Love from the Law

I have been teaching through Galatians in my Sunday Morning Bible study for the past few weeks and yesterday went quickly through chapter 5, where Paul introduces the familiar passage we all know as the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  Last night, I woke up in the wee-hours and could not get this one thought out of my mind, so I got up and wrote it down. 

So, Paul is talking about the law and how it is not effective.   He is a lawyer who grew up on this stuff, and now he is making a case against the law.  Why?  Because Jesus kept the law completely and His act of sacrifice is sufficient in every way to save all who are drawn to Him completely.

I talked about how the law, in particular, Leviticus, is overwhelming.  There are so many details of the law that are expounded in this book, located in the middle of the biblical section called the Pentateuch or the Five Books of the Law.  Well, Paul quotes a verse from Leviticus in Galatians 5:14, when he says, “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Leviticus 19:18b) So, this amazing quote is a tiny little line, a subtext of laws regarding moral and ceremonial laws.  It is the antithesis to the first part of the verse where Moses wrote, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people.” 

Paul notices not the LAW of the Law, but the whole sum of the Law in this little answer to the legal imperative.  Don’t take vengeance … Right?  Don’t be bearing a grudge … Right?  But Paul notes the thing Jesus used against the Pharisees and quotes, “Love your Neighbor as yourself”. 

Believe it or not, this is the most often quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament.   Yet it is tucked away in the middle of this giant book of the Law, Leviticus, an in-between legal do’s and don’ts like verse 19, ‘don’t let your livestock breed with another kind’ and verse 16, ‘don’t be a talebearer’.   Using the law, and quoting Jesus, Paul proves his point, that LOVE rules, not backbiting.  Legalistic do’s and don’ts enslave and creates this strife.  The Galatian believers were evidently becoming begrudging tale bearing haters because they looked deeply into the Law and saw all the do’s and don’ts and not the hidden gems like “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR”.  

The SPIRIT of the Law is LOVE.  The fruit of the SPIRIT is Galatians 5:22-23, and Love represents the sum of God’s character.  When God’s Word is working in me, His character flows out.  His Spirit (His Word) produces a cluster of FRUIT.

·         Love, which looks like (and I list these in reverse order to emphasize the results):

o   Self-control: overcoming the flesh

o   Gentleness:  Strength under control.  (My trainer always says, “Use your core” (inner strength).  Gentleness is also Teachable and Humble.   Gentleness removes the desire for revenge or retaliation.

o   Faithfulness:  Loyalty and Trustw3orthiness.  Loyal to God and other people.  Also, a faithful person WON’T GIVE UP.

o   Goodness:  Active unselfish generosity.  Goodness produces and “Over and Above” or “Beyond the call of duty” attitude.  It is seen as moral and spiritual excellence.

o   Kindness:  Tender concern for others

o   Patience:  Long-suffering.  Enduring wrongs done.

o   Peace:  Inner composure.  Peace with God and Peace with others.

o   Joy:  Assured hope.

We all know the Love Chapter in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 where Paul defines Love.  I’d like to close this blog with another passage, 1 John 4:7-11 from the Message (MSG) translation:

God Is Love

^7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

^11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!