Balancing Love for God and Neighbor in Scripture
The biblical emphasis on love for God and love for one's neighbor is a foundational principle that spans both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus himself summarized the entire law by these two commands, stating that "the second is like unto it" [5]. This pairing is not merely a New Testament concept; the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" is found in Leviticus 19:18 and is considered a cornerstone for biblical ethics [7].
The connection between these two loves is profound and inseparable. As Adam Clarke notes on 1 John 4:21, "The love of God and the love of man can never be separated; he who loves God will love his brother; he who loves his brother gives this proof that he loves God" [4]. Matthew Henry similarly highlights that the apostle John excites and enforces "sacred love" in both its branches: "love to God, and love to our brother or Christian neighbour" [10].
In the Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls' Community Rule (c. 100-75 BCE) instructs its members to "seek God with a whole heart and soul" and to "love all that He has chosen and hate all that he has rejected," while also practicing "truth, righteousness, and justice upon earth" [3]. This demonstrates an early understanding of the integrated nature of devotion to God and ethical conduct towards others. The book of Job also reflects this balance, with Job expressing a desire for someone to "maintain the right of a man with God, And of a son of man with his neighbor" [1].
The New Testament further develops this theme. Paul, in Romans 13:10, states that "Love, unto one’s neighbour, worketh not ill; Law’s fullness, therefore, is, love" [2]. John Gill elaborates on this, explaining that a person who truly loves their neighbor will not harm them in any way, but rather will do them good, thus fulfilling the law [8]. This love for others is presented as governing the conduct of believers [9]. Furthermore, carrying each other's burdens is described in Galatians 6:2 as fulfilling "the law of Christ to love one another" [6]. This principle extends to all people, including foreigners, as highlighted by the reference to Leviticus 19:34 in the context of loving one's neighbor [7].
Sources
- Job “Job 16:21 (ASV) — That he would maintain the right of a man with God, And of a son of man with his neighbor!”
- Romans “Romans 13:10 (Rotherham) — Love, unto one’s neighbour, worketh not ill; Law’s fullness, therefore, is, love.”
- Dead Sea Scrolls “Community Rule (Serekh ha-Yahad) (c. 100-75 BCE), section 1: THE COMMUNITY RULE Translated by G. Vermes 1QS COL.I . . . Book of the Community Rule, that they may seek 2. God with a whole heart and soul. and do good and right before Him as 3. He commanded by the hand of Moses and all His servants the Prophets; that they may love 4. all that He has chosen and hate all that he has rejected; that they may abstain from all evil and 5. hold fast to all good; that they may practise truth, righteousness, and justice 6. upon earth and no longer stubbornly follow a sinful heart and lustful eyes committi”
- 1 John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 1 John 4:21: This commandment have we - We should love one another, and love our neighbor as ourselves. The love of God and the love of man can never be separated; he who loves God will love his brother; he who loves his brother gives this proof that he loves God, because he loves with a measure of that love which, in its infinitude, dwells in God.”
- Matthew (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Matthew 22:36: And the second is like unto it,.... For there is but a second, not a third: this is suggested in opposition to the numerous commandments in the law, according to the opinion of the Jews, who reckon them in all to be "six hundred and thirteen": of which there are "three hundred and sixty five" negative ones, according to the number of the days of the year; and "two hundred and forty eight" affirmative ones, according to the members of a man's body (z). Christ reduces all to two, love to God, and love to the neighbour; and the latter is the second in order of nature, ”
- Galatians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Galatians 6:2: 6:2 Carrying each other’s burdens (6:1) fulfills the law of Christ to love one another (5:13-14; see also Lev 19:18; Matt 22:36-40; John 13:34; 15:12; 1 Jn 3:23).”
- Leviticus (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Leviticus 19:18: 19:18 love your neighbor as yourself: This is the cornerstone for biblical ethics in both the Old Testament and the New Testament (see Matt 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:8-9; Gal 5:14; Jas 2:8). It includes foreigners (Lev 19:34; cp. Luke 10:30-37). Conversely, hate leads to a grudge that can bear violent fruit (see 1 Jn 2:10-11; 4:20).”
- Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 13:10: Love worketh no ill to his neighbour,.... That is, the man that truly loves his neighbour, will contrive no ill against him, nor do any to him; he will not injure his person, nor defile his bed, nor deprive or defraud him of his substance; or do hurt to his character, bear false testimony against him, or covet with an evil covetousness anything that is his; but, on the contrary, will do him all the good he is capable of: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law: so far as a man loves his neighbour, he acts agreeably to the law, and the particular precepts of it ”
- Romans (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Romans 15:2: 15:2 others (literally the neighbor): See Lev 19:18, quoted in Rom 13:9. Love for others should govern the conduct of people who are strong in faith.”
- 1 John (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:17: The apostle, having thus excited and enforced sacred love from the great pattern and motive of it, the love that is and dwells in God himself, proceeds to recommend it further by other considerations; and he recommends it in both the branches of it, both as love to God, and love to our brother or Christian neighbour. I. As love to God, to the primum amabile - the first and chief of all amiable beings and objects, who has the confluence of all beauty, excellence, and loveliness, in himself, and confers on all other beings whatever renders them good and amiable. Lov”