For the past couple of days, we’ve considered the biblical admonitions that we love one another. First we noted that, paradoxically, this begins by thinking of ourselves and asking how we’d like to be treated. This is one of the first steps in fostering kindness. But then we noted that this is not enough. We must, in fact, consider others as more significant than ourselves. Today we need to put it all into perspective and note that all of this is impossible to do on our own. When left merely to ourselves, we will want to look only to ourselves rather than to others.

To begin with, we are sinful, weak, frail and vindictive creatures. We often approach the “Golden Rule” (Matthew 7:12) as a “cause and effect” rather than a command. In other words, we begin to think “If I treat this person well, they will treat me well” when in fact the Bible presents the exact opposite perspective. The Bible reminds us that when we are Christ’s the world will in fact hate us (John 15:19, John 17:14, 1 John 3:13, etc.). It is not enough to fulfill the Golden Rule because we kind treatment will be returned. Believers are called upon not just to love those who love us but to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We cannot do this on our own. This love comes only from God.

Second, we must be sure that we understand Matthew 7:12 in its full context. First, we must note that the verse begins (in the ESV) with “so” while the KJV begins “therefore.” The seemingly silly but helpful rule goes: “when you see therefore, always ask what the there is for.” It always means that what is about to be said directly builds on what has just been said. Expanding the context a bit, consider Matthew 7:7-20:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13“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. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

In its entire context, we see that God gives good things to His children (which might not be the same as the things we think we need but that’s another topic). Therefore, fulfill the “Golden Rule.” As the chapter progresses, we see Jesus saying that the fruit of your life bears testimony to the kind of tree you are. In other words, we can only love others if we are God’s children, and our love, or lack thereof, is a “fruit” demonstrating what kind of tree we truly are. Taken in context then, Matthew 7:12 might be understood along with 1 John 4:19 which reminds us that “We love because he first loved us.”

The “so” or “therefore” in Matthew 7:12 assumes as John Piper puts it in this sermon, an “enablement.” It takes for granted that, if we are God’s children, we can treat others as we would like to be treated. Only after salvation are we able to look beyond ourselves in any meaningful sense.

But the “so” also carries a force assuming that if we can do it, we will do it. Regardless of how others treat us, if we are Christ’s, we will consider them better than ourselves, but the truth is that this can only be done if we are His and then serves as evidence that we are in fact His.

Love is a foundational tenant of the Christian faith. We are saved by and for God’s love and our love for others (which only comes from God’s love) serves as evidence that He has in fact loved us and that we love Him. John helps us to put this into proper perspective in 1 John 4:7:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Notice that he says “love is from God.” In the very next verse (1 John 4:8), he forces the issue home by saying not only is “love from God,” but that “God is love.” God is love. Not that God loves more than we do (though He does), not that God loves a lot, God is love. We cannot approach the issue of the biblical commands to love without acknowledging that these things are impossible on our own. If we approach these commands in our own strength, we will be left to disappointment, legalism and the empty shell of the “social gospel,” many works with little faith. But thanks be to God that He not only commands His peole to love, He equips us to do so (Ephesians 3:20-21):

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

• Read The Difficult Doctrine of God’s Love by D.A. Carson
• Read Love in Hard Places by D.A. Carson
• Read Nothing Greater, Nothing Better: Theological Essays on God’s Love, edited by Kevin Vanhoozer