Quote Source – A Reader and Commentator

A Biblical Christian worldview perspective – This quote came from one of our readers. The verses he referenced are as follows:

Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Matthew 7:12 – “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

This reader interpreted these verses quite differently when he offered…

• The first is the essence of faith – that there is a fundamental coherent principle that makes reality operate.
• The second is the basis for ethical behavior. – The wish by many humans to live forever is irrelevant, and often causes harm. Nobody knows, or can know, whether any part of a living being survives the death of the body. If there is life after death, so be it. If there is not, so be it. The verifiable evidence that we have would seem to indicate that death is the end.
  

Of course, the traditional interpretation of these two verses is to emphase the importance of God as the all-powerful Creator of the universe, and that we are to be kind to our neighbors (offten referred to as “The Golden Rule”). It is remarkable how each of us can reinterpret Biblical truths into whatever we wish.

My Response…

i choose to offer a different set of verses which God seemed to have seen as the most significant verses for mankind. I began my response by saying…

It is hard to boil down 750k words into two verses. Further, I would fall back on the original Author to answer the question, “What are the most important verses in the Bible”?

Jesus said… Mark 12:30-31 – And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no other commandment greater than these.”

What is interesting between your verse in Matt 7:12 and Mark 12:30-31 is that the greatest commandment points first as a relationship with God, and only then, a secondary relationship with our fellow man. What is perhaps even more interesting are the verses that immediately follow the one you quoted which affirms my point and speaks to eternity….

The Golden Rule——————–

Matthew 7:12-14 – “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.“

Respectfully, it is always dangerious to pluck verses out of the Bible without looking at the context. It is a relationship with God, through Christ, that allows one to “enter by the narrow gate”… for eternity. 

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words

Please Read/Respond to Comments – on Medium