Romans 8:3: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Benjamin Marx. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. When Jesus was baptized, he went under the water for us — so that he might represent us, and so that we might be with him forever. Who will set me free from the body of this death? Love Is the Fulfillment of the Law (What’s that mean, anyway? His was perfect. Romans 13:8–10: “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. There are two primary ways of being in a covenant with another person: through adoption and through marriage. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.â Love is indeed the fulfilling of the law. 2 Corinthians 5:21: “He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.”, Romans 3:20–22: “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. For this, ‘you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”, Galatians 5:13–18: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Fulfilling the law as per Matthew 5:17 does not mean to abolish. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”, 2 Corinthians 3:17–18: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt 40:37–40 NIV). Second, when the fulfilling of the Law is called “the law of Christ,” it means that our pursuit of love is guided and enabled by the life, word, and Spirit of Jesus Christ. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Love Is The Fulfillment of the Law November 5, 2016 John (HFJ Director) Leave a comment Many Christians understand the foundational principle that we are to love one another. Question: "What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law, but did not abolish it?" Paul the apostle tells his readers in Romans that love is the fulfillment of the law. Today we will examine what it means that love is the fulfillment of the law. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. Lots of strange names, foreign rulers, and two books (originally one!) (Romans 13:8-10) According to Matt. Instead, love is acting or not acting a certain way toward another person. That is, we will be in covenant with each other. The God who keeps watch over the nations, this God still speaks today. . This timeline may help sort through the Persian rulers, Jewish leaders, and events in…. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Instead, we pursue it by the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2). This love is not based on emotions, but an act of the will. In the modern West we are accustomed to contracts, not covenants. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love is what initiated God's redemption plan for us. PDF. Godâs laws show us how to love Him and how to love others. . 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. The Greek word for âfulfilâ used in verse 17 means to make full or to give full meaning. 9 The commandments, âYou shall not commit adultery,â âYou shall not murder,â âYou shall not steal,â âYou shall not covet,â[ a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: âLove your neighbor as yourself.â[ b] 10 Love does no harm to a ⦠Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Verse 8b: âFor the one who loves another has fulfilled (peplëröken) the law.â Other early Christians got the message. A Call to Fulfill the Law Through Love. . Love, then, is not about an emotional disposition; it is about acting in a certain way toward othersâa way that is consistent with the commandments laid out in the Law. Romans 13:10, KJV: 'Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.' And it is foundational for everything. They express His way of life, which is a way of love. But to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”, Romans 8:4: “So that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”, Galatians 5:22: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”, Galatians 5:13–16: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. . The Apostle Paul sums this up as neatly as any of them, in Romans 13:8-10: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law. Romans 13:10, ESV: 'Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.' Both Jesus and Paul are drawing on a common Old Testament way of understanding the concept of love that is rooted in the idea of covenants. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”, Romans 7:19: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”, Romans 7:23–25: “I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Or, in other words, love is the fulfillment of the Law. They have no joy. The principle here stated is beautifully worked out in 1Corinthians 13:4-7. In the Old Testament book of Exodus, God established a covenant relationship with Israel. In other words, the only law-keeping I depend on as the ground of my justification is Jesus’s law-keeping. He did give us a “new commandment” (“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another,” John 13:34). We don’t look alike and we share no DNA, but he will be forever my son and I his father. (10) Fulfilling of the law. Denying the image of God in all humans reduces people to things and creates a straight line to abuse, because at the root of abuse is the de-personing of a person. and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”. ), Matthew 7:12: “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”, Matthew 22:37–40: “And he said to him, ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. So if love is our motivation, we will be obeying and fulfilling Godâs law. First, when the fulfilling of the Law it is called the âlaw of libertyâ it means that as Christians we pursue love in liberty from law-keeping as the ground of our justification or the power of our sanctification. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. One last thing I draw your attention to, and youâll see it in verse 10. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. But this standard of love is the life and power of a person who indwells us by his Spirit. Love does no harm to its neighbor. is a question that one cannot avoid if one reads the entire Bible thoroughly, because in the Bible we find not only different forms and degrees of the law, but also many differences in how the law is applied and understood. Romans 8:4 does not say that the entire fulfillment of the law happens in us now. Author, editor, and lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at Ohio Theological Institute. Love, then, is not about an emotional disposition; it is about acting in a certain way toward others—a way that is consistent with the commandments laid out in the Law. The Day Is Near 11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. We’re on a mission to change that. This is the great and foremost commandment. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." But that’s not the point here. And therefore it is the new direction that the law was aiming at and what the new covenant promised. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.' The law gives instruction in the ways that one who loves will live. They have no promise. It means exactly what it says. 5&6 these commandments are either obeyed out of the motivations of our hearts or they are not obeyed at all. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.”, Romans 5:19: “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous.”. Where there is love, especially and really only Godâs love, there will be, can be and is joy. Second, my imperfect love is the first fruits of a final perfection that Christ will complete in me at his appearing. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary The aim of the law will be fulfilled more and more in your life. The Law is valid under the New Covenant when used âlawfullyâ according to Paul in 1 Timothy 1:8, but it cannot be followed apart from Christ. I review the book here. We sign a contract to buy a house, to play for a baseball team, or to pay a cell phone bill. The law of Christ is not a new list of behaviors without but a new Treasure and Master within. We pursue love as “the law of Christ” by looking to Christ as our all-sufficient righteousness, our all-satisfying Treasure, our all-providing Protection and Helper, and our all-wise counselor and guide. If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” (Compare Romans 7:4, 6. Russ is an author, editor, teacher, lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at Ohio Theological Institute. (Scholars call this fictive kinship.) A person can keep the law without loving. âThe form of the Greek word implies not only that love helps a man to fulfil the law, but that in the fact of the presence of love in his heart the law is actually fulfilled. But, because of our sin, the law does not impart life in this way (Galatians 3:21), but shuts us up to look away from law-keeping to Christ so that we might be justified by faith in him. Love Fulfills the Law - Love Fulfills the Law Verse - Love Fulfills the Law Truth - Love fulfills the Law study on Love fulfills the Law quote, Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law meaning, Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law explained, Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law summary, Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law message and how the Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law message affects your Christian walk. Now I believe that is true. .’ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”, Galatians 3:5: “So then, does he who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”, Galatians 5:6: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”, 1 Timothy 1:5: “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”, Romans 7:15: “I do not understand my own actions. Firstly, there is the most fundamental of all laws, the Ten Commandments. When we are obedient to the Holy Spirit, we manifest Godâs love and exhibit righteousness, which fulfills the law (Romans 13:8-10). The Bible instructs believers to examine themselves, but does it tell us to what extent or how often we should question our salvation? Just before that he gives a few examples from the book of Exodus: don’t steal, don’t murder, and “whatever other command there may be.” Jesus said something similar when he was asked what the greatest commandment was: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 13. For love is the great healer, and you can be great healers when you have great love. Pastor Andy Stanley recently published an article in Christianity Today called â Jesus Ended the Old Covenant Once and for All â which is based on the idea that to âfulfill the Lawâ means âto bring it to an end.â 1 An honest reader canât avoid noticing that this interpretation seems strained. In short, love as the fruit of faith, which exalts Christ, is what the law was aiming at. 13:7-8). It is self-sacrificing, deliberate, active love. Since when does God’s holy law and divine standard say, “Pretty good will do”? And you will magnify Christ in your life until he comes to complete the work he has begun. Here, the Apostle Paul makes the bold claim that loving oneâs neighbor is both a summary and fulfillment of the law when he says, âOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. But the difference between the law and love is that love works from the inside and the law works from the outside. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Galations 5:14: For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, âYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.â In both places, the idea is the opposite of âgetting rid of the lawââit really means to accomplish Godâs goal, to obey his will in the best possible way. Contracts, though, are different from covenants, because covenants create bonds of relationship between people that are treated the same as kinship bonds, or blood times. James 2:10–12: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. (Rom.13) Of course, this is referring to the second division of the Law -love for your fellow man and does not nullify Jesusâ teaching of the first part that the first Commandment to love the Lord is the greatest of them all. 5:14) If Paul is using first idiomatic sense of âfulfill the Torahâ (discussed in part 1), he is saying that love is the supreme interpretation of the Torahâthe ultimate summation of everything that God has taught in the Scriptures. How does all of this talk of suzerains and adoptions and covenants help us understand what Paul and Jesus mean when they talk about love fulfilling the law (whether love for God or love for others)? James 1:25: “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”. Romans 10:4: “The goal of the law is Christ for righteousness to everyone who believes” (my translation). 17âDo not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. They have no healing properties. Galatians 3:21–25: “If a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. Romans 3:19–22: “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Love does not hurt the person you love ("tough love" is horseshit). What does Paul mean in verse 4 when he says that the aim of Christ’s death is “that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”? The question today is very practical and tremendously important. Second, in the broader sense of the whole Pentateuch or the whole Old Testament, we may think of the law not merely as making demands, but as also providing a way for sinners to be justified by faith apart from works, and to please him by walking in love (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6). But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction.”, Romans 3:28: “We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”, Romans 4:4–5: “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. The Essence of the Law. Love in this context has nothing to do with an emotional response toward another person, such as being love or simply really liking someone. Likewise, if the suzerain fulfilled his responsibilities outlined in the covenant, then he was showing hesed, or loving, the vassal. So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”, Philippians 3:12: “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”. Charity never faileth" (1 Cor. . "What is the law?" . Love, then, is not about an emotional disposition; it is about acting in a certain way toward others—a way that is consistent with the commandments laid out in the Law. The law of liberty is the leading of the Spirit, and “where the Spirit is there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). The question we have to answer if we want to understand and apply what Paul and Jesus are saying is, “What does it mean to love?” Paul gives a hint when he supplies examples of love: love is not doing harmful things to another person. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:8-10) Love is an incredible thing. First, my imperfect love is, nevertheless, real God-dependent, Spirit-enabled, Christ-exalting love that is based on my justification and not a means to it. We realize that the law is part of Godâs word meant for our good. How can the law that is NOT void be ended that we also have to establish and be doers of? If we donât do everything we do with love, our actions have no meaning. Philippians 3:8–9: “More than that, I count all things to be loss . And so I will never have a whole life of perfection to offer God — not to all eternity. Three times in this text Paul says, more or less, that loving your neighbor as you love yourself fulfills the law. I heard his very words. These covenants include things like a statement of who the suzerain was, the responsibilities of the vassal (i.e., commandments), and blessings and curses for obedience or disobedience.[1]. Because Christ fulfilled the requirements of the law (Romans 5:5-8; 8:1-4), we are no longer under the external law of Moses. He spoke personally to me. What Does It Mean to Fulfill the Law in Romans 8:3-4, John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. We look to the Spirit of Christ for transformation so that love flows by power from within, not pressure from without. 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