Topic: Love Fulfills the Law
Reading: Romans 13:8-10
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Introduction and Overview
There are more than six hundred and fifty laws in the Old Testament. No one is able to fulfill all of those laws, which is evident because the scripture tell us that all mankind has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (See Romans 3:23). The only one to ever uphold all of the law and to fulfill the law was Jesus.
One of the issues why mankind cannot keep God’s law is because we do not know how to love as God loves. We are unable to walk in His love by ourselves. Jesus walked in God’s love and because He was able to do so, He fulfilled the law (See Matthew 5:17). Love fulfills the law.
In Jesus we know that we are set free from sin and we have been set free from the law. But we have not been set free to do as we please. We are set free to remove sin and condemnation so that God can teach us how to love as He loved. We can learn from the law, even though we are not under it anymore, because we find God’s love in the law.
In these verses in Romans 13:8-10 we find that love fulfills the law. When we walk in the love of God, perfected in His will and His ways, we walk in a manner that fulfills the law just as Jesus did. Love fulfills the law and so nothing that is done in the love of God will oppose what is written in the law. There is no sin in God’s love and there is no condemnation because love fulfills the law.
Key points from reading:
- Learning to love one another is our obligation in Christ
- All God’s commandments are based upon love, so the commandments teach us about the love of God
- Love fulfills the law because the commandments are based upon love
Discussion:
- Scripture: Romans 13:8
- We have been set free from our former sins and we have been released from the law in Christ Jesus. You are no longer under the law when you have been baptised and believed in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is therefore no condemnation for those in Jesus Christ because there is no law to condemn us (See also Romans 8:1).
- However we do not reject the law just because we are no longer under it. The essence of the law is based upon teaching us how to love one another. The law tells us what the minimum requirements of God’s love are. So, the law can be a school teacher to help us understand the love of God.
- What we do have now is an obligation to Christ. Through His death and resurrection He has set us free of sin and removed the bondage of the law. We are obliged to Him therefore to follow His path and do as He says. But He does not lay a heavy obligation upon us. In this verse we are told to owe no-one anything except to love one another. This is our obligation to Christ and our fellow man. We have been set free from the law so that we can learn to love one another as God loves us, apart from the law, because love fulfills the law.
- Scripture: Romans 13:9
- As stated in the introduction, there are many laws in the Old Testament. In fact there are over six hundred and fifty laws that the people of Israel were required to keep, including ordinances for worship and what the priests had to do in service in the Temple. A great many of the laws dealt with relationships between people, as the few quoted in Romans 13:9 shows us.
- But as this verse tells us, all of those laws can be summed up in one sentence. “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” All of the laws can be boiled down to one word…Love.
- If a person steals from someone, or commits adultery against someone, or lies to someone, they are not showing love to them. Any form of evil committed to another is a rejection of God’s love and is sin under the law.
- But when we turn away from evil to help, assist, or aid someone else when they are in need, we are walking in God’s love, and His love fulfills the law.
- When it comes to our relationship with God, Jesus Christ and one another, love is the key to getting those relationships right. It’s not about keeping the statutes of the law, but doing what the law requires from the attitude of love. To understand how this works, there are two attitudes to how a person might keep God’s law.
- First, a person may do what a law requires out of fear of retribution. They are afraid that if the do wrong they will suffer the consequences of their wrongdoing. That attitude is based upon fear and retribution. It is not based upon love. It looks at doing what is right because there is a “big stick” that will come down heavily for failing to do what is right.
- But the second approach where love fulfills the law, is where a person does the right thing because they believe it is right. They recognise that doing right is always good, and always a better way than doing wrong. They understand that doing wrong will hurt others and that is not a good thing. They do right, because it is the right thing to do.
- The first approach is based on fear and retribution. It is self-centred and focuses on the pain that individual might suffer if they do wrong. There is no love in the first approach, only self-preservation. But the second approach is based upon love. It looks for the good for others. It looks to the needs of others and offers a way to lift them up, even at the expense of the person offering the assistance sometimes. Consider the Good Samaritan as an example (Read Luke 10:30-37).
- The second approach shows that love fulfills the law. It is expansive because it is caring for others and love covers all things. But the first approach isolates because it is about the reduction of suffering for self. There is no love in the first approach, only self interest.
- In both cases the law may have been kept, but the outcomes of how it was kept are vastly different. The first way was based upon works of the law, and we know Jesus and Paul showed that the simple works of the law were not sufficient, even though the law was being kept. But the second approach was based upon God’s love. It too fulfilled the law, but it did so with love.
- Scripture: Romans 13:10
- Finally we see that love fulfills the law because the law was intended to be based upon love. God’s love is woven into the law and throughout the breadth and extent of the law. Love should be the underpinning of everything we do. Even those who live under the law and have not yet realised the freedom from law in Jesus Christ ought to apply the law in the spirit of love, rather than fear and retribution.
- The essence of the love that underpins the law is contained in these words: Love does no wrong to a neighbour. And again, if you want to know who your neighbour is, read the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37. In that example we see that anyone and everyone is our neighbour. Anyone who needs help when we can provide it is our neighbour, and we should offer what assistance we can in the spirit of God’s love. That is, not for our benefit or to gain something in return, (I.e., not self-centred), but to help those who are in need for their benefit and their gain.
Prayer Points
- Pray for the understanding to act and behave in a manner where love fulfills the law in your life. Ask God to show you the difference between the approach of love versus the approach of fear and how the love approach is better.
- Pray also for those who are in need around you, and those who have need, and if it is within your abilities to do so, help them and show the love of God for their benefit and upbuilding.