Love your Neighbour as Yourself | Living the Royal Law (Galatians 5:11-15)

Topic: Love your Neighbour as Yourself | Living the Royal Law

Reading: Galatians 5:11-15

11 But if I, brethren, still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves! 13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another.

Introduction and Overview

How should you live as a Christian? What does walking in Christ look like?

In the previous posts we have seen that it is not about keeping the works of the law. In fact the works of the law, or trying to be justified by works of law will get in the way. They do not bring us closer to God but actually separate us from Christ.

But here we see that the whole law is fulfilled by the one statement, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus made a similar statement stating that this was the second law greatest of all the laws, after loving God with all your heart, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28-31).

James also described the words, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” as the Royal Law (James 2:8). The importance of these words and what they meant cannot be underestimated.

In truth, walking with and in Christ Jesus is the fulfilling of this royal law. To love your neighbour as yourself is the fulfilling of all of the law, as the scripture in Galatians 5 above tells us. When we love one another, then we fulfil the law because the essence of the law defines what true love is. We love God as He loves us, and we love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

To love your neighbour as yourself defines what the walk as a Christian looks like. Thus we must learn the essence of love, and do it.

Key points from reading:

Bickering and back-biting is not an act of love and it will destroy Christians
We are called to freedom, not to do as we please, but to walk in love
Love is the fulfilling of the law

Discussion:

Scripture: Galatians 5:11 – The stumbling block

Paul makes the point here that if he were still preaching works of the law, then he would not be suffering persecution. Who was it that was persecuting him? It was the teachers, proponents, and adherents of the law who could not and would not accept the freedom from law given through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The effect of the death and resurrection of Jesus was a great stumbling block for the Jews. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, the Old Covenant of bondage under the law was superseded by the New Covenant and freedom and grace. Through the New Covenant and faith in the resurrection of Christ, God declares His people righteous when they believe in the power of God to raise the dead.
The basis of the New Covenant was founded on the things of the spirit; love, joy, mercy, compassion, faith, and so on. It was not about doing the works of the law, but believing and hoping in the power of God to save.
And the essence of the New Covenant was learning to love God as He loved us. The law was removed, but the essence of the law, especially to love your neighbour as yourself remained as a guiding principle. It was no longer a law to be condemned by if you failed to keep it. Instead it is a principle of life as a Christian to guide behaviour and action. Rather than a law, it becomes the way we live in Christ, as we learn to walk in the Spirit with Christ.

Scripture: Galatians 5:12 – Removing the opposition to Christ

The translation of this verse is not very good. The word translated as “mutilate” basically means to “cut off.” Paul is saying that he wishes those who were unsettling the new Christians with Old Covenant law teachings would “cut themselves off,” or separate themselves from the new Christians.
No significant change comes without opposition. Moving from the ways of the Old Covenant to the life under the New Covenant is no different. There will always be opposition and those who will be zealous for the old ways and stand opposed to any who choose the new.
In moving to the New Covenant there are those who still hold fast to the Old Covenant laws. They stick to the law because it is tangible. There are acts to be done, forms of worship, works that define aspects of the law, and swift condemnation for those who fail to keep it.
Although they accept the principle of love defined in the law by the statements like, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” such things are harder to see and pin down. It is easier to sacrifice, fast, tithe, abstain from certain foods and drink, and to do or not do certain things in alignment with the law.
They reject those who seek to live under the New Covenant and push the law onto them at every opportunity. This is why Paul says in this verse he wishes they would cut themselves off.
And when we find those who push Old Covenant teachings today, and they still do, we should likewise separate ourselves from them.
You cannot live under the Old Covenant of bondage to the law at the same time as you live in the New Covenant of freedom from sin and freedom from the law delivered by Jesus Christ. How can you live in bondage and freedom at the same time? It is like oil and water. They don’t mix and are best kept apart so they do not pollute one another. Separate them and keep them separate. Both are good in their own right, as too are the Old and New Covenants. But they do not and should not mix.

Scripture: Galatians 5:13 – Fulfilling the Royal Law

In the New Covenant we are set free from the law. We have been set free from the law, not to do whatever we please, but to learn to do what is right.
We are called to learn to love one another as God loves us. We are called to learn how to love your neighbour as yourself. The freedom that Christ gives us allows us to focus on the things of the spirit rather than points of law that focus on the flesh. Life in Christ is not about the things of the flesh. It is all about a new life in the Spirit, where we learn to walk as Christ walked. We are being transformed into the image of Christ, and this is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
We have been released from sin and the law so that God can help us find the path of truth. God will not help a person who is a sinner. But by removing our sin and setting us free from the law that condemns us as sinners, He is prepared to help those who come to Christ to learn His ways.
The law judges and condemns, and it stands in the way. Sin stands between man and God, and it was because of sin that God gave up on man, which we see in Romans chapter 1.
But when God sets us free through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, all of those barriers that stand between God and man are removed. He gives us freedom so that we can learn His ways, which are not based upon law, but are based upon love.

Scripture: Galatians 5:14-15 – Love your neighbour as yourself

When you learn to love your neighbour as yourself, you are learning the ways of the God of love.
This is the purpose of the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. We are not set free for our own purposes, but for the purposes of seeking and finding the love of God. And learning to love your neighbour as yourself epitomises the love of God that He has for us.
We are to learn not to be self-centred, but to consider others first. This is the essence of the words, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” As you read these words note that the focus is not on yourself. The words focus on your neighbour.
Nobody truly hates themselves. Sure, sometimes people say they hate themselves, but nobody in their right mind actively works for their own self-destruction. Someone who is mentally ill may do things that are self-destructive, but any normal person would never do such things.
We look after ourselves because we can do nothing less. No-one inflicts pain or harm to themselves willingly, but they care for themselves and nourish the body God has given them because life is important.
When we transfer that same loving care to others, we will love your neighbour as yourself. We desire to see good in and for others. We seek their betterment and not their hurt. Jesus even extended this love for your neighbour to include those we might consider our enemies, saying “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45)
We show love to all mankind because that is what God does. Jesus loved all mankind and did good to all, even those who persecuted Him. Recall His actions when He was arrested in the garden. One of His followers cut off the ear of one of the persecutors, the slave of the High Priest, who was among those who arrested Him. But Jesus showed His love and healed the man’s ear in the middle of His arrest (Luke 22:47-51).
The other point that comes out of this last verse in Galatians 5:15 is how important it is that we learn to get along with one another. This is especially true of the members of the church who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Too often I have heard of people leaving a church because there has been gossip and slander among the members. Cliques form and there is back-biting against members of the body causing nothing but hurt and destruction.
This is not the work of God. Those who judge cruelly and gossip to the destruction of others are not walking as Christ walked. And they do so to their own destruction.
Such actions and words do not show the love of God. They do not fulfill the royal law to love your neighbour as yourself. They are not works of the Spirit but are the evil works of the flesh.
Avoid such actions. And call out those who do them for their benefit and to promote unity in the body. The body of Christ cannot function as it should when there is infighting and back-biting. It leads only to destruction, not the love of God. The motivations of those who back-bite and gossip are not noble, they are based in pride and arrogance and these are the works of the devil. Avoid them.

Prayer Points:

Pray and ask the Lord God to help you to avoid the godless chatter and gossip that sometimes plagues the church so that you can learn to love your neighbour as yourself.
Ask God to help you understand the needs of others and to help them through acts of love.
Pray for the humility to love your neighbour as yourself so that you can walk in the love of God and of Jesus Christ, who loved you and I to the point of giving His life for us.