Wednesday: Love One Another
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). How are we to understand this text? Does it mean that if we love, we have no obligation, then, to obey the law of God?
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As Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount, Paul here amplifies the precepts of the law, showing that love must be the motivating power behind all that we do. Because the law is a transcript of the character of God, and God is love, to love, therefore, is to fulfill the law. Yet, Paul is not substituting some vague standard of love for the precisely detailed precepts of the law, as some Christians claim. The moral law is still binding, because, again, it is what points out sin – and who is going to deny the reality of sin? However, the law truly can be kept only in the context of love. Remember, some of those who brought Christ to the cross then ran home to keep the law!
Which commandments did Paul cite as examples that illustrate the principle of love in law-keeping? Why these in particular? Rom. 13:9-10.
Interestingly, the factor of love was not a newly introduced principle. By quoting Leviticus 19:18, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” Paul shows that the principle was an integral part of the Old Testament system. Again Paul appeals to the Old Testament to support his gospel preaching. Some argue from these texts that Paul is teaching that only the few commandments mentioned here are in effect. If so, does this mean, then, that Christians can dishonor their parents, worship idols, and have other gods before the Lord? Of course not.
Look at the context here. Paul is dealing with how we relate to one another. He is dealing with personal relationships, which is why he specifies the commandments that center on these relationships. His argument certainly shouldn’t be construed as nullifying the rest of the law. (see Acts 15:20, 1 Thess. 1:9, 1 John 5:21). Besides, as the New Testament writers point out, by showing love to others, we show our love to God (Matt. 25:40; 1 John 4:20-21).
| Think about your relationship with God and how it is reflected in your relationships with others. How big a factor is love in those relationships? How can you learn to love others the way God loves us? What stands in your way of doing just that? |
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The story of the two sons, the one son repented of his disobedience and went and worked in his father's vineyard. His brother was disobedient and deceitful, he never worked in the vineyard but he did lie about it.
Jesus Christ makes it clear in many other passages and most emphatically in his example - obedience is the touchstone of faithfulness. Paul and Jesus are saying exactly the same thing: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." -- "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
Love is the fulfillment of the law
The fact that the principle of love comes through once again as it always does,once again points out the lack of love there is amongst us as a church!We need to take heed of such and practise this love that we are always taught about in these great lessons.
I am sure that we could all love a lot more. However, I have worked for the Seventh-day Adventist Church for over 40 years and have seen some remarkable examples of love, tolerance and understanding. God is at work among us and our church members do respond with love.
My friend, was lost her love to her husband after more than 20-years being married, because of negative thoughts that she keeps put in her mind. But her husband keep loving her, as he says, they both vows marriage for life, whatever it may be. It is sacred and must be keep. Love is God, God is love. Lets not dwell to the modern world of marriaging in the same sex, rampant broken relationship because of so modern called divorce which are all architect by satan. Praise God always as He love us first, lets give love ,too.
We live in a difficult time in history, Satan knows his time is short. It seems we need to be totally connected to Jesus, daily, and let Him be in control of our lives. We can not manufacture love, it only is given to us by the grace of God and our relationship to Him. I hope and pray that no matter what happens in my life that I stay connected to my Savior.
God has loved us with infinite love. Therefore He desires that we show love to our fellows. By doing so we fulfill the will of God as God has demonstrated. The moral law binds all human race. it our duty to respond to God's love by obeying Him.
Love is the center of all christianity! Because God is love! Love makes everything perfect!!!
Perhaps the antinomianism expressed by some Christians is due, in part, to two things: First, the idea that love is a feeling of warm fuzzies. If you don’t have feelings of animosity toward someone, it is possible to imagine that he is part of your great “love” for humanity in general. Second, a failure on the part of some Christians to realize that it is the second person of the triune God who spoke the worlds into existence and through whom God’s will was communicated to the Hebrew patriarchs and prophets of antiquity. To some Christians, unless a specific command (commandment) is recorded as having been spoken by Jesus AFTER his incarnation, it isn’t perceived as being included in what Jesus meant by “my commandments”.
I was once asked to teach an adult methodist Sunday school class. After services the first week I taught the class, one of the members spoke to me privately, “You don’t need to bother to quote from the old testament; We’re a new testament church.”
I didn’t change my outline one bit but, from then on, whenever I quoted from the Hebrew Bible, I showed the members of the class where Jesus or one of the apostles had quoted that same Bible text.
After I taught the class for three months, the person who had told me, “We’re a new testament church”, resumed teaching the class and I sat in on his teaching. Imagine my gratification to hear him quoting from the Hebrew Bible as authority!
Amen Roger, God is using you in a mighty way as His light on a hill for others.
The Apostle Paul precedes his counsel to "Love one another..." by the counsel to "Owe no one anything." In other words, we show our love to each other by being faithful with any debts we may have accrued to them also.
Glad to see someone post on practical matters involving money.
A very prominent Christian mentioned on the radio about so many people affected by the "culture of debt" in America. USA has a national debt of $20 trillion.
"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." Prov 22:7
How many spend money on their wants instead of their needs?
Debt can be a result of unrestrained coveting. (10th commandment)
Indebtedness itself is not the problem. I own a house and did not have the money to buy it. So I took out a mortgage and paid it off. I went into debt with my eyes wide open, understanding the factors that affect mortgages and taking the appropriate precautions. For better or worse, that system is a fact of life for many of us.
There are two main areas where indebtness becomes an issue:
1. Where people become indebted to the extent that they cannot possibly pay it off. It is easy to dismiss people who do this as financially stupid but I have seen highly intelligent people do this. In today's materialistic world we may need to reevaluate our goals, putting other things and people first.
2 Indebtedness as a control mechanism. This is where the use of debt is used to control other people. I have seen this at both the personal and national levels.
There is another form of indebtedness that we should consider as well. Social indebtedness is where a person is in debt to another person for favours given. In out modern Internet society, we see this form of control being used in social media like Facebook. Perhaps Rom 13: 8 has more to do with this aspect of indebtedness than money.
With regard to the point about love being the fulfillment of the law, Ellen White helps us understand this concept when she speaks of the "circuit of beneficence" that (a) "represents the character of the great Giver" and (b) is "the law of life" - including "in heaven" (DA p 21).
What does this mean? Firstly, all law/s are principles of consistency - meaning that if A happens, B will always follow in consequence. Health laws, physics laws, mathematical laws, and yes even moral law/s - all are principles that create order and make life possible. Without these laws, life would be chaos and therefore not possible.
Secondly, these laws are all underpinned by a foundational principle - the principle that Ellen White refers to as the "circuit of beneficence". This circuit of beneficence is the principle of giving - and is synonymous with Agape love.
So if we put these 2 things together, we have an underpinning principle of giving-focused, or other-centered love that is the foundational nature of all laws that make reality possible. Thus, love is the fulfillment of the law because all law/s are based on the principle of love - the 'circuit of beneficence' - the 'law of life'. When all laws are in operation as they are designed to be, a life of harmony is the inevitable result (this is how life is currently experienced beyond our world/universe - and how it will one day again be experienced on the New Earth).
(For a more detailed description of the circuit of beneficence and how it works into all reality, read Desire of Ages pgs 20 & 21).