To see the context, let us read first the entire passage in Matthew 7:1-12:
“(Verse 1) Judge not [or condemn not, see margin in New King James Bible], that you be not judged. (Verse 2) For with what judgment [or condemnation] you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. (Verse 3) And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? (Verse 4) Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ and look, a plank is in your own eye? (Verse 5) Hypocrite! First remove the speck from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Verse 6) Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
“(Verse 7) Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Verse 8) For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Verse 9) Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? (Verse 10) Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? (Verse 11) If you then, being 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! (Verse 12) Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Also note the parallel Scripture in Luke 6:31:
“And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”
The clause “the Law and the Prophets” in Matthew 7:12 is oftentimes used as a summary term for the entire Old Testament; sometimes the word “psalms” or “writings” is added as well. (Notice Luke 24:44, 26-27; 18:31.)
For instance, Christ stated in Matthew 5:17 that He had NOT come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill—to magnify the Law, to exalt it and to make it more honorable (Isaiah 42:21), to fill it up with its intended meaning, to show how to keep it perfectly in the flesh. The Greek word for “fulfill” is “pleroo.” It literally means “to fill” or “to make full” (Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible). In Matthew 3:15 it is used in this context: “…it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
In addition, the word “Law” is also used many times as a summary term for the Ten Commandments, by dividing our duty towards God (which duty was written on the first tablet of the two tablets, containing the first four commandments of the Ten Commandments) with our duty towards neighbor (which duty was written on the second tablet in the form of the last six commandments). The Law of the Ten Commandments tells us how to love God and neighbor. The first four commandments describe our love towards God, and the last six commandments describe our love towards neighbor.
We discussed the concept of the “Law,” being a summary term for the Ten Commandments, in a Q&A on Romans 13:8. Limiting our quotes to Paul’s statement that we must fulfill our debt of loving one another (“… owe no one anything except to love one another,”), we stated this:
“When we love our neighbor, we fulfill the law of the last six of the Ten Commandments, which deal with our relationship with our neighbor. The last six of the Ten Commandments define for us HOW to love our neighbor, and how NOT to do him any harm… when we love our neighbor by keeping the last six of the Ten Commandments, then we fulfill or DO the law. And when we break just one of these commandments, as the apostle James says, then we have broken them all (James 2:8-11).”
We also stated this:
“Regarding our general duties toward one another, we read in Proverbs 3:27-28: ‘Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,” When you have it with you.’ Compare Galatians 6:10 and James 2:15-16.
“In light of this, true servants of God should have the attitude, that loving conduct towards others is their duty, obligation and debt. Christ said in Luke 17:9-10: ‘Does he [the master] thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.”’
“… we are always indebted to others to love them and show our love to them. We do this by keeping God’s law from the heart. It is His Law which defines for us what is and what is not true godly love…”
In our free booklet, “Paul’s Letter to the Galatians”: we wrote about Galatians 5:14:
“‘(Verse 14) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’
“Having introduced in the previous verse ‘love,’ which IS the keeping of God’s commandments (1 John 5:3), Paul continues to summarize the law as love toward neighbor. He speaks of ‘all the law,’ as it relates to our relationship with man… The last six of the Ten Commandments show us how to love our neighbor. In Romans 13:8–10, Paul writes: ‘Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, 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. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.’
“Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible states regarding Romans 13:8: ‘Love is a debt… it is a sin not only to devise evil against thy neighbour, but to withhold good from those to whom it is due; both are forbidden together… This proves that love is the fulfilling of the law… Love is a living active principle of OBEDIENCE to the whole law.’
