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“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
— Matthew 7:12
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
— Matthew 22:37–40
Here we have the central theme of these lyrics: the Golden Rule and the two greatest commandments. Jesus tells us that these are not secondary issues. They are the summary, the essence, the weight of the entire revelation of God under the Old Covenant.
Notice the emphasis:
The Law and the Prophets represent the whole Old Testament revelation—God’s moral order, His covenant dealings, His prophetic warnings and promises. Jesus compresses the entire moral will of God into two relationships:
1. Love God fully.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
And He gives us a simple, practical test of that love:
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
This is not sentiment. This is not vague kindness. This is a divine standard that touches every area of life: home, work, ministry, finance, speech, and even spiritual warfare. How we treat others is a direct expression of our relationship with God.
Let us see what the Word of God says about this.
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### Matthew 7:12 – The Golden Rule in the Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:12 appears near the close of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). Jesus is speaking to His disciples and the surrounding multitudes in Galilee. He is not addressing pagans but people saturated with the Law of Moses and the traditions of the Pharisees.
He has already exposed:
Then in Matthew 7 He warns against:
It is in this context—after speaking about the Father’s generous heart in answering prayer—that He gives the Golden Rule:
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
He is not giving a detached moral principle. He is summing up the whole moral teaching of the Old Testament and of the Sermon on the Mount. This is covenant ethics in one sentence.
### Matthew 22:37–40 – The Two Greatest Commandments
In Matthew 22, Jesus is in a very different setting. He is in Jerusalem in the final week before the cross. He is facing the religious establishment—Pharisees, Sadducees, teachers of the Law—who are trying to trap Him with questions (Matthew 22:15, 23, 34–35).
One of them, an expert in the Law, asks:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36)
This was a real theological debate among rabbis. There were 613 commandments in the Torah. They argued: Which are “weightier”? Which are “lighter”? Which commandment is foundational?
Jesus answers with absolute clarity:
> “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
> This is the first and greatest commandment.
> And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
> All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37–40)
He quotes:
Jesus declares that everything God has commanded and revealed in the Law and the Prophets hangs on these two. If we miss them, we miss the entire point of biblical ethics.
So the lyrics you’ve given are not light. They stand at the very center of the moral universe of Scripture.
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Let us take two key words: “love” and “neighbor.”
### 1. “Love” – ἀγαπάω (agapaō) / ἀγάπη (agapē)
In Matthew 22:37, 39, the verb is ἀγαπάω (*agapaō*), from which we derive the noun ἀγάπη (*agapē*). This is not merely emotional affection.
Agapaō / agapē in the New Testament means:
1 John 3:16 defines it:
> “This is how we know what love (*agapē*) is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us…”
Agapē is revealed supremely in the cross. So when Jesus commands:
He is not commanding a mere emotion. He is commanding:
This immediately exposes a deception: Many claim to “love God,” but show no consistent love in how they treat people. Scripture says this is impossible.
1 John 4:20:
> “For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,
> cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”
### 2. “Neighbor” – πλησίον (plēsion) / רֵעַ (rēa‘)
In Matthew 22:39, “neighbor” is πλησίον (*plēsion*), a Greek word meaning:
The Greek *plēsion* comes from the Hebrew concept of רֵעַ (*rēa‘*), used in Leviticus 19:18:
> “You shall love your neighbor (*rēa‘*) as yourself.”
In the Old Testament, *rēa‘* can mean:
Jesus radically expands this in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37). When the expert in the Law asks, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells a story where:
So “neighbor” is not limited to “people like me.” It includes the outsider, the inconvenient, the wounded, even the enemy within reach of my action.
This deepens the lyrics:
> “Love your neighbor as yourself.
> There is no commandment greater than these.”
This is not a sentimental slogan; it is a comprehensive requirement for daily relationships with every person God places in our path.
---
Let us take the lyrics and measure them by Scripture.
### Stanza 1
> So in everything, do to others
> what you would have them do to you,
> for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
This is almost a direct quotation of Matthew 7:12.
#### “So in everything…”
The Greek phrase in Matthew 7:12 is πάντα οὖν (*panta oun*) – “therefore, in all things.”
It aligns with 1 Corinthians 10:31:
> “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
This command governs everything.
#### “Do to others what you would have them do to you…”
This is not merely negative: “Do not harm others.” Many moral systems say, “Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.” But Jesus is positive and active.
If you want to know how to act in a situation, ask:
Then, Jesus says, go and do that.
This touches spiritual warfare. One of Satan’s primary strategies is to keep us self-centered. The Golden Rule is a direct assault on self-centeredness. It shifts the focus from “How am I being treated?” to “How can I treat others in the way I desire to be treated?”
#### “For this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
The verb in Matthew 7:12, ἐστιν (*estin*), carries the sense: “This is (the total), this is the sum, the essence.” Jesus is saying:
Paul confirms this.
Romans 13:8–10:
> “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another,
> for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
> The commandments… are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
> Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
### Stanza 2
> Do to others as you would have them do to you.
> This is the Law and the Prophets.
> Treat people the way you want to be treated—
> this is the heart of God’s commands.
Here the same truth is repeated but with an important phrase: “this is the heart of God’s commands.”
That is an accurate theological statement.
#### “This is the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:40:
> “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Picture a door hanging on two hinges. The entire moral structure of God’s revelation hinges on:
1. Love for God.
2. Love for neighbor.
Remove those, and everything collapses. Keep those firmly in place, and all other commandments find their proper position.
#### “This is the heart of God’s commands.”
Deuteronomy 10:12–13:
> “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to
> fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him,
> to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
> and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your
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