The Golden Rule

Well, we are continuing in our series in the Gospel of Luke. So with that, I invite you to open your Bibles or listen along, and let's turn to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6, we're going to begin reading verses 27 through 36. Luke 6 verses 27 through 36. Now, I will say the sixth chapter of Luke has proven to be quite a challenging chapter for us, and it's going to continue to be the same, I believe. The heading in my Bible, and perhaps yours here at the beginning of this passage, says, love your enemies. And it is within this passage that we find what many refer to as the golden rule. So that's the title of our study today, the golden rule. And I believe as we read this passage, we're going to find that it is a rule, if you will, that is truly golden. So let's read this together. Luke 6 beginning in verse 27. These are Jesus Christ's words. Luke is recording them. But I say, Jesus Christ says, I say to you who hear, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. And pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. And here it is, verse 31. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. Verse 32. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the Most High. For he is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as our Father is also merciful. Let's stop there.

So that's quite a passage there. And again, we will be focusing specifically on verse 31 there. This so-called golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We know one of the most perhaps frequently quoted phrase in all the Bible. But I would propose perhaps maybe one of the frequently misquoted or misused in all the Bible. Because this golden rule, do unto others as you want them to do unto you, we know it's a statement in which so many have laid a hold of and so often used by people in the various ways.

Used perhaps, though, without a true understanding or a true consideration of what is actually being put forth here. And it's used so often also, if you're like me, it's almost in a way lost its meaning or it's significant in my everyday life, just because I hear it so often. And if that's the case, it would be regrettable because it is in fact one half of the two greatest commandments. You know, we have love God and then we have love neighbor. So this is part of the two great commandments. And so it's vital for us to understand this correctly. So I want to get right to it and this whole matter of the golden rule, because there's a lot to dig into here. You know, some may not realize immediately that this rule prior to the time of Jesus had already been pronounced. This rule had already been pronounced, however, in the negative form most often. This rule pronounced in the negative form as it relates to others. For example, the principle in the negative form can be found in the command, do not murder another. You know, do not murder your neighbor or do not covet what is your neighbor's. In other words, what you don't want them to do to you don't do to them. Okay? Laws most often pronounced in the negative context as it's conveyed to us. Do not murder, do not covet others, possessions. So often listed in the Old Testament in the negative fashion. And so Jesus comes and now he takes it and he's going to state it in the positive. He states it positively. And I think that's the first and foremost thing to notice here as we consider this rule. It's been given to us in the positive fashion. Why is that so important?

Well, I believe one of the reasons is that Jesus is making clear that it's not simply enough for us to be refraining from treating others poorly. Okay? Rather, the followers of Jesus Christ are to be initiative takers putting forth love, not just refraining from evil treatment of others.

Let's think about that for a moment. I'll repeat that. We're to be initiative takers putting forth love to others, not just refraining from evil treatment of others. We're going to think about that that concept a little bit. We're called to a higher level of righteousness. You know, it's easy to move amongst each other and just kind of avoid each other, you know, to not necessarily treat someone poorly that you have a conflict with, but you just kind of avoid. And so we're going to refrain from treating others in a negative fashion. But Jesus Christ now comes and He's going to state this rule, this law, if you will, in a positive manner, in an initiative taking manner. Many say when they look at this that Jesus Christ came and He came to replace all of the negative harsh law, they'll say, and He came to introduce a new positive law of love as exemplified in the golden rule. And you'll hear people say, you know, I'm not really into that all that Old Testament negativity. I'm really into the New Testament positive dimension here as described by the golden rule. Well, you know, when that is said, it's really based upon a false conclusion because the Bible makes it clear that all of the negative prohibitions of the Old Testament, they actually find their fulfillment in the working out of this positive statement. Okay? So it's not that the Old Testament, the old law, if you will, is being done away with, rather it's an old law that's finding its ultimate fulfillment in this new way.

