What It’s Really All About

What is the central theme of the Bible? A Pharisee asked Jesus a question in Matthew 22:35-40:

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

This same conversation is paralleled in Mark 12:28-33 (and also consider Romans 13:9-10 and Galatians 5:14). The entire Bible can be summed up with these two commands: Love God and love people. This then is the central principle in interpreting the Bible and determining ethics.

One needs also to keep in mind a second important point: salvation and our relationship with God is by grace through faith; our righteousness is in Christ, and nothing we do or don’t do will affect that. I’m sure you’re familiar with such passages as Ephesians 2:8-10:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Or Titus 3:5:

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Or Galatians 3:1-5

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing– if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

One’s relationship and usefulness to God are not dependent upon one’s behavior. This is stated explicitly in the New Testament and is illustrated over and over again in the Old Testament. Simply consider the lives of the people listed as great paragons of faith in Hebrews 11. In fact, let’s consider Jephthah, mentioned in Hebrews 11:32. He’s the poster boy for salvation by grace rather than works. You can read about him in Judges 11 and 12, where you’ll discover he acknowledged the existence of other gods and winds up sacrificing his own daughter as a burnt offering. And yet through all this, he had the Holy Spirit empowering him to serve God.

2 Peter 2:7-8 tells us Lot was a righteous man. Yet, what good this is recorded about him in the Old Testament? In Genesis 11 we see he was reluctant to leave Sodom and Gomorrah, his family didn’t respect him, and in the end his daughters get him drunk and he has sex with them and they become pregnant. He is righteous because he is in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10) not because of what he did or didn’t do.

The spies in Joshua (see Joshua 2:1-5) are sent to spy out the land. They go to Jericho and visit Rahab, a prostitute and stay there. Why do you suppose they went to visit a prostitute? Think sailors on shore leave. Why else would men visit a prostitute.

Then, she lies to her government, acts the traitor, and hides the men and sends them safely on their way.

And God’s comment on her is what, in Hebrews 11?

Joshua, at the end of the book states “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

Why does he say this? Because the people were not firmly committed monotheists yet. In fact, this remains a problem for the Israelites until they return from the Babylonian captivity. When David flees from Saul, how does his wife try to protect him? She takes an idol and puts it into his bed and claims that David is sick. (1 Samuel 19:11-16) Where’d she get an idol? Even in David’s household, you have idolatry.

And yet, these imperfect, often very unsavory people were used by God to do marvelous things. If God needed to wait for people to be perfect and sinless, then he’d never get anything done.

Does this mean I think we should be doing bad things? Of course not. But our relationship with God is not dependent on us, it is dependent upon what Jesus did on the cross. Our righteousness is in him, not in ourselves. We have been freed from the burden of sin and the law.

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