Nearly every adherent of every religion throughout history as well as those who claim to have no religion at all, hold to some form of what has come to be known as the “Golden Rule.” But as we’ll see this morning, the words of Jesus which form the basis for that belief are actually much more revolutionary and far-reaching than they appear on the surface.
As we continue our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, we’re only going to cover one verse this morning. Let’s all read that verse out loud together.
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12 (ESV)
I know that many of you are hoping that the length of the message this morning is going to be directly proportional to the amount of Scripture we’re covering. Unfortunately for you, that won’t be the case since there is more than enough in this one verse to occupy us for quite some time. In fact, in our Monday morning study this week, we had a hard time cutting things off after an hour of discussing this passage. We won’t go that long this morning, but we do want to take the time to mine the riches of what Jesus says here so that we can apply this principle in our day-to-day lives in the way that Jesus intends for us to do so.
Before we get into some of the details, let’s take a moment to put these words of Jesus into context.
Back near the beginning of His sermon, Jesus spoke these words:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Matthew 5:17 (ESV)
And then for the rest of chapter 5, all of chapter 6 and the first 11 versed of chapter 7, Jesus goes on to explain how He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets and how that is to impact the way that we live our lives as His followers.
In a sense, the verse that we’re looking at this morning is a one sentence summary of everything that Jesus has been teaching up to that point – thus the second reference in the Sermon on the Mount to “the Law and the Prophets”. Jesus is actually using a common Rabbinical teaching method here in employing what is technically referred to as an “inclusio”. The two references to “the Law and the Prophets” serve as “bookends” which envelope everything else between. And as we’ll discover this morning that technique is an important factor in helping us determine how to take and apply this passage as we follow Jesus.
As we’ll see next week, the verse that we’re looking at this morning really ends Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and beginning in the very next verse He is going to end the sermon with an invitation to respond to that teaching.
Even though the “Golden Rule” is very well known, even by those who know very little else of the Scriptures, I’m convinced that much of that knowledge is so superficial that many people miss the significance of what Jesus is teaching here. So I thought that the best approach to this passage this morning would be to take a look at what the “Golden Rule” is not as well as what it is.
THE “GOLDEN RULE”…
IS NOT – A prerequisite for salvation
Although Jesus certainly intended for the crowds to hear His teaching, we need to keep in mind that this entire sermon is primarily directed toward His followers – to those who were already citizens of the kingdom of heaven. So He is not saying here that in order to get into that kingdom one has to behave in this manner.
In fact, Jesus’ entire sermon has focused on the idea that we can never be made right with God through our external behavior because God is more concerned with our heart.
That was the lesson that Paul learned when He met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Up until that point, Paul had been zealous for God, doing all the things that He thought would earn him favor with God. But near the end of his ministry, Paul looked back on all the things that he had once done in order to earn favor with God – his heritage, his religious training, his zeal for God and his outward behavior – and described them like this:
… For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…
Philippians 3:8-9 (ESV)
Unfortunately our world is full of people who have been deceived into thinking that all they have to do in order to be right with God is to live by the Golden Rule. First of all, it is ludicrous to even think that it is possible to do that apart from our relationship with God. But even if that were somehow possible, Paul makes it clear that the kind of righteousness that makes us right with God is not our own righteousness that comes from our behavior, but rather the righteousness from God that comes through faith in Jesus alone.
So if the “Golden Rule” is not a prerequisite for salvation, what is it?
IS – A standard for those who are already citizens of the kingdom of heaven
This has been the entire focus of the Sermon on the Mount. From the opening beatitudes that describe the desired character of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven to the admonition to not be judgmental of others that we looked at last week, Jesus has been establishing a standard for His followers – those who are already citizens of His kingdom.
This has tremendous implications for those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus and who are His followers. Obviously, it means that this is the standard by which we will one day be measured by Jesus. As we have already seen, that judgment of believers is not for the purpose of determining our salvation since our sin has been covered once for all by the shed blood of Jesus. But, as believers, we will be judged by Jesus for the purpose of determining rewards and this will certainly be one of the standards that Jesus will use to make that judgment.