So I'm going to say that again. This is foundational to what we're going to say today about this rule. The negative prohibitions of the Old Testament are simply finding their fulfillment in this new way. For example, you shall not commit adultery against another. You shall not steal. You shall not murder. You shall not covet. Do not do these things against your neighbor. Jesus stands up and now summarizes it all in one positive dimension. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And Jesus taught his apostles. He taught his disciples this very thing.

They picked it up and they taught those who were under their authority. And I want to show you that. This was a major theme throughout the New Testament. Keep your marker here, but let's turn to Romans 13 verses 8 through 10. We're going to see that the Apostle Paul picks up on this and reiterates this understanding.

Romans 13 verses 8 through 10. Paul's going to explain this very thing. That the quote negative prohibitions of the Old Testament, they're finding their fulfillment in this positive statement. So the Old Testament law is not being done away with. Rather, it's actually being magnified with this positive rule or this positive law, if you will.

So Romans 13 verses 8 through 10, you'll see the title in most Bibles says, Love Your Neighbor. So look at how Paul explains this. Romans 13 verse 8, Oh, no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery.

You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to your neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. I stopped there. So he's talking about how the initiative taking of love to one another actually fulfills the Ten Commandments.

Displaying love in its fullness will automatically satisfy the commandments. That's what he's saying here. The commandments given at Mount Sinai. There they are. Do not commit adultery, murder, steal, do not lie, do not covet what is your neighbor's whatever other commandment there may be. So it's this catch-all phrase. They're all summed up in this one rule. Love to another. Verse 8 again, he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Verse 10, love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. So we're seeing a just a magnification in this new way. This is what Jesus Christ brought in the apostles and all the writers began to pick it up and begin to write about it as well. And this is a very important understanding to get today because moving on to verse 11, you'll see interestingly right after this, verse 11, he says, and do this, do this initiative taking, knowing the time and now is high time to awaken out of sleep.

For now our salvation is nearer than we first believed. So he's writing to the early Roman followers of Jesus Christ and he says, listen to this, I'm here to shake you up. He says, I've been teaching you the doctrine. You need to know it, but it's not enough just to know it intellectually. Okay. And I've moved you now and you have been taught what not to do. You know, we have taught you and, but I'm now here to tell you it's not enough just to be refraining from evil acts, sinful acts.

Okay. I am now taking you into another realm, another fullness of the law that you're going to live out. And I'm teaching you how, what this living out looks like. And, and, and by the way, all this living out in this positive initiative taking dimension, it's all grounded in the, in the commandments. I'm not changing anything. It's all there. I'm just now telling you what, what they look like when they're magnified and they're fulfilled in this way. And I want to waking you up to love your neighbor as yourself. We need to understand that the only way you will truly fulfill the do nots, the only way you'll truly fulfill the do nots is if you're applying love and initiative love towards others.

It's that simple.

And if you're not fulfilling the law in the way of love, well, then I need to tell you there's not much time. He says it's not simply enough for us to be refraining from treating others poorly. It's not simply enough to be avoiding those to whom we have conflicts with. It's not simply enough. It's not simply enough. We need to be actively putting forth love toward our enemies. And so we need to ask, am I truly fulfilling the law in that way? Well, let's go back to Luke 6. And as we're seeing, just there's so much wrapped up in this golden rule, perhaps more than we could ever see at first glance here. So going back to Luke 6 verse 31 again, and just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

So I want you to notice what the rule doesn't say. It does not say treat others as they treat you. Okay, I just want to state that clearly. You may need to check your Bible for that. Do not treat others as they treat you. I'm guilty for teaching my kids that. I think as they were growing up, if little Jimmy hit you, you hit him right back. An eye for an eye. You do exactly what they do to you. You just go right back at it. That's not what it says here. Rather, you treat them in the way in which you would like to be treated by them. So the instructions clear there. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And if we think about that for a moment, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Don't treat them the way they treat you. Don't treat them the way they treat you. Very clear. And you know, God's people, as we're working this out, we're going to become very distinct in this way. We're not going to look like others. We're going to be those that are called out. We're going to be separating ourselves from the culture in this way. Because if you treat others as they treat you, how does that make you any different than the society around us? And so then, he doesn't stop there. He continues to dig deeper here, beginning in verse 32, 33, and 34.

