I used to believe what churches teach about the two greatest commandments in Matthew 22.  But I’ve realized the only reason I believed what they taught is because I had never studied it for myself. Just like hundreds of millions of others throughout time, I sat in a church and listened.  If I were really zealous for the word, I even took notes and wrote down what they were saying.
But was it true?
Are their teachings accurate?
The only way to find out is to be as the Bereans, and to study it.
Test the spirits, and find out if it lines up with scripture.

Here are the verses taught by our mainstream churches:
Matthew 22:37-39
³⁷ And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

What do we know about these words?
-This is a direct quote of Yeshua Messiah.
-These two commandments are both really great advice, and are good doctrine.

Our churches teach this is our new standard in the Jesus-era.
Love God.  Check.
Love our neighbor.  Check.
Good to go…

Most people listen to this (the zealous ones write it down) and then walk out of church without any idea of how to accomplish these things.  Sounds good, though, doesn’t it?  Love God, love your neighbor.  Ok, I can remember that…

Here is the problem…
If we ask twenty different people how to love God and love our neighbor, we’ll get twenty different answers.
There are seven billion people on the planet.
Is it ok for there to be seven billion different opinions on how to keep these two greatest commands?
No. There is but one standard, and that is the truth of scripture.
How can we find out what this standard is?

For one, we need to learn and understand the whole conversation.
Matthew 22:34-40
³⁴ But the Pharisees, when they heard that Yeshua had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together in one place. ³⁵ And testing Him, one of them, a lawyer, asked, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah [the Law]?”
³⁷ And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  ⁴⁰ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Ok, now we start to get some clarity.
Verses 36 and 40 are instrumental in understanding this conversation.
One of the educated religious leaders asked Messiah a question.
This question was specifically about the Torah Law.
This question is intended to be a trap.
Verse 35 tells us they were testing Him.  Just as we see in many of the interactions between Yeshua Messiah and the Pharisees, they were constantly trying to trick Him into doing or saying something improper, so that they might arrest Him (or even kill Him on the spot!!).
Verse 36 shows us that Messiah is not creating New Testament Doctrine.  He is not changing the rules. He is not creating a new plan for men to follow.
He is simply answering a question about the existing (and forever) Torah instructions [the Law].
Psalm 119:142
Your justice is righteousness forever,
and Your Torah is truth.
Psalm 119:160
Truth is the essence of Your word,
and all Your righteous rulings are eternal.

In fact, He is not just answering a question about Torah.
His answer consists of Him quoting the Torah:
Deuteronomy 6:5
Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Leviticus 19:18
…but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.

And just in case this is confusing to you, Messiah tells us in verse 40 that He is simply paraphrasing the Law and The Prophets [who always taught people to follow the Torah instructions]
Matthew 22:40
“The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Mainstream Doctrine, as taught in our seminary institutions, ignores verses 35-36 and verse 40 so that false doctrine is created out of verses 37-39.
Why would they do this?
Why would they ignore key verses in order to teach something that is not true?
It gives them the leeway to decide for themselves how to love God and love our neighbor.
It allows man and not God to define how to do these things.
It allows men to reject the things they don’t care for in scripture.
It allows men to make up their own standards.
Is this wise?
No, I don’t think it is…

Messiah tells us how we are supposed to do this:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Without the commandments [Torah Law], how do we define sin?
Do we get to decide in our own mind what is sin and what is not sin?
Or is it just defined by culture, which changes significantly with each generation?
Scripture tells us exactly how to define sin:
1John 3:4
4 Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness—indeed, sin is lawlessness.
Some translations say this:
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
or this…
4 Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah.

Men have singled out a few verses here and there in scripture that say to love others and to love God. That is good. That is a step in the right direction.
But they reject the scriptures that tell us how to do so.
They want the freedom to make up for themselves how to define loving God and loving others.
This is what I’m trying to warn about in these writings.
It is not up to us to decide.
Yehova gave His instructions.
He said His instructions are forever, never-ending, perpetual, and for all generations.

Scripture says the word has been since the beginning, and that it never changes.
Scripture says that Yehova does not lie, does not change His mind, and that He never changes.
Scripture says that Messiah is the word become flesh, and that He never changes.

There are so many blatant statements in scripture telling us these things, but men desire to ignore those statements, and claim that we get to make up our own idea of loving God and loving our neighbor.

We don’t need to make up our own definitions. It will simply end in disaster if we do.
If you love Messiah, then you will hear His voice, and you will follow Him. He tells us this in scripture. His sheep know His voice. And they follow Him.

This is His voice:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Do you hear Him?
Can you hear Messiah speaking?

He tells us who gets to be in the kingdom of heaven:
Revelation 22:14
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

What commandments is He speaking of?
Generic ones that we get to define?
Nope.

Revelation 14:12 tells us what commandments:
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Scripture tells us exactly what the plan is.
But man has rejected the plan in scripture, and replaced it with man-made traditions, ideas, and doctrine.
Unfortunately, Messiah will say He does not know you if you choose your own definitions instead of hearing His voice and doing as He says.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Consider this passage above, a direct quote of Messiah
[DO YOU HEAR HIS VOICE?  DO YOU LISTEN TO HIM?  DO YOU DO AS HE SAYS?  DO YOU FOLLOW HIM?]

This is not speaking about believers vs. non-believers.
Look at verse 22. These are people that think they did works in His name. These are people who think they follow Him.
But they do not…
Messiah will declare to these self-professed believers “‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

He will not know them.
Why?
Because they do not follow the Torah.
They are workers of lawlessness.
And what is their fate?
Depart from Me.
I never knew you.
And why is it important for us to follow the Torah instructions?
Because Messiah says that is how He will know if we love Him.
The act of following these commands does not save us.
The act of loving Messiah, as He defines it, is what is important here.
We are saved by grace, not by our acts.
Ephesians 2:8-10
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God. ⁹ It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship—created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them.
But our acts are evidence that we know Him.
Our acts are the evidence that we hear His voice and follow Him.

James 2:26
²⁶ For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Do you know Messiah?
The one in scripture?
Or do you know about a fake messiah, one who does not match the Messiah in scripture?

Here is a test:
1John 2:3-6
³ Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— ⁶ whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.

 Do you know Him?

Luke 6:46 [words of Messiah]
“Why do you call Me ‘Master, Master’ and do not do what I say? “