“The Great and First Commandment”
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“The Great and First Commandment”

Matthew 22:34–40  (ID: 3639)

Does Jesus’ response in the New Testament to a lawyer’s question about the greatest commandment abolish the law as found in the Old Testament? By no means! Alistair Begg emphasizes that loving both God and neighbor does not replace what was previously commanded. In fact, Jesus’ statements are actually a summary of the law. And under His new covenant, God now fashions believers’ hearts to receive and joyfully obey this great commandment.


The Great Commandment

34But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Copyright © 2024, Alistair Begg. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.

Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bible teacher on Truth For Life, which is heard on the radio and online around the world.