What Every Man Knows

"Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD" (Jeremiah 9:24).

by Tom Stewart

What does every man know, according to the Scriptures?

"What saith the Scripture?" (Romans 4:3).

Man knows much more than he commonly admits.

ABC. 1-2-3.
• God is.
• He ought to be loved supremely.
• We ought to love our neighbour as ourselves.

First, man knows that God exists. "19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of Him from The Creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His Eternal Power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Romans 1:19-21).

Second, man comprehends that God must be loved supremely, for the Faithful Creator rewards those that diligently seek Him. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). God implicitly rewards all wholehearted seekers of Himself. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole Earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2Chronicles 16:9). This, then, is the foundation of God's Moral Law, that "thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the First and Great Commandment." (Matthew 22:37, 38).

Third, and finally, every man knows that he ought to love his neighbour as himself. "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matthew 22:39). God specifically defines sin as the "transgression of the Law" (1John 3:4), which would be not loving God supremely, and not loving man as an equal and a neighbour. Therefore, the Just God can never unfairly burden man with the responsibility of loving his neighbour on penalty of sin, if that obligation was not already understood. "For this is the Love of God, that we keep His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous [literally, burdensome, severe, or unbearable]" (Jn 5:3). Organized religion may or may not admit to the universal necessity of loving all men equally as you would yourself desire to be treated; but, God's precedence in loving us first, i.e., "God is love... He first loved us" (Jn 4:8, 19), makes it impossible for us to claim that we have never seen that love or an even greater love exercised, nor that we did not know to reciprocate that love back to Him, or duplicate that love to our neighbour. "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (Jn 4:7).