John MacArthur on "The golden rule".

[pbc561]

Now in one sentence, right there in Ephesians 4:32, Paul summarizes the law of personal relationships. What is the law of personal relationships? Well, you've heard the golden rule, "do unto others before they do unto you?" No, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." That's nice. I don't mind the golden rule a bit. The biblical standard is higher than that. The biblical standard says "do unto others as Christ has done unto you." You see? "Do unto others as Christ has done unto you." You forgive others in the same way with the same magnanimous and total forgiveness that Christ exercised in your behalf.

Source: Forgive Because You're Forgiven (11/2/1975)

Is he overlooking Matt 7:12? I don't see why he speaks as if "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." is just "nice" in contrast to the "biblical standard" of Eph. 4:32. Am I missing something?

 

[InSlaveryToChrist]

D.A. Carson on Matthew 7:12:

12 The Golden Rule was not invented by Jesus; it is found in many forms in highly diverse settings. About AD 20, Rabbi Hillel, challenged by a Gentile to summarize the law in the short time the Gentile could stand on one leg, reportedly responded, "What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole law; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it" (b. Sabb. 31a). Apparently only Jesus phrased the rule positively. Thus stated, it is certainly more telling than its negative counterpart, for it speaks against sins of omission as well as sins of commission. The goats in 25:31-46 would be acquitted under the negative form of the rule but not under the form attributed to Jesus.
The oun ("therefore"; NIV, "so") might refer to vv.7-11 (i.e., because God gives good gifts, therefore Jesus' disciples should live by this rule as a function of gratitude) or to vv.1-6 (i.e., instead of judging others, we should treat them as we ourselves would want to be treated). But more probably it refers to the entire body of the sermon (5:17-7:12), for here there is a second reference to "the Law and the Prophets"; and this appears to form an envelope with 5:17-20. "Therefore," in the light of all I have taught about the true direction in which the OT law points, obey the Golden Rule, for this is (estin; NIV, "sums up") the Law and the Prophets (cf. Ro 13:9).
This way of putting it provides a powerful yet flexible maxim that helps us decide moral issues in a thousand cases without the need for multiplied case law. The rule is not arbitrary, without rational support, as in radical humanism; in Jesus' mind its rationale ("for") lies in its connection with revealed truth recorded in "the Law and the Prophets." The rule embraces quantity ("in everything") and quality (houtōs kai, "[do] even so"). And in the context of fulfilling the Scriptures, the rule provides a handy summary of the righteousness to be displayed in the kingdom.
Above all, this verse is not to be understood as a utilitarian maxim such as "Honesty pays." We are to do to others what we would have them do to us, not just because we expect the same in return, but because such conduct is the goal of the Law and the Prophets. The verb estin (NIV, "sums up") might properly be translated "fulfill," as in Acts 2:16. In the deepest sense, therefore, the rule is the Law and the Prophets in the same way the kingdom is the fulfillment of all that the Law and the Prophets foretold.