Love Is
New Commandment is the Law of Love — System of Love

[Words taken from NM17; NM17 explains in context the Law of the Old Testament and the New Testament Law of Love]. 

See the Love Is chart on its own page. 

nm733 >>  God in the Old Testament said he would send a Spirit, and through that Spirit man would follow his laws, not by letter, but by Spirit: "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes" (Ezek 36:27). This Spirit is God's Spirit. This Spirit is Christ's Spirit. All of this book manifests that we are saved only if we have this Spirit or New Mind, which is the Spirit or Mind of God. And with this New Mind comes a New Law, a New Commandment. That New Commandment was, and is, Love. Not any kind of love, but Love with the power of the Spirit of God. "For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Gal 5:13). True liberty, true law keeping has something to do with love. As we will see, "Love" is the New Commandment.

nm734 >>  In the 24 hours or so before Christ was killed he gave his commandment: "A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34). This new commandment was love. Paul shows us what love is: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law" (Rom 13:8). As Paul shows, the true fulfilling of the law is love. And this love can be stated simply, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 13:9-10). Christ said basically the same thing, "Jesus said unto him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Mat 22:37-40). All the law of the Old Testament hung on love - first the love of God, second the love of our fellow man.

nm735 >>  Christ gave a new law. But this law was not really new for all the old commandments hung on love (Gal 5:14). Christ emphasized this great law of love. And as we have seen it was because of Christ and the Spirit that He gives, that real Christians are freed from the old law (which was good, but had no power because the people had no Spiritual power to truly follow that law). The old law was replaced by the New Law, the New Commandment of Christ, the New Law of Christ, which is love.
nm736 >>  John has something to say about the new commandment: "Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shines ... He that loves his brother abides in the light" (1John 2:8, 10). John speaks of love: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not, knows not God; for God is love" (1John 4:7-8). God is love. That is, God is Spirit (John 4:24). Thus, God's Spirit is love. Christians are Christians only if they have the Spirit of God. With this Spirit comes the love. 

nm737 >>  What is this love? Is it sexual desire? Can you hate something and still love it? What kind of love was Christ speaking about? What is Biblical love?

System of Love
nm738 >>  The love Christ spoke of is a system of behavior, or a law of behavior. Paul helped to define it: 

• Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails (1Cor 13:4-8, NASB).

nm739 >>  From the 1978 New International Version:

• Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects [covers], always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails (1Cor 13:4-8, NIV).

nm740 >>  From the BeComingOne Bible:

• <1Cor 13:4> Love is enduring, is kind; the Love is not envious {jealous, spiteful}; love is not boastful, is not conceited; <1Cor 13:5> is not rude {unbecoming}, is not self-centered, is not easily provoked {inflamed; angered}, is not numbering wrongs {of others}; <1Cor 13:6> is not rejoicing in iniquity, but is rejoicing in the truth; <1Cor 13:7> covers all (sin), believes all (good), hopes all (good), perseveres all (good). <1Cor 13:8> Love never fails.

nm741 >>  The fruit of God's Spirit of love is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Gal 5:22-23). There is wisdom from this Spirit of love: "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy"(James 3:17).

nm742 >>  What did Christ say when he gave His New Commandment? "A New Commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you" (John 13:34). Christ who had the Spirit of God inside of him behaved and acted one way - with Love. Everything Christ did was the living of the system of love, or the law of love. Every behavioral quality mentioned as belonging to the Spirit of God in the New Testament is also a description of love, the law or system of love. Let's look at scripture for further descriptions of love.

nm743 >>  The so-called sermon on the mount in Matthew, chapter five, was one of Christ's amplifications on the system of love. In chapter five Christ showed how deep the law of love goes; it goes to the very heart of man. In love you should not only not kill, but not be angry with your brothers (Mat 5:21-22; 1John 3:15).

nm744 >>  Love does not give evil for evil (Rom 12:17). Love does not bless and curse at the same time (James 3:10). But love is "peaceable, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (James 3:17).

nm745 >>  Love does not worry or fear (Mat 6:25-29). Love, loves its enemies yet not their ways (Mat 5:44; Prov 8:13). Love does not hate his brother (the person himself), yet if his brother's ways are of evil he hates his brother's ways, yet not the person himself (Prov 8:13 & Luke 14:26).

nm746 >>  Love does in deeds what it utters in tongue (1John 3:18 & James 1:22). Love does not overtly tempt others with objects that might lead them away from the truth (Rom 14:20-21), yet Love knows no thing in itself is bad (Rom 14:14 & Titus 1:15).

nm747 >>  Those with love will clothe themselves "with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" (Col 3:12-14).

nm748 >>  "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing" (1Peter 3:8-9).

nm749 >>  "And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 'In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need ... 

nm750 >>  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (Eph 4:24-28, 31-32).

nm751 >>  "Brother, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him, speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?" (James 4:11-12) Be slow to judge because only God has all the factors that enter into people's apparent misbehavior. This says nothing about obvious evil, where you have sound evidence of the evil. But we must be careful. Some people on one part of the earth believe one thing is wrong, while others on another part of the earth believe it is okay. Be careful. In areas of gray, it is better not to judge, than to make a mistake.

nm752 >>  "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Phil 2:3-4).

nm753 >>  "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal 6:10).

nm754 >>  "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1John 3:17-18).