But beyond that, it also should impact the way we treat unbelievers. As we’ll explore more fully in a moment, we can’t expect them to live according to this standard and we therefore shouldn’t judge them according to this standard.
When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about judging the sin of Christ followers within the body, he also made it clear that we are not to judge those outside the body using the standards that Jesus has established for His followers:
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside…
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (ESV)
While, as we saw last week, it is appropriate for us to judge those within the body, using the standard of God’s Word, we are not to make that same kind of judgment with regards to those who are not citizens of the kingdom of heaven. That judgment is to be left up to God.
IS NOT – Conduct we can accomplish on our own
Even if we have committed our lives to Jesus, our sin nature still lives within us. That means that even if we have the desire to live by the “Golden Rule”, we do not have the ability to carry it out though our own efforts. Even Paul had to deal with that reality in his life:
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
Romans 7:18 (ESV)
In his flesh, Paul was not able to carry out that which he desired to do, including trying to live by the “Golden Rule”. That is because in our flesh, we are by nature selfish people who are only interested in looking out for ourselves. When Paul got ready to send Timothy to minister to the church in Philippi, he reminded Timothy of that nature:
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:19-21 (ESV)
Remember Paul is writing here about those in the church, not just unbelievers, when he describes them as all seeking their own interests. That is basic to the nature of man. And obviously seeking our own interests is the antithesis of the “Golden Rule.”
So, if as a result of our sinful, selfish nature, we are incapable of adhering this standard, yet Jesus commands us to live in that manner, how can we possibly be obedient in this area of our lives?
IS – Conduct enabled by our relationship with Jesus
A moment ago, we read Paul’s words in Romans 7 where he confesses that he doesn’t have the ability to carry out what he desires to do in obedience to Jesus. But fortunately for us, he doesn’t just leave it there. As Paul continues to write to fellow believers, he shows that it is possible to be obedient to Jesus when we depend on our relationship with Him and not our own efforts:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:5-11 (ESV)
Although it is our human nature to be selfish, Jesus can change that by changing our hearts. That’s why the standard imposed by the “Golden Rule” can only be fulfilled by those who possess the gift of God’s Spirit which they receive by trusting in Jesus. That is why, in spite of the sincere desire of many to live in this way, it just can’t be done apart from a relationship with Jesus.
And it is only as we “live according to the Spirit” by yielding our lives to God’s Holy Spirit moment by moment that we can treat others in the way that Jesus commands us to do here in the Sermon on the Mount.
IS NOT – A negative ethic compelled by fear
Almost every other religion has some form of the “Golden Rule”. In fact, Jesus’ audience would have been very familiar with the teaching of a Jewish Rabbi named Hillel. Jewish history records that a Gentile approached Rabbi Hillel and a rival teacher and promised that he would convert to Judaism if one of them could teach him the entire law while standing on one foot. So Rabbi Hillel said this:
Do not do to your fellow what you hate to have done to you. This is the whole law; the rest is explanation.
You’ll notice that Rabbi Hillel states this in a negative manner – “Do not do…” And if you examine the “Golden Rule” as it is taught by almost every other religion, you will find that it is almost always stated in a similar negative manner.
And when religion is taught in that negative manner - with a whole list of “Thou shall not’s” – it attempts to compel people to behave in a certain manner with the fear of the negative consequences that will occur if one fails to refrain from those activities. Here is how John contrasts a negative ethic compelled by fear with the positive ethic compelled by love that we’ll focus on in a moment:
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
1 John 4:18 (ESV)
But Jesus takes the negative teaching that was familiar to His audience and He turns it completely upside down by commanding us to follow a “Golden Rule” that…
IS – A positive ethic compelled by love
Jesus goes well beyond the accepted teaching of the day which urged people not do to something to someone else that they wouldn’t want someone else to do to them. That is why this teaching would have been so radical to Jesus’ audience.
