Christ emphatically denies that the principle set forth in the golden rule is something new; it is the very essence of the law, as given through Moses (the Torah), and what the prophets wrote; in other words, of the entire OT (see on Matt. 5:17; Luke 24:44). He who assigns the law of love to the NT alone, and relegates the OT to the oblivion of a worn-out religious system, makes himself a critic of the Master, who specifically declared that He came with no thought of changing the great principles set forth in “the law, or the prophets” (see on Matt. 5:17, 18; Luke 24:27, 44). The entire Sermon on the Mount, from Matt. 5:20 to 7:11, is illustrative of this great truth. Having stated that He did not come to abolish the teachings of Moses and the prophets, Christ set forth in detail His attitude toward the law by magnifying it and making it honorable (see Isa. 42:21).

 See on Matt. 7:7; cf. Luke 6:31. The way in which the Christian treats his fellow men is the acid test of the genuineness of his religion (1 John 4:20; cf. Matt. 25:31-46).

 The golden rule summarizes the obligations of the second table of the Decalogue, and is another statement of the great principle of loving our neighbor (see Matt. 19:16-19; 22:39, 40; cf. 1 John 4:21). Only those who make the golden rule their law of life and practice can expect admission to the kingdom of glory. Our attitude toward our fellow men is an infallible index of our attitude toward God (see 1 John 3:14-16).

 Profound thinkers of other times and other cultures have discovered and stated the sublime truth expressed in the golden rule, generally, however, in a negative form. For example, to Hillel, most revered rabbi of the generation before Jesus, these words are credited: “‘What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof’” (Talmud Shabbath 31a, Soncino ed., p. 140). The golden rule also appears in the Apocryphal book of Tobit (ch. 4:15): “Do that to no man which thou hatest,” and in the Letter of Aristeas (ed. and tr. by Moses Hadas, p. 181): “‘Just as you do not wish evils to befall you, but to participate in all that is good, so you should deal with those subject to you and with offenders.’”

 It is worthy of note that Jesus transformed a negative precept into a positive one. Herein lies the essential difference between Christianity and all false religious systems, and between true Christianity and that which consists in the form of religion but denies the vital power of the gospel. The golden rule takes supreme selfishness, what we would like others to do for us, and transforms it into supreme selflessness, what we are to do for others. This is the glory of Christianity. This is the life of Christ lived out in those who follow Him and bear His name (see on ch. 5:48).