“The New Bible Commentary: Revised, agrees, stating: ‘This conclusion does not invalidate the Ten Commandments in the interest of a nebulous, existential “Love, and do as you please”… Love… is the spirit in which we are to keep the law; but we need the law’s particulars and prescriptions to give body and definition…’
“John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible writes: ‘… he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law… of the decalogue; that part of it particularly which relates to the neighbour; the second table of the law… for fulfilling the law means DOING it, or acting according to it; and so far as a man loves, so far he fulfils, that is, DOES it…’”
In this light, we will proceed to explain what Christ meant when He said that it “is the Law and the Prophets” to DO to others whatever we want them to do to us. Christ talked about helping others (in Matthew 7:11), making the point that when even carnal people help their children when they ask them, how much more should we ask God to give us “good things” and especially His Holy Spirit (compare Luke 11:13), bestowing on us His love (Romans 5:5) which, in the context of Matthew 7, enables us to love our neighbor even more perfectly. Also, Christ had just addressed the fact that we must not have a spirit of condemnation (Matthew 7:1-2), admonishing us to look at ourselves first before we try to “help” others (verses 3-5). He also cautioned us against “helping” those (in physical or spiritual ways) who would reject that help (verse 6).
All of this shows how to love our neighbor, as this is how we would want to be treated by our neighbor. We would not want to be condemned by him for our faults, while he is committing great sins; nor would we want to be left destitute when we are in need of help.
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible writes about Matthew 7:12: “This is the law and the prophets – That is, this is the sum or substance of the Old Testament. It is nowhere found in so many words, but it is a summary expression of [what] the law required.”
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary adds: “… for this is the law and the prophets—‘This is the substance of all relative duty; all Scripture in a nutshell.’ Incomparable summary! How well called ‘the royal law!’ (Jas 2:8; compare Ro 13:9)…”
The Matthew Poole’s Commentary writes: “This precept containeth in it the substance of all that is to be found in the books of the law and the prophets which concerneth us in reference to others, the sum of the second table, which requireth… justice and charity. Christ doth not say, this is all the law and the prophets, but this is the law and the prophets…”
The Pulpit Commentary explains:
“… Verse 12. ‘Therefore.’ Summing up the lesson of vers. 1-11… ‘For this is the law and the prophets.’ For this. This principle of action and mode of life is, in fact, the sum of all Bible teaching (cf. Leviticus 19:18)… with its necessary limitation to the second table, in Matthew 22:40 (cf. Romans 13:10).”
As mentioned before, Isaiah 42:21 tells us that Christ came to exalt the Law and make it more honorable, explaining the spirit and intent of the Law, and showing by His example that we can keep it from the heart and in its ultimate and perfect sense, as God’s Holy Spirit of love has been poured out into our hearts. Our new free booklet, “God’s Law… or God’s Grace” explains this misunderstood topic in great detail.
The concepts of loving neighbor, as mentioned in Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31, are of course mentioned throughout the Law (the five books of Moses) and the Prophets (the former prophets such as Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings and the latter prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the twelve minor prophets). [For the correct breakdown of the Old Testament Scriptures, see our free booklet, “The Authority of the Bible,” chapter 14, page 79]. But Jesus points out in His brief statement and with a few examples the ESSENTIAL teaching of the Law and the Prophets (and by extension, the Psalms or the “writings”), in respect to loving our neighbor: “DO to them as you would have them do to you.”
That says it all. If you don’t want to be killed, then don’t kill. If you want to be saved by others, then save them, if you can, when they are in need. If you don’t want your neighbor to lie to you, but tell you the truth, then don’t lie to him, but tell him the truth (cp. Ephesians 4:25). If you don’t want to be robbed, but rather receive help, then don’t rob and steal from your neighbor, but rather, give him if he has need (Ephesians 4:28). If you are a parent and want your children to treat you with respect, then treat your parents with respect. If you are married and don’t want your neighbor to commit adultery with your wife, then don’t commit adultery with your neighbor’s wife, but do the right thing by avoiding evil situations which could tempt you to sin. And if you don’t want your neighbor to be envious of your possessions and desire them (and show by his conduct HOW MUCH he desires them), then don’t be envious of your neighbor’s possessions and don’t desire what he has; but rather, enjoy that your neighbor has been blessed with possessions and show him your joy.
Focusing again on the examples in Matthew 7:1-12, if you want to be helped in time of need, then help others in their time of need. And if you don’t want to be condemned for your sins which you commit (and sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John 3:4), then do not condemn others for their sins, but rather, show them mercy and help them in the right way and with a humble heart to find again the right path of overcoming and to “restore” them in the faith (Galatians 6:1-5). Because THIS is the teaching of the Law and the Prophets.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
