Matthew 22:36-40
The Greatest Commandment, the Twin Commandment
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The pervasive assumption around the world is that the cycle of war, division, self-interest, and hatred constitutes the true reality of life that we see and perceive on earth...However, this accepted, perceived reality stands in stark contrast to the Absolute Reality that was taught by Jesus Christ, when He came to dwell on the earth among us...When Jesus established His Kingdom, He defined a new, superseding order that transcends every temporary human system of government, economy, or philosophy...The Kingdom’s foundation is simple, yet profound: It is about Two Commands for the world to come together...These Greatest Commandment Jesus gives us is Twin Commands are to love God completely and to love neighbor as self (Matthew 22:37−40)...These commands function as the restoration blueprint for humanity, establishing the fixed moral axis upon which true harmony and an abundant life turn...Only when we fully embrace the Absolute Reality of the Kingdom as our daily truth and reality will the daily headlines change from conflict to stories of love, revealing the Glory of God...
The term "Twin Love Commands" is used to emphasize that Jesus did not give two separate, unrelated moral instructions, but rather a single, unified command with both a vertical and a horizontal dimension in His Greatest Commandment...The unity and combination of these two principles together is key...The first commandment is our natural duty, our allegiance to the One who created us in His Image...The two commandments are mutually dependent yet inseparable...Jesus stated, "The second is like it" (Matthew 22:39), which signals that the two are bound together and function as a unit...You cannot genuinely love God while simultaneously hating, ignoring, or unjustly treating your neighbor...In fact, the Apostle John confirms this dependency by declaring that if someone claims to love God but hates a brother or sister, that person is a liar (1 John 4:20)...Our tangible love for our neighbor is the undeniable evidence and outward expression of our intangible love for God...The Full Blueprint of the Greatest Commandment is all about loving God and loving neighbor...Together, they form the complete restoration blueprint for humanity...The first command dictates our allegiance (who we serve) and the second dictates our action (how we serve)...The vertical command (Love God) is the foundation that provides the moral power and motivation, while the horizontal command (Love Neighbor) is the practical field where that power and motivation are put to the test...This vertical command is a shorthand for the Godward Duty or the Allegiance Command of faith we have for our Father...This two-part axis is so comprehensive that Jesus declared, "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40)...They are the theological and moral summary of everything God ever commanded...The Kingdom Standard: These commands define the moral reality of the Kingdom that Jesus established, directly contradicting the self-interest and division of the world...By calling them the "Twin Love Commands," we highlight that they must be obeyed simultaneously and equally to experience the abundant life of Christ...
So to be repetitive in explaining the Greatest Commandment: A more fuller explantion of the Greatest Commandment is all about loving God and loving neighbor...Together, they form the complete restoration blueprint and fooundation for humanity...The first command dictates our allegiance (who we serve) and the second dictates our action (how we serve)...The vertical command (Love God) is the foundation that provides the moral power and motivation, while the horizontal command (Love Neighbor) is the practical field where that power and motivation are put to the test...This vertical command is a shorthand for the Godward Duty or the Allegiance Command of faith we have for our Father...This two-part axis is so comprehensive that Jesus declared, "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40)...They are the theological and moral summary of everything God ever commanded in the entire Bible...The Kingdom Of God Standard: These commands define the moral reality of the Kingdom that Jesus established, directly contradicting the self-interest and division of the world...By calling them the "Twin Love Commands," we better highlight that they must be obeyed simultaneously and equally to experience the Abundant Life that Jesus offers us...
Jesus is the Master Theologian, not only understanding every verse of Scripture but also fulfilling all Bible Verses...His Ministry showed His Supremacy in all things which is not just cosmic (as Creator) and about going to heaven, but also He does have an authority as given to Him by His Father and to teach these lessons on earth...When Jesus started His ministry and then inaugurated His New Kingdom, He established a new order—a reality that supersedes every temporary human system of government, economy, or philosophy...The Way of Jesus and His Truths in Life are a practical, immediate authority given by the Father...The Twin Love commands He gives us, therefore, function as the very restoration blueprint for humanity...They restore the primary relationship (God to humanity) and the secondary relationship (humanity to neighbor), thereby defining true human harmony and flourishing...It truly is an Abundant Life if these two teachings of the Twin Loves are followed...They are the fixed moral axis upon which existence turns...Any deviation from this axis, no matter how small, leads to structural failure in human experience...There is this paradox of division in this world...The paradox is odd in that war, persecution, and hatred persist despite humanity’s innate desire for peace and justice...
