Love Fulfills the Law

One of the things that the Lord has been pressing upon my heart these last several weeks is how love fulfills His law (His perfect standard, requirements, and will). “Every sin is a failure in love” (Elyse Fitzpatrick, Because He Loves Me). No wonder Jesus can say that to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself sums up the entirety of God’s law (Matthew 22:34-40; cf. Matthew 7:12). He said these were were the greatest commandment. The Apostle Paul says the same thing:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For 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.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10

And again:

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

This is incredibly hard for us. We love God and others far from perfectly. We tend to focus on our own little kingdoms and put our own desires, preferences, and needs before those of others. We are selfish to the core and selfish people don’t love others perfectly  (which is what God requires of us), no matter how hard we may try or desire. Which means – and this is the bad news – we constantly break God’s standard, storing up for ourselves His just wrath (Romans 2:5; John 3:36).

But, thankfully, there is good news. There is a remedy available purchased by God Himself. The Bible says He is love (1 John 4:8), and He showed His great love for us “in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus came to earth to live the perfectly life that we could not. He loved and served God perfectly and He loved and served others perfectly. He always put the needs of others before His own, so much so that He willingly gave His life to save people from sin and death and eternal punishment (which the Christian world will be celebrating next Sunday). Jesus Christ fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law, so that those of us who follow Him would have His perfect record of loving others credited to us (Romans 8:4). He loved God and others perfectly for us.

Now He commands us to imitate Him. He calls us to love as He loved (John 13:34). And how did He love? He loved sacrificially, humbling, and to the uttermost.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Romans 2:3-8

This is a high calling. But we are not to try to do it on our own. Those who know and love God have His Spirit in them, which gives them the desire and ability to obey His commands (Romans 8:9; Philippians 2:13). And this love that we display for God by loving others is an overflow of the work He has already done for and in us. We can love and serve others, we can consider their interests above our own, exactly because we have been loved, forgiven, adopted, accepted, and given a hope and future in Jesus Christ. We are secure in Him, so we have no need to be jealous or strive to make our name great or defend our reputation or fear rejection or failure because in Christ we have a new name, a new identity, an eternal home, and we have been forever accepted by God. This is what every human heart longs for ultimately – acceptance/belongingness, security, and purpose. If you are in Christ, you have all of those things and more (see Ephesians 1:3).

What does this look like? It varies depending on where you are and what you are doing on a daily basis, but at the bare-bones level, it simply means serving others, treating others the way you want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). One practical example, one in which I failed out, comes to mind. As the Lord was starting to bring all the above to my mind, He used a concrete example to burn it into my mind. I was driving to work one day and saw someone’s garbage can in the middle of the opposing lane. It was a windy day and the wind had rolled it out onto the road. I watched as cars swerved to go around it. Later, on my way home from work, the trash can was still in the road – this time in my lane. I watched as the two cars in front of me swerved to go around it. The thought “came” to me that I should pull over and move the trash can to the side of the road. I thought about it, but when the moment came, I drove around it instead. As I pondered my decision, I asked myself, “Is it okay that I didn’t move that trash can out of the way? Was it my responsibility to?” Then the Lord’s words came rushing to my mind about loving one’s neighbor and doing good to one’s neighbor, which fulfills the law. The question isn’t, “Is it my responsibility?”, but, “What is the most loving action here?” To which the answer would of course be: pull over and pick up the trash can.

Before ending, I would also like to point out that loving others is proof that we belong to God. If someone claims to know Christ, to be a Christian, and doesn’t show love to others (not perfectly, of course, but consistently), then it is questionable if he or she knows Christ at all. At least that is what the Apostle John says:

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:20

As our word grows colder and more selfish and loveless, the words of Christ will seem even truer:

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

The world will know that we are Christians by our love for one another. Thank God for His great love displayed most potently in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Take this week before Easter Sunday to meditate on this demonstration of God's great love (John 3:16).

Abounding and Astounding Grace

Today marks the 14th year since God opened my eyes to see the beauty of Jesus Christ and I, as a result, gave my life to Him (full story here). God has yet again arranged my schedule so that I could spend the day with Him. Daniel just “happens” to be away at a conference in St. Louis, so it’s just me and my Lord this afternoon and evening. I am glad God takes notice of these occasions even more than I do. :)
I have come such a long way since God saved me as a 17-year-old, but what I am continually learning is that I never outgrow my need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I need it daily. His life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven give hope and meaning (or at least it should) to everything I am and do. There have been many hard lessons in the last several years, but no matter if my life is peaceful or stormy, all of it is of grace. Jesus has just as much to teach me in the mundane and rocky seasons of life as He does in the sweet and exciting. All are of Him and under His control and all are a gift that are for my ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

I am currently reading a book by Elyse Fitzpatrick called Because He Loves Me. It’s rocking my world. The goal of the book is to help believers practically apply the gospel of Jesus Christ – His life, death, resurrection, and ascension – to their everyday lives. How does the gospel affect me while I’m stuck in traffic, when I’m entering a new situation, when I’m sweeping the floors, when I mess up, when I have a bad dream (as those have been rather frequent)? More often that not, I’m ashamed to say, it doesn’t. I often lose sight of the gospel during those times. I all too often focus on what’s around me instead of on God’s promises, which leads to frustration, complaining, impatience, self-pity, and a host of other sins that spew from my heart.

Yet, what I’m seeing in this book is that the gospel does really intersect our daily living (and it’s meant to). It is not an abstract reality. It’s not a one-time profession of belief. It’s to be remembered and believed daily, moment by moment. And that’s how much I need it: every moment of every day.

So even though I’ve been following Jesus for 14 years, I will never get passed these basic truths: I was a rebellious enemy of God who deserved His punishment, and God requires my sins be punished and He also requires that I be perfect. I am not perfect and could never measure up to God’s perfect standard. God knew this, so in His great love, mercy, and grace, He provided a way. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live the perfect life God required of me and to suffer the punishment that God required of me. Then three days later, God raised Jesus from the dead to show that His sacrificial death was accepted. Jesus then ascended into heaven where He now remains to intercede for those who believe in Him. He did everything. I bring nothing to the table except the sin that nailed Him to the cross.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy Cross I cling. Augustus M. Toplady, “Rock of Ages”

All that He requires of me, of us, is that I (we) believe, which is also from Him.

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” John 6:29
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

God is so gracious. I am coming out of a spiritually dry season. I was lost, so to speak. I was full of complaining and bitterness and self-pity and had totally lost sight of who God is and what He has done. But God in His grace pulled me up out of this muck and mire and set my feet upon a rock, filling my mouth with praise and heart with joy (Psalm 40:1-3). Jesus has been patiently teaching me about His great love and grace, softening my heart, and showing me His many good gifts that He daily lavishes upon me. The lessons have been sweet of late. Jesus has brought so much healing to my heart in recent months and has been restoring and strengthening my trust in Him. His grace really is astounding.Nothing compares to knowing Him.