Teachings,+love+fulfills+the+Law

Love fulfills the Law
(This was attributed to 'Christianorder' in a way that has lead me to believe it is actually Kai stormwalker who posted it.)

It was around 4 B.C.E. that the Jews were in a desperate situation. Although Judaism was a religion based upon human contact with God, it had been many centuries since the prophets spoke with the angels of the Lord. Judaism had become a body of knowledge devoid, for the most part, of Spirit.

It was during this time that a wild man named John the Baptist roamed the desert preaching repentance to the Jews, and baptizing them to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. When John baptized Jesus, it was revealed to him that he was that Messiah...

...What Jesus preached was not new to the Jews. He was a Jew himself. But though his message was similar his emphasis was different. What was so special about Jesus was that he didn't only preach a message of love and humility, he lived it. He himself was the message! The Christians saw him as God because of his holy example.

This is what revolutionized Christianity away from mainstream Judaism - the worship of the man Jesus as God. Christians believe that Jesus is an incarnation of God in human form. They call the experience of acknowledging their sin, repenting of it, and asking Jesus to live within them as being "born again." With this rebirth comes the presence of the Holy Spirit, which is another manifestation of God, which will guide them, teach them, convict them according to God's truth.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revised the laws of the Hebrew commandments from "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not" to "blessed (or happy) art thou." The language itself moves the listener from law to love. The people who are blessed are the poor in spirit (humble), pure of heart, people who mourn, those who are merciful, those who are hungry for righteousness, those who are peacemakers, and those who are persecuted in the name of God. These are the chosen people; being chosen has nothing to do with whether people are Jews, or gentiles, men or women, sinners or saints.

Jesus stood against the social prejudices of the day, reinterpreting "clean" and "unclean" in terms of the soul. He moved the kingdom of God from without to within. He ate with the poor, the sick, and the sinner. He healed the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs, and often on the Sabbath which was forbidden. He protected a prostitute from being stoned, resisted evil, but did not judge anyone who was evil. He said that we must love our enemies and forgive those who hurt us.

Jesus was even willing to sacrifice his life for the benefit of others. He died for the sins of all mankind so that they might be reconciled to God.

Much of the New Testament is based on the teachings of Paul. Paul started out as a Jewish Pharisee who was actively engaged in persecuting and arresting people who believed that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. Yet he becamse a healer and a great teacher in the name of Christ. He suffered much hardship and was imprisoned many times, and ultimately beheaded for his faith.

One of the things that Christianity is known for is its emphasis on the Holy Trinity - the belief that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are one. Through being receptive to the Holy Spirit, Christians can learn to feel the love of God within themselves and pass this love along to others. Therefore, their faith in Jesus is based on a direct experience, not siply an ideology. That is part of the power of Jesus' message seek and you will find the kingdom of God within.