This aspect of the “Golden Rule” is demonstrated most clearly by Jesus’ words earlier in the Sermon on the Mount:
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…
Matthew 5:38-45 (ESV)
Jesus does begin with a negative statement – “Do not resist the one who is evil…” But then almost everything else is stated in the positive – “turn the other cheek”, “let him have your cloak”, go with him two miles”, “Give to the one who begs”, “pray for those who persecute you”. And in verse 44, He makes it clear what is to compel those actions – we are to act in that manner out of love – in this case, even love for our enemies.
The only kind of love that will compel us to live according to the “Golden Rule” is the kind of selfless love that serves others for the sake of the one being served. It is a love that serves in the way we would like to be served by others. And most importantly of all, it is a love that serves in that manner regardless of whether we ever actually receive that kind of service from others.
What if someone were to come up to me and ask me if I love Mary and I responded, “Well I’ve never done anything bad to her.” First of all that would be a lie, because I know that there have been times in my life when I did say or do things that hurt her. But just suppose for a moment that I hadn’t done those things. Let’s suppose that I had never done anything bad to her. Would that convince anyone that I really loved her? Probably not. After all there are probably a lot of people have never done anything bad to her, but it certainly doesn’t mean that they love her.
But the real test of whether I really love my wife is what I have done to demonstrate my love for her. How have I served her with a self-sacrificial love that looks out for her best interests? How have I treated her in a way that I would want to be treated if I were in her shoes? And have I done those things regardless of how she treats me – which, just for the record, is consistently far better than I deserve.
The last two characteristics of the “Golden Rule” stem directly from these last two.
IS NOT – Passive
The “Golden Rule”, as we have seen, is much more than just not doing something. In fact, it is actually pretty easy to follow the negative versions of the “Golden Rule” that characterize most other religions. Anyone can keep that kind of rule by merely doing nothing. Even an inanimate object like my house or my car or my refrigerator can follow the rule if it merely consists of not doing anything I wouldn’t want done to me.
How many people do you know that say something like this: “Hey, I’m not such a bad person. I’ve never murdered anyone. I’ve never cheated on my wife. I’ve never robbed a bank.” But the “Golden Rule” is stated in such a way that it is clear that passive faith will never live up to God’s standard.
I have little doubt that James had the “Golden Rule” in mind when he penned these words:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:14-17 (ESV)
Cleary, in this case, it was not enough just to do nothing for the person in need. It was not adequate to merely, as Rabbi Hillel and others taught “Do not do to your fellow what you hate to have done to you.”
As James makes quite clear, that means that the “Golden Rule” therefore…
IS - Active
We shouldn’t be surprised that the command “do also to them” is in the present tense which means that we could accurately render it “keep on doing also to them”. It is clear here that adhering to the standard that Jesus establishes here for His followers requires us to be actively involved in the lives of others.
That is certainly consistent with the stewardship principles that we developed out of the Sermon on the Mount, particularly the need to invest our time, talents and treasures in the lives of others to help prepare them for eternity – a process we call discipleship. That is not something that can ever occur just by sitting back and making sure that we don’t do something to harm the other person.
We see this last aspect of the “Golden Rule” illustrated clearly in the field of medicine. We’re probably all familiar with one of the principal precepts of medical ethics which is summarized by the maxim, “First, do no harm.” Obviously, that is stated in the negative and it is passive.
And it’s okay if that is where my doctor begins. But frankly if he stops there, my health is going to suffer because I not only need my doctor to refrain from doing something that will harm me, I also need him to be active and do those positive things that will improve my health.
The same thing is true spiritually. It’s not enough to just “do no harm.” While that might be a good starting place, it will never achieve the kind of lifestyle that meets the standard that Jesus established for His followers with the “Golden Rule.”
It’s only one simple verse, but living according to the “Golden Rule” is not nearly as simple, is it? But as we yield our lives to God’s Holy Spirit and actively engage in serving others with love, it is indeed possible.