LAW OF LOVE IS MORE FLEXIBLE
nm755 >>  In the kingdom of God when all people have the New Mind and the new immortal body, some kinds of behavior that are now evil, or considered evil by some, may not be evil in the New Cosmos. For example, you can jump off a high cliff without it being a sin (suicide) because you cannot get hurt. Your angel will glide you down safely. 

nm756 >>  People with the New Mind and new body will have fewer social restrictions. Compared to today, their behavior will be more flexible because they do not see evil in as many places as those with the other-mind. Some of those of the other-mind see evil in the ankles of women, or in the wearing of red, or in having money, or in moderate drinking, or in other things that are not evil in, and of, themselves. Remember nothing God has made is evil in itself (Rom 14:14; Titus 1:15).

nm757 >>  People in the New Cosmos (new heavens and earth) with their new body of immortality will have fewer restrictions concerning their body because the body will be incapable of becoming diseased, will not age, cannot get pregnant, and will be truly beautiful to all. There will be no marriage in the New Cosmos between the new age people (Luke 20:35) because there will be no more child bearing. But if two agree to stay together as a couple for a million years or more, then this is, of course, alright. Relationships will last longer than any marriage ever lasted in the old age.

nm758 >>  Sexual intercourse in the old age foreshadowed two, the physical and spiritual, becoming one in the New Age. Sexual intercourse in the New Cosmos will be a memento of the creation, a reminder of the reason for the old age (see God Papers, Parts 5-7). 

nm759 >>  Remember, "love works no harm to his neighbor." When people receive the New Mind and the new body, and begin to live in the new creation, the Spiritual law of love is flexible enough to take the new situation into account. But written law on stone is not as flexible. 

_______________________________________
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength,
and with all your mind

Luke 10:27: He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

What does it mean to Love God with all you heart, soul, strength, and mind? Does it mean going to church once a week? Does it mean only loving your brother once a week? Does it mean only being nice once a week? Does it mean reading the Bible once a week? Does it mean we only pray in ritualistic ways only at scheduled times? No, if we are in the Spiritual Church: we go to church every day, every minute; we pray every day, every minute (Luke 18:1; 2 Thess 1:11); we love every day, every minute (1 Thess 5:15)
But how can we do that, you ask? We do it Spiritually. If we have the Spirit, if we have the New Mind, if we are Christians, we will be in Christ and Christ in us, that is, we will have the Spirit of Christ in us, and we will be in the Spirit: we will be ONE with Christ as Christ was one with his Father. (John 17:21; NM10: Spirit in all) We will be in continuous communication because we have the very Spirit of God. This does not mean we will get whatever we ask for. Why not? Because we will only get what God has willed for this age, what God has predestinated for this age. (Prayer) Everything was sent forth at the beginning: all came out of God, but all will return to God so that God will be all in all. (1 Cor 15:28; study the God Papers which goes through all the scripture pertaining to the God) 

There is a Great Cycle:

¶ gp571 The Great Cycle is the cycle of ALL coming out of the pre-creation Power at the beginning of creation, and the returning of the ALL, through Jesus Christ's Body, to this great Power by the end of creation. (The spiritual or antitypical creation is still going on.) For out of the One God, the Father, came all things. (1 Corinthians 8:6; see Rom 11:36; 1 Cor 11:12 ) All things will return to the Great God, the Father of ALL, through Jesus Christ. "Now all things out of the God, who has reconciled us to himself [Father] through Jesus Christ." (2 Cor 5:18) Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and mankind. (1 Tim 2:5-6) It is through Jesus Christ that all will come back into the God so that God will again be all in all (everything). (1 Cor 15:24-28) The Great God is using Jesus Christ to make all things new. (Quoted from, GP6: More on Great Cycle) 

BEING A CHRISTIAN IS NOT A PART-TIME OCCUPATION

If you love someone with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you love Him above anything else. How did Christ explain this:

Luke 14:26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.... 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. [Comment: We will give up all our old evil spiritual possessions and if need be our physical possessions and our very life if need be, as did Christ, as did the apostles and many others, as will the two witnesses.]

John 12:25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for aeonian life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Prov 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Mat 12:47 Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." 48 But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 And pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
We prove we are Spiritual brothers and sisters of Christ, if we do the will of the God. If we love one another, if we are tolerant with each other, if we forgive each other, if we love each other with the system of love, if we hate evil, if we hate our present life in this evil age (because it is evil), then we are the Spiritual brothers and sisters of Christ and we will be in his great soon coming Kingdom.

What is love according to Paul:

“Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Cor 13:4-8, NASB).

Love is Chart
Old Law v. New Law of Love