And of course, that was not the end of the discussion. I’m not sure if this guy was looking for an out, a lesser list of some sort, or really was unclear, but next we read this: Matthew 19:18-19 [NKJV] 18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 19 'Honor your father and [your] mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " Jesus lists a few of the 10 Commandments from Exodus 20 and then adds “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Clearly, He is enhancing the 10 Commandments. And this is not the only place where Jesus shows His followers, then and now, that more is required of us than just not doing sinful things. This is not the only place where Jesus shows us that we must not limit ourselves to the strict letter of the law if we want to “walk as He walked”.
We find this exchange in Matthew 22:36-40 [NKJV] 36 "Teacher, which [is] the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is [the] first and great commandment. 39 "And [the] second [is] like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Love is not a lesser keeping of the law. Rather, it is a deeper and greater commitment to the law. This is the message of Matthew 5, beginning in verse 17, where Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
The definition of this Greek word, which is translated “fulfill”, is “to make replete, i.e. (literally) to cram (a net), level up (a hollow)”. And our Saviors next words show that His intent in to make the law replete (filled or well-supplied) by taking it from a law that could be observed in the letter and teaching us that God wants so much more than just refraining from acts of sin.
The scribes and the Pharisees prided themselves on keeping the letter of the law, but Jesus says, in Matthew 5:20 that we must do better than that. Matthew 5:20 [NKJV] "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
How do we exceed the scribes and Pharisees in obeying the law of God? By internalizing it. Do just refrain from murder – don’t call names, don’t let anger separate you and a brother, and don’t let conflict get in your way. [Matthew 5:21-26] Don’t just refrain from committing adultery – control your mind and thoughts so focused on your mate and not others to the point where you are willing to cut off anyone or anything that pulls you astray. [Matthew 5:27-30] Don’t rely on swearing on sacred things to prove you are truthful – instead let your word be so reliable that you don’t need to swear at all. [Matthew 5:33-37] Don’t take even just revenge, rather give generously and love your enemies. [Matthew 5:38-47]
According to Jesus, our goal should not be strictly seeking to obey the law, but rather living a life that is just like our perfect Law Giver. Matthew 5:48 [NKJV] "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” This is how Jesus walked and how He taught us to walk – in perfect alignment with our perfect Father.
How do YOU know that you are only one degree from the Father and Jesus? You know it by the fact that you walk as He walked, keeping not only the letter, but also the heart and soul of the law – that is, loving God above all and every human as much as yourself.
It’s a tall order, sweet sisters. But it is so much more important to ensure that we live one degree from Jesus than it is to know any leader or celebrity in this life. So, each day we rise and do our best, with the help of the Holy Spirit to walk as He walked.
I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section or at Nancy@DyanmicChristianMinistries.org