And he says, I'm gonna go a little bit deeper, and I'm gonna ask you a question. It's the same question that comes three times here. And it's an important question. And the question is, what credit is that to you? So this is the question that comes three times to us. Again, Luke 6 verses 32 through 34. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners who receive as much back. There's three verses, three questions, one essential fact here. We could ask, what is the overarching emphasis here with these three questions? I think one word that might come to mind is that God's people in this way, and in dealing in these matters, must become 100% selfless. 100% selfless That's the test if you're fulfilling this rule, I believe. This is what's been focused on.

If it's a love that is focused on reward, well, then it's not the love that we're talking about. This is a love that's not focused on that. This is an interactive with one another where the focus is not on the basis of being paid back in any way. I think you'll agree that's what this is saying here. The love toward your neighbors, that love extended to them, is not to be driven in any way by any reciprocal expectation. No reciprocal expectation, because if we love only in return of love received, it's no recognition, really. If we do good in response to good being done to us, okay, what's the strength of that? Big deal. What credit is that to you? If we lend only to those who I feel really confident will be able to pay me back. Well, that's pretty common. Actually, that's just part of everyday normal culture, right? Isn't it? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. But what Jesus Christ is calling us to is just a radical lifestyle change. And this is what we've been seeing in this whole chapter here. Radical, different way of thinking here. A drastically different than the culture around us.

If I am just simply refraining from treating others poorly, I can't lay my head on the pillow at night and think I've done something. Not if you're a son, not if you're a daughter of the most high. If I'm lending money on the fact that I get the right percentage back, you know, what credit is that to me? This is thinking, this is behavior, this is a lifestyle that that's a radical new teaching here. And then it's punctuated here in the first part of verse 35.

Here's the punctuation mark, first part of verse 35. But love your enemies. Do good to them. Lend to them hoping for nothing in return. Boy, that's a big phrase. Hoping for nothing in return.

Think about that for a second. Not only am I going to lend to perhaps someone I have had conflict with, I'm actually going to hope that they aren't able to return it to me. You know, what is that? When I hope that my good deed, when I hope my love isn't reciprocated, when I hope my funds aren't returned to me, what is that doing? It is taking the self and just throwing it away. It's like, Father, I don't want anything of me to have anything to do with what I'm doing. This is just for you. I want to do good. I want to lend. I want to love just because I know it's the right thing to do. And I hope that they don't give it back because I don't want to give myself filled up in any way. You know? And if it's reciprocated, that's a grace of God. But it's not even a hope that I have when I'm exhibiting this behavior. So it's really taking the self out of the equation. And in that, I think we can all admit that this is not a natural response. This is a supernatural response here. We can't do this by our own strength, by any means. You know, you can come to church and you can hear the pastors say, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your enemies. Do good. And lend without hoping, without anything in return. You can say, that sounds right, and I'm going to go out and try my best. And I think you will find you're quite disappointed and discouraged that you're not able to do it of and by yourself. You know, you look at this and you will say, it is impossible for me to respond in this way. And it is impossible unless, unless we were introduced to the power of God, that power that comes and lives in us, and the Father and the Son make their home in us to flow their love through us. So first and foremost, we have to understand that as we're looking to move to this higher level of righteousness, we need God's help. And you have to go to God first and foremost to help you with fulfilling this golden rule and ask Him to give you the supernatural power. You see, you see throughout Scripture, individuals going to God to ask for the power to fulfill this higher level of righteousness. I'll show you just one place. Keep your marker here again, but let's turn to Philippians 2 verses 12 through 13.

Philippians 2 verses 12 through 13.

