The one who loves another has fulfilled the law
Wed, 23 August, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Having completed the doctrinal section, Paul is now into the practical application section of the book of Romans. Now that we understand about our sinful condition, our need for a Savior, and what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, what should we do? How should we live? In today’s passage, Paul tells us that we should love our neighbors, and in doing so, we fulfill the law.
What do we learn from this?
Paul tells us that the second summary command (love your neighbor) sums up the second table of the law (commands 5 through 10 of the ten commandments). The first summary command (love God), sums up the first table (commands 1 through 4).
When we truly love our neighbor, we will not commit adultery, or murder, or steal, or covet that which is theirs. We will treat them with the love and respect we would like to receive.
Keep in mind that Jesus has explained to us in the Sermon on the Mount that we are not keeping the commands when we simply refrain from what is stated. The commands go way beyond bare minimum obedience. If I refrain from killing my neighbor but hate him, I have violated the command. If I don’t steal the possessions of my neighbor, but I slander him, I have stolen his reputation and have violated the command. Any time we do not show love to our neighbor, we are violating a command, and stand guilty before God.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The only one who ever perfectly loved his neighbor is Jesus Christ. The rest of us have all failed to a lesser or greater degree. We have all violated these commands regularly, for we have not been perfect in our love for our neighbor.
But thanks be to God, we can have the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ applied to us. He has been perfect on our behalf, and He offers us His complete obedience. As we are in Jesus Christ, God sees us as completely fulfilling the law.
