| Ok, I may not be very good at articulating my thoughts, but I'll
take a stab at it.
1. We need to determine what law was Paul refering to. Was it
God's law, or mans' law. Sometimes they are in agreement and
other times we run into some gray areas. I believe he was
talking about God's law, which if mans' law is based upon,
will be in agreement. We have all sorts of titles for these
two basic catagories. There is natural law, which I feel is
probably the same as God's law, but what people alude to when
they don't want to aknowlege God. There is moral law, which I
suppose depends on what one determines to be moral. The law
of the land, international law, war-time laws, and it goes on.
2. Who is my neighbor? Is it the people next door, on my block,
everyone I chance to meet? What did Paul mean?
I personally don't think he was exaggerating at all. But then I
believe the Bible to be accurate, and without error. To examine
it further, I think that what Paul was saying was that if you
treat others in the same manner that you would want them to treat
you, then it's a safe bet that you aren't sinning. Man calls this
The Golden Rule, you know, do onto others... So, I feel that he
was refering to God's law, and our neighbor is everyone else we
have contact with. IMO this would include the unborn child.
Mel
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| Hi Richard,
I prefer Jesus' summary, (paraphrasing from memory)
"love, as I have loved you."
I honestly wasn't able to love myself until I grew to understand more fully
how Jesus loved me, and so my best efforts at loving others as myself were
weak and feeble.
If I were required to distill the entire Law in one line, I would choose what
Jesus told his disciples. The implications (how *has* God loved me?) are far
deeper and broader. And I do believe that the entire Law is captured in this
commandment.
Peace,
Jim
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