Jesus directly addressed this root cause, teaching that the heart is the source of all actions and the determinant of one's reality...He proclaimed that out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and deceit (Matthew 15:18−19;Mark 7:21−23), making the heart the internal origin of everything that defiles a person...This is amplified by the Truth that what a person speaks and does reveals the condition of their heart, for "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34)...This makes the heart the core issue: the persistence of hatred and conflict are the logical structural output of hearts directed by self-glorification, submitting to the "dominion of darkness" (Colossians 1:13)...
Jesus' Teachings explain the conflict between our perceived reality and God's Absolute Reality...The Heart is the Source of Evil: The most critical lesson is that the heart is the origin point of all sin (from Mark 7), not just a reaction to external pressures...This is why wars and hatred persist—the source is deep inside every individual...Moral Powerlessness: The heart is "beyond cure" (Jeremiah 17:9) and morally powerless (Romans 7:19)...This structural flaw means human effort cannot bridge the gap between our ability and God's Law...The New Covenant Solution: The only remedy is the Divine Rescue Mission through the New Covenant, which promises a "new heart and a new spirit"—an intervention called regeneration that changes our internal nature...Transformation, Not Effort: The end goal is not onlyl trying to follow the Twin Commands, but receiving the Holy Spirit, which facilitates internal transformation (Luke 17:21) and makes kindness and selflessness the new, natural inclination...
The paradox of our world is glaringly odd: war, persecution, and hatred persist despite humanity’s innate, deep desire for peace and justice...This consistent failure to adhere to the simple ethic of love is the crucial theological diagnosis the New Testament provides...If every individual and leader lived by these twin commands, the structural conflict that characterizes the fallen world would immediately cease...
The biblical explanation for this failure is the deep, structural problem of sin, which is an opposition to God's Absolute Reality, not merely a collection of bad actions...Humanity is internally disconnected from its own blueprint, naturally substituting self-interest for the love of neighbor and idolatry for the love of God...This condition confirms that our inability to live the Kingdom life is not accidental, but structural...
The Great Prophet Jeremiah noted this heart-wrenching condition and it is one of the most important lessons of the entire Bible: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure...Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)...This deceitfulness means the heart is structurally corrupted, constantly re-routing intentions toward self-glorification...Since as Jeremiah explains to us that this condition is "beyond cure" by any human means, it reveals that the operating system of the heart is fundamentally flawed...
The persistence of hatred, war, racism, abuse of children and spouses, sex trafficking, and division are the logical structural output of a world submitting to a false reality—the one Paul called the "dominion of darkness" (Colossians 1:13)...When the love of self displaces the Twin Commands, the inevitable consequence is competition, insult, oppression, and conflict...
This internal dynamic is perfectly illustrated by the Apostle Paul’s anguished cry: "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:19)...This internal civil war proves that moral powerlessness is the heart's natural state...Knowledge of the Golden Rule is insufficient; the will is paralyzed by the ingrained disposition toward self-interest...The gap between the Absolute Reality of God's Perfect Law and human ability (the compromised heart) is too wide to bridge by human effort...
We need a rescue from Heaven a Divine Rescue Mission, which would cause and internal transformation of our hearts...Because the heart is incurable (Jeremiah) and morally powerless (Paul), the persistence of evil necessitates this Divine Rescue Mission...The gospel is not just about personal salvation; it is about recognizing the Savior and Divine Rescuer and submitting to His Absolute Reality, which alone has the power to dismantle the systems of hatred and division...
This solution is the New Covenant, the promise of a "new heart and a new spirit."...Christ's cross and resurrection provide the mechanism for this internal renewal, called regeneration or being "born again."...This intervention fundamentally changes the heart, aligning it with the Kingdom's Reality...
Jesus's Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4−15) masterfully illustrates this necessity, showing that the effectiveness of God's Word is entirely dependent on the heart's condition...The hard path, the rocky ground, and the thorns all represent hearts that fail due to hardness, shallowness, or distraction ("worries, riches, and pleasures of this life")...Only the good soil—the heart that, "having heard the word, holds it fast in an honest and good heart, and bears fruit with perseverance"—is capable of producing the loving conduct Jesus commands...
This is the essence of the Kingdom: internal transformation. Jesus Himself clarified that "the Kingdom of God is in your midst" or "within you" (Luke 17:21)...The Holy Spirit is the Divine Power that replaces the wicked, deceitful heart with a new nature capable of producing genuine Kingdom fruit (Galatians 5:22−23)...The world would be 100% better if everyone acted out of love, but the Gospel asserts that humanity cannot choose to act that way without God’s prior and sustaining Grace...The only path to the Kingdom and these Twin Loves is through a narrow gate—Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14)...Only by yielding to His Spirit can the heart be purified, making true forgiveness and selfless love possible...The goal is not merely to try harder, but to submit to this transformation of the heart that makes kindness and selflessness the new, natural inclination...