Is "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" a biblical statement?

But, returning to Matthew, we have the whole passage wound up by this word, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" (ver. 12). This is in no way dealing with men according to their ways, but the contrary. It is saying, as it were, "You who know the heavenly Father, who know what His grace to the evil is, you know what is comely in His sight; always act upon that. Never act merely according to what another does toward you, but according to what you would that another should do to you. If you have the slightest love in your heart, you would desire that they should act as children of your Father." Whatever another person may do, my business is to do to them what I would that they should do to me; namely, to act in a way becoming the child of a heavenly Father. "This is the law and the prophets." He is giving them exceeding breadth, extracting the essence of all that was blessed there. This was clearly the gracious wish of a soul that knew God, even under the law; and nothing less than this could be the ground of action before God.

How fitting it is, since the Father gives good things to those who ask Him, that this should have practical effect in our own lives. So verse 12 Indicates that, if we appreciate our Father's character, we shall show such kindness to others. How good to remember that we should act toward others in the way we desire them to act toward us. It will require serious exercise to watch that we are thoroughly fair in this matter, for we are too easily taken off guard by others acting wrongly toward us. This is no excuse for our doing the same. T he Lord was telling them nothing new, for the law and prophets spoke similarly yet only faith would respond to it.

The last verse goes into that which becomes the disciple with men, and lays down the simple but evidently sound principle, to do to others as we would have others do to us; and this too on no ground of human rights or natural benevolence, but of consistency with God's revealed will. "All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, thus also do ye to them; for this is the law and the prophets."

The law and the prophets here stand for the whole of the Old Testament and its teachings (compare other references: Luke 16:16; Acts 13:15). In contrast to what most of the scribes and Pharisees made out of it the Lord Jesus had come to display it in its fullness. In the next part of the sermon He had repeatedly pointed to the fact that the outward, apparent righteousness of the scribes was reprehensible. Most of what he said concerned his disciples' relationship to their fellowmen, and these teachings he summarises with the words: 'Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'

What a contrast to the well-known saying: 'Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you.' Even the Rabbis and the Greeks had a similar saying! It contains no more than the negative warning not to do evil to our fellowman. In contrast the Lord Jesus summarises his teaching by the positive command to do for one's fellowman all that we would like to receive ourselves. We can only do this in the strength of God's love. Paul later writes to the Romans: 'Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law' (Romans 13:10). This is also an encouragement for us to exercise godly love in order to be real disciples of our Lord.

'Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets' (verse 12). This verse which has been called the 'golden rule' of love does not only conclude the first paragraph of chapter 7 but also concludes the whole of the teaching which began in ch. 5:17 with the words of the Lord: 'Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.'

The 12th verse in this chapter is one of the most misapplied in the whole discourse of our Lord. "All things, therefore, whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, thus do ye also to them: for this is the law and the prophets." This, many professing Christians and others, who make no profession at all, call the golden rule. How many, Jews and Gentiles, have told us that this is the religion they believe in. It is even claimed that in the "sacred" books of the East, the religious products of Buddhism and Brahmanism, something similar is found. (Jews claim the same for the Talmud because Hillel taught "What thou wouldst not wish for thyself, do not unto thy neighbor. This is the whole law." -- Talmud, Sabb. 31.)

Yet with all this boast in a rule which they do not understand, no one keeps it nor would think of keeping it. The Lord gives this practical word to the true disciple. He who is born again is born of God. He has the nature of God and that is love. "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. ... Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:8 and 10). "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another" (1 John 3:11). "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). We see then that the terse saying our Lord puts in the chapter is not out of keeping with the whole. The outcome of intercourse with God spoken of in verses 7-11 will be, acting in love.

(4) The connection of the practical admonition following with this is surely of the same sort as that of what follows the prayer He has given to His disciples to one of the petitions in that prayer. If you realize this bounty of God, of which He has been speaking, you will practise bountifulness; the measure of your conduct to them will not be their actual conduct to you, but what you yourself would have desired it to be. Largeness of mind will be the result of living in the enjoyment of the King's bounty; and then; conversely, the practical conduct so inspired will react upon yourself, and help you to realize the conditions of successful prayer. A character thus formed will enable one to feel more the character of Him to whom we thus draw nigh. We understand Him as we arc assimilated to Him; and faith strengthens itself thus by that which it has itself developed.

