The Greatest Commandment
is not understood by most Christians

Most Christians do not adequately understand the deep meanings of the Greatest Commandment. And if a person does not understand it, then how can they consciously obey it?

"Wait a minute!" you might be thinking. "Frank, you're wrong! All Christian's know what the Greatest Commandment is—and it's so simple that even a child can understand it."

Please allow me to respond to that by suggesting you might think otherwise after reading this article.

I want to begin by asking you two simple questions. Please answer them before reading ahead. You might even want to write down your answers so you can review them after reading this article. Here are the two questions:

1. Can you recite the Greatest Commandment given by Jesus? (If so, write it.)

2. What does the Greatest Commandment mean to you? (Again, write it down.)

Now, let's take a close look at the Greatest Commandment. We'll begin by quoting from Mark 12:28-30. Jesus was asked by a scribe:

"What commandment is the foremost of all?"

Jesus answered, "The foremost is 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 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.'” (Mark 12:28-30. See also Deuteronomy 6:4.)

Is that what you wrote down in answer to my first question? If not, I think that, as a Christian, you would want to memorize God's Greatest Commandment of you!

What does the Greatest Commandment mean to you? Check the answer you wrote down, then continue reading.

What I am about to relate to you might be a teaching you have never been exposed to. Well, if that's the case, let me assure you that you are not alone! Because the biblical doctrine of the heart is all but ignored these days.

The Half-Hearted Christian and the Whole-Hearted Christian
To truly love God requires a whole-hearted condition (right) in which the soul and spirit are functionally united and are in harmony with the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Half-Hearted Christian (left), by virtue of his divided heart and fleshly soul, is conditionally and functionally incapable of abiding in the Greatest Commandment. (For more information, please click the link "The Whole-Hearted Christian" at the end of this article.)

Now, let's take a closer look at what Jesus meant by the Greatest Commandment.

We'll begin with an illustration that depicts the whole or united heart of a Christian.

Jesus said we shall love God with all our heart
To love God with all our heart is to love Him with our whole heart—with the Holy Spirit (dove) expressing love through the individual's Christ-centered personhood and functionally united soul and spirit.

Now, let's focus on the soul chamber-part of the whole heart:

Jesus said we shall love God with all our soul
To love God with all our soul is to love Him with all our soul’s faculties (mind, emotion, will) and features (memory, belief, conscience, “New Spirit” of love, personality, character, temperament) operating in harmony with one another and with the indwelling Spirit of Christ. Since the soul is that part of the heart through which we (our unique personhood) expresses ourselves through our body and relates to the temporal realm, our love for God is expressed to Him and demonstrated through our loving conduct toward Him and others.

Jesus said we shall love God with all our mind
To love God with all our mind is to love Him as the foremost object of our mind set and with all our rationality. For we love whatever we set our mind to love. If our mind is set on self aside from God, we become self-centered and self-loving in a fleshly way. If our mind is set on things of the world, we will love the things of the world. But if our mind is set on Christ, it will be centered in Him and He will be the first object of our love and the foremost desire of our heart.

Jesus said we shall love God with all our strength
To love God with all our strength is to love Him with all the strength available to us when we inwardly function and outwardly walk in the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 2:6, 9; 1 Peter 4:8-11), in the light (1 John 1:7), in newness of life (Romans 6:4), in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 3:16), by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7), in wisdom (Colossians 4:5), in obedience (2 John 6), and in truth (3 John 4), and in love (Ephesians 5:2). Paul writes: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7, NIV); and that “The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5b).

At the beginning of this article, were you able to recite the Greatest Commandment? How close was your understanding of its meaning compared to the above?

Sadly, many Christians do not have an adequate understanding of the Greatest Commandment. Perhaps you know some of them. So, I ask you to please share this all-important teaching with others.

For further study, please click below to bring up the text from my booklet,

The Whole-Hearted Christian

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
—Paul (Ephesians 1:18-19a)