Good Will Toward Men

"Good will toward men" is a well-known term that has a more profound meaning than many realize. From the Biblical perspective, it means God's Will toward all humanity. And how is that accomplished?

^"2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well" (James 2:8 KJV).

Why and how is loving one's "neighbor" an actual Law of God? The Messiah answered the question:

"^22:35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer [see Scribes], asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, ^22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

^22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul [see Where Is Your Soul?], and with all thy mind. ^22:38 This is the first and great commandment. ^22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ^22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law [see also Jot and Tittle] and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40 KJV)

"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"

To "love thy neighbour as thyself" did not originate in the New Testament. Jesus Christ ("^10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; ^10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ^10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; ^10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 KJV; see also 'The God Of The Old Testament' and Christ The Creator) gave it to His people long before, as recorded in Leviticus:

"^19:13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. ^19:14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock [see Stumbling Blocks] before the blind [which includes, moreover, those who are as yet spiritually blind - see When Their Eyes Were Opened and The Cure For The Carnal Mind], but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. ^19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. ^19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. ^19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. ^19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:13-18 KJV)

Many true Christians began as un-Christian, or even fiercely anti-Christian (e.g. the apostle Paul - see On The Road To Damascus), but when their time of awakening came (again, see The Cure For The Carnal Mind) and if they then truly repented, they were washed clean of all that happened before. For that reason, Christ commanded His people to not only "love your neighbor," but to also "love your enemies" because they may some day be your brothers and sisters in Christ - and even if they don't repent after they have been given the means to do so, God alone will be their Judge (see When Will You Be Judged? and They Shall Be Ashes).

"^5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ^5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good [see also Why Does God Allow Evil?], and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ^5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? ^5:47 And if ye salute [see Salutations] your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Publicans so? ^5:48 Be ye therefore perfect [see Perfection], even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:44-48 KJV)

The Ten Commandments (see the Fact Finder question below) are "briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

"^13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. ^13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ^13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. ^13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep [see Awaken To The Light]: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. ^13:12 The night is far spent [see Could Christ Return Tonight?], the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." (Romans 13:8-12 KJV)

Loving one's neighbor (i.e. obeying the royal law of love for God and for fellow man) is vital to salvation. Those who refuse "shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

"^5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ^5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another [see Backbiting], take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. ^5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

^5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. ^5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law [which does not mean that God's Law is "done away," as some have been misled into thinking - see Grace Into Licentiousness].

^5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ^5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, ^5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit The Kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:14-21 KJV)

Fact Finder: How did the Son of God summarize the Ten Commandments?
See The Two Great Commandments

This Day In History, December 24

1524: Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama died at age 55. He was the first recorded European to reach India by sea.

1524: Poland agreed to truces in its conflicts with both Sweden and Turkey.

1638: The Ottomans under Murad IV recaptured Baghdad from Safavid Persia (listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire).

1781: German immigrant Baron Friederike von Riedesel erected what is believed to be the first Christmas tree in North America, at Sorel, Quebec (listen to our Sermon The Ho-Ho Hoax).

1814: A peace treaty between Great Britain and the former New England colonies was signed at Ghent, Belgium to end the War of 1812 (1812-1814). The combatants kept fighting and dying however because the news of the war's end did not arrive from Europe for another 2 weeks (longer in some more remote areas e.g. the Battle of New Orleans).

1865: The Klu Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee by a group of Confederate veterans.

1914: The first air raid on Britain took place when a German monoplane dropped a single bomb on Dover.

1942: The German research station at Peenemunde successfully tested a new surface-to-surface weapon system. Called the FZG76, it later became better known as the V1 Flying Bomb (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars).

1946: The French Fourth Republic was established.

1951: Libya became an independent nation. It had been a colony of Italy from 1911, and before that was under Ottoman rule from 1551.

1991: Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as leader of the Soviet Union.