But, moreover, "this is the law and the prophets." The new dispensation falls into the same line, as has been already said, with all that has been before it. The same God has been all through aiming at the same results; and while with each step of progress the means used may vary, the end is continually kept in sight and steadily approaches. The righteousness which the law had in view grace has brought in, and yet law and grace are contrasts.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask of him for a loaf, will give him a stone; and if he ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If therefore ye, being wicked, know to give good gifts to your children, how much rather shall your Father that is in the heavens give good things to those that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye desire that men should do to you, thus do ye also to them; for this is the law and the prophets" (Matt. 7:7-12).

154 Luke 6:31. — Cf., of course, Matthew's form of words (Matt 7:12), and also, Tobit, iv. 15. This golden rule was called by Hillel "the quintessence of the Law" (Pirgé Aboth); but he stated it negatively (Murray, "Christian Ethics," p. 66 f.), as did also the Chinese sage Kung-fu-tsé (Legge, "The Religions of China," pp. 137-139).

155 Luke 6:32. — "Thank," or "grace" (χάρις): Vulg. "gratia." Matthew (Matt. 5:46) has "reward," for which in verse 24 Luke has "consolation."

Then the Lord says, "Give to every man that asks of thee." It is no question of foolish prodigality, but of an open hand and heart to every call of need. "From him that takes away what is thine ask it not back." It is of all consequence that, as there should be the patient endurance of personal wrong — "unto him that smites thee on the cheek, offer also the other" — so there should be also the testimony that our life does not consist in the things which we possess. At the same time, He adds for our own guidance towards others, "As ye wish that men154 should do to you, do ye also to them in like manner: and if ye love those that love you, what thank155 is it to you? for even sinners love those that love them." To love those who love us is not the point for a Christian; it is a mere human principle — as the Lord emphatically says here, "sinners also love those that love them." It is not as in Matthew, publicans or Gentiles, but "sinners," according to the ordinary moral tone of Luke. This was true of man everywhere, and the word "sinner" has a great propriety and emphasis. Not only men, but bad men, may love those who love them. So, too, the doing good to those who do good to us is but a righteous return of which the evil are capable; as indeed lending, when they hope to borrow or to receive. Sinners do quite as much.155a But for us the word is "love your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great." Nor is the reward all. "And ye shall be sons of [the] Highest." How soon it was made their conscious relationship! Thus it becomes the desire and aim — to acquit ourselves according to the relationship grace has given us. "For he is good to the unthankful and wicked." How truly Divine! We ourselves are the witnesses of it in our unconverted days. "Hoping for nothing (μηδέν) in return": so W. H., etc., after ABLD, Latt., etc. Tischendorf adopted μηδένα (Revv. marg. "despairing of no man"), following ℵΞΠpm. Syrr. (sin.: "do not cease hope of men"). We cannot reason on the use of the word [ἀπελπίζειν] elsewhere in the N.T., for this is its only occurrence. What influenced the Revv. is the fact that the word occurs in Polybius in the sense of despairing or giving up in despair … But even Liddell and Scott furnish from Diog. L. i. 1-59, an instance of the modification, hoping that a thing will not happen. … Verbs compounded with ἀπὁ admit of flexibility enough in sense to cover the meaning attached to the word in our old and other versions. The question then mainly turns on the requirement of the context. And when one weighs verses 30-34 with care, it seems surprising that a sense so unnatural here should be attached to the word in verse 35. Especially consider the immediately preceding verse: what can be simpler than the converse call of grace, love, do good, lend, "hoping for nothing again"? (Cf. Luke 14:12.) What worthy sense in such a connection is there in "never despairing"? Does it mean that, whatever we may give thus unselfishly in faith, we are to have no fears of coming short for ourselves? If so, it seems needless, mean, and out of character with all the rest. Never despair because of giving or lending to others! Even a generous man might be beyond such fears, not to speak of a son of the Highest exhorted by the Only-begotten of the Father. And what here is the force of the margin "despairing of no man"? If the Revv. understand despairing of no man's honesty or gratitude in repayment, it seems quite contrary to the spirit of verse 30, not to mention that the sequel of verse 35 casts the believer wholly on God's great recompense [B.T.].156