Jesus says in Matthew 22:34-40 that the 2nd greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18). The first is to love God with your heart soul and strength (Deut 6:4-5). 1 John 4:7-8 says that love comes from God and anyone that doesn’t love is not of God, for God is love. This means it is impossible to love God and hate your neighbor. The Great commission according to Matthew 28:18-20 is to teach all nations. The word nation in the new testament is translated from the Greek word ethnos (ἔθνος) which is where we get the English word ethnicity. This means that biblical nations aren’t specifically referring to nation-states but rather people groups (ethnicities). This goes back to the ethnic separation by language at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 10 and 11.
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