Again, fulfilling the golden rule, it may be a great discouragement to us if you're trying to fulfill it by yourself. It can only be fulfilled with God's help. And Philippians 2 verses 12 and 13 give us this understanding. This is Paul once again. He's speaking to the beloved. He's speaking to the brethren, the called sons and daughters of God. He says Philippians 2 verse 12, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. He says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Here it is. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. All right, let's stop there. So I wanted to point this out to you. These are salvation matters. We need to move to this next level, but understand that it is God who's going to work in us to will and to do these things.

So as you're bringing to mind someone you need to reach out to because of conflict and or just separation, whatever it may be, sometimes you need to go to God and first and foremost ask him for the desire to do it. Father, I just need the will to do this because I don't even have the desire to reach out to this person. They've been so horrible to me. I don't have the desire. First and foremost, give me the will to do it. Sometimes that is the first prayer because I don't want to do it. You know, supernaturally producing me the desire. And then, Father, give me the ability to do this, your good pleasure, his good pleasure. And so we realize God will work it in us so that we can work it out. That's what this scripture is saying. God works it in so that we can work it out. We don't have this ability in and of ourselves. This is a supernatural response to produce the desire, to produce the ability to carry it out. So there's great high-speed heights in this rule. Great heights to be obtained. You know, I can't take someone to coffee.

You know, they're nice to me. I'm nice to them. You know, that's not a result of regeneration, spiritual regeneration. That's human behavior. That's understandably normal human behavior. Returning love for love. But what credit is that to you? It's not to say that it's irrelevant.

Those things are good. He's not condemning that. But he says if you can't just operate at the ethics level of the culture, you're going to have to go higher, a higher level of righteousness.

And a son and daughter of the most high is to move in that higher dimension, fulfilling the golden rule requires the supernatural power flowing through us.

This ability there in verse 35 to reach this ability to love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And when we achieve this with God's help, the second part of verse 35, your reward will be great. And you will be the sons and the daughters of the most high.

That's the second part of verse 35. Your reward will be great. And you'll be the sons and daughters of the most high. So in this, as we're fulfilling this golden rule, we're going to be working out our salvation on that great reward. And we're going to be revealing ourselves as a son or daughter of the most high. But it's only with God's help that we're able to fulfill this task. And I think that really brings us back to then when we spoke about the two great commandments, love God and love neighbor, the two great commandments. You know, as we're looking to God to work in us for us to work it out, then I think we can conclude that we could never separate those two great commandments, could we? If it's only by God's help that we're able to love neighbor at this high level, then we cannot separate love of neighbor with that of love God.

And I say that to point out that we can't separate love of God with love of neighbor ever. And I say that because society routinely separates the two.

If you take an experiment and just listen around at the different dinner tapers, perhaps, at the local restaurant, you will hear individuals conclude a conversation that says, you know, all that's important, I guess, is that we love one another. You will hear that all the time. I guess the most important thing is that we just love one another. And yes, but that's not all. That's simply operating at secular society, a godless society. Confucius is good with love neighbor. Buddhism is good with love neighbor. New Age teachings is quite happy with love your neighbor as yourself. Where they get off the train is when you say, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, you know, and strength. And where they get off the train is when we say you cannot separate love God from love neighbor. But in fact, what we're seeing today is that you can't fulfill the latter without the first. There's no way we could reach the heights that the golden rule is calling us to unless we love God first. So they go one and the same.

So the application is clear. We must love God first because it's only by His power that we're able to fulfill this kind of love toward neighbor. And in this way, then, we see that we're fulfilling all of the law. We're fulfilling all the law with those two great commandments. And that's what Jesus Christ is saying here. We prove ourselves to be the sons and daughters of the Most High by loving our fellow man and even loving our enemies in this way.

It is the evidence, middle of verse 35 of Luke 6, the evidence, middle of verse 35, that we are the sons and daughters of the Most High. The evidence is going to be found in the fact that we love our neighbors and do good to them and hope for nothing in return.

