Apostolic Fathers: Didache
Chapter 2
1 And this is the second commandment of the teaching: 2 Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not commit sodomy. Do not practice sexual immorality. Do not steal. Do not practice magic or sorcery. Do not murder children by abortion nor give birth to them in order to put them to death. 3 Do not covet your neighbor's things. Do not swear falsely. Do not bear false witness. Do not speak evil. Do not remember evil. 4 Be not double-minded nor double-tongued, for death's snare is the doubled tongue. 5 Your word will not be false, not vain, but it will be done completely. 6 Do not be covetous, greedy, hypocritical, mean, or arrogant. Do not receive an evil plan against your neighbor. 7 Do not hate all men. Some you will rebuke. For some you will pray. Some you will love as your soul.
The second commandment of the Way of Life consists of a lifestyle molded by the Ten Commandments. Especially of note are the Second Commandment and the Second Table of the Law.
The greatest detriment to the Way of Life is being double-minded. Being double-minded always leads to being double-tongued. The double-minded try to bring two or more ideologies together to create one new whole.
This is not new. In the Apostolic Age, Gentile Christians sought to reconcile the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the pagan deities and worship from their former lives (1 Corinthians 8). Jewish Christians also sought to follow both the Mosaic law of the Old Testament as a faithful Jew and Jesus' teachings in the Gospels (Galatians 5:1-15; 6:15).
Jesus' words come back from the Sermon on the Mount: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). The double-minded will fall because they cannot uphold both sides of their thinking. The words that come from the double-minded lead to death.
God's Word is not and cannot be false. It cannot be rendered null or be spoken in vain. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).
The chapter ends with the injunction: “Do not hate all men.” This statement should not be taken in the manner that there are some that we are allowed to hate. Jesus calls us to love all people in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-48).
Christians are called to love all people, regardless of how they feel toward us. We are called to be children of God. God loves everyone—His children and His enemies. He seeks nothing more than that “all people [are] saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). To that end, God sends prophets and Apostles and pastors to “preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). The Teaching shows that each of these purposes are necessary in teaching and preaching. Some Christians need to be rebuked for their unrepentant sin and arrogance. This is most brilliantly drawn out by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-18.
The Church has been given the divine authority to forgive and retain sins (Matthew 18:18; John 20:23). This authority is one that is easy to explain but not easy to implement. In this postmodern age, we don't want to impose our values and beliefs on someone else. We don't want to accept that there is actual, objective truth and standards that all people are called to maintain. The Church is called by her Savior and Lord to point out the sin in the lives of all men but also to proclaim Jesus' forgiveness to those who repent.
For all people, there is the need for prayer (1 Timothy 2:1). Some will have a bit more immediate and tangible need for prayer than others. For all Christians, there is also the need for love. To “love as your soul” is the second great commandment of the Law (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39).