The Law fulfilled in love.

Galatians 5:13-26 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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. ¹⁴ For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. ¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

In today’s text Paul says:  The whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”   There is truth to what he says, but it is not the whole truth.  In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus was asked and replied to a question about the greatest commandment.    “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”  Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’This is the first and great commandment.And the second is like it:‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”   It is important that we know and practice the whole truth. Before we can love our neighbor, we must love God. Otherwise we can only love with natural human love, with a love that includes human motives and emotions. Order is also important. Jesus says that loving God is the first and great commandment. The second is like it. 1 John 4:19, rightly says:  We love, because He first loved us.     We can only love God with our heart, soul and mind because He first loved us.  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)   God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)   It is only because God first loved us by sending Jesus, His Son, to die for our sins, that we can love God. Our heart, our soul and our minds are redeemed, renewed, restored and reconciled to God by and because of Jesus.   We love because He first loved us. Having received God’s love for us and then practicing love for God, we can then love others, as we ourselves have been loved. We can love them free from human emotion or motive, with pure and Godly love. That is the fulfillment of the law, to receive the love of God and respond to His love with love like His.

Paul continues with how we are to live and so how we are to love:   I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.   It is through God’s love demonstrated in the cross, that our flesh, our own desires are made subject to God’s desires. It is only through Jesus that we receive the Holy Spirit at all.    But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.      All of these things control and affect the way we love others if we do not love them with Godly love by first receiving and then reflecting His love. If though we are led by the Spirit which we have received through Christ, because of God’s love, then :    the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. We also do not allow the flesh to affect our love.

The world tries to dictate that we should love others and also how we should love them. But, they only know worldly, human love filled and affected by all the deeds of the flesh. They say that love is tolerance. In truth tolerance is closer to the opposite of love, than it is to true love. There is no need to tolerate someone or something that we love. We tolerate things we don’t like. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, when also speaking of Spiritual gifts, Paul describes what true love, Godly Spirit filled, Spirit led love is like.     Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.    Along with what love is and does, there are things that it is not and does not do. Godly love, the love that fulfills the law, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It does not act unbecomingly. That which fulfills God’s law will not tolerate or embrace; it will not love what violates God’s law.    

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  Amen.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for Your love demonstrated and given to us through Christ and the cross. Because of Your love, I can love You with a renewed, redeemed and restored heart, mind and soul. By Your Spirit I can love others with pure Godly and Spiritual love. May I live and walk by the Spirit of love, in love.   Amen.