It will, in fact, be the evidence in that way that we are the sons and daughters of the Most High. So, profoundly challenging. And so, if you feel uncomfortable, you're not alone. I hope I'm not the only one who has trouble with this, you know. Let's bring it to the forefront today. What enemy do you need to love today? What enemy? And be thinking about all the things that are going to come with it. When you think of the good Samaritan, he helped that poor sap on the side of the road. He was bloodied and he helped that individual without anything in his heart. What do I mean by that? He walked over to that individual and he didn't allow himself to be turned over to the imaginations of his mind.

The imaginations of all the poor choices that this individual must have made. You know, to end up in this state. You know, what would bring such a man to be lying on the road like this? Come on, get up.

I'll clean you off. I'll get you in the end. He didn't allow himself. He loved him without calculating this and that. It's a great challenge when you think about the heights that were to garner. I hope I'm not the only one who has shown reached out to individuals with a calculating nature. You know, man, this is the third time I've given money to this person. And all my imaginations about how they're not using the money in a proper way.

But it's a real convicting thing because in that way, on the surface, it seems like I'm fulfilling this law. But in my heart, I'm not. And in essence, I'm really trying to keep my distance. I just want to give them money and move on. And then give them more money and be calculating the whole time. All the poor choices that they're making. When I catch myself doing that, I then realize, wow, what would truly be showing love to this individual? Maybe it's not money that they need. Maybe I need to develop a relationship with this individual. And maybe the real sacrifice is not the pocketbook, but my time that I'm going to invest in this person to maybe find out their true need. Their true need. And I'm going to get in there and oh, I'm going to have all that sacrifice of my time. And I got so many other things I got to do. I'd rather just throw money to them, you know, and move on and satisfy myself with calculating all these different things, you know, that I presume. So it's a real... it's just taking us to a new depths here in how we analyze how we're dealing with one another, and particularly those who we recall from sometimes. When, in fact, we need to not just avoid or refrain, but we need to be initiative-taking in that love. What prospect did that good Samaritan have of being paid back or anything in return? Zero.

So do you think he went through all of that with the anticipation of being paid back? No. He put him up in the end. He said, I'll return. I'll reimburse you whatever extra costs it may be. So he had no anticipation of being paid back. And so what he was doing was out of the love of his heart. And in that moment, he was revealing himself to be a son of the Most High. And he was allowing Jesus Christ's love through the Father to flow through him. He saw a need and he fulfilled it. He saw a burden and he bared it. He saw a responsibility and he fulfilled it. Friend or foe, it doesn't matter. It doesn't make a difference. And no calculations. I am not going to allow myself to make any calculations in my love to this individual. So important. So important. And in this, we're going to become completely counter to the culture. We're going to be living in a way that is going to be confound. And they're going to see the Father through us. And he says, I want you to love your enemies. And in this way, you will reveal yourself to be a son or daughter of the Most High. Love your enemies. Do good to them. Lend to them, expecting nothing to get back.

And so as we think about these challenges, if you needed a little motivation with this, fulfilling this rule, well, Luke gives it to us here in Luke 6. At the end of verse 35, he points out the fact that there at the end of verse 35, for he, God, is kind to the unthankful and evil. So apply this to your personal lives.

How did God demonstrate his love to you? Did he love you while you were lovable? No. He loved us while we were still sinners. He loved us by the gift of his son's life in our rebellion, in our hatefulness. He loved us. So that's our motivation. That's our motivation. So this is all looking outward toward God, and we're fulfilling these things for him, and don't want anything of the self mixed in with it. While we're in the same place, he loved us in this way when we were unthankful and when we were evil.

God looked down upon us, and in our unloveliness gave us the most incredible love that he could ever give. So when this kind of love flows through us toward another, the invisible God is made manifest among his people. And so, you know, the world is going to look on, and it might not agree with our doctrines, but it's going to be undeniable when they experience this kind of love amongst one another. So let's let others see this love. Let's let the world encounter God in this way, and let's pray through God's power that he'll fulfill and allow us to live out this incredible rule as it truly is the most golden rule.