Love Our Primary Commitment

Last week, we looked at our responsibilities to the authority structures we that God set up for our own benefits. We mentioned three of them.

The home

The church

The government

As we examined, this passage we concluded that submission shows our faith in God. I would also suggest submission show are loyalty and love for our Savior.

As we looked at what love for God looks like when dealing with authority Paul makes a transition from Love for God in submission for authority to love for god manifested in our interactions with each other.

Romans 13:8–10 CSB

8 Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.

Mark 12:28–34 CSB

One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.

1 Peter 4:8 CSB

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Love is a subject that seems to be both uniting in our world and yet polarizing. It is estimated that between 60-70% of all mainstream pop-songs are about love.

Yet it seems that even in these songs we see that love is hard to maintain. Love is searched for. Love is longed for yet it seems for many true love is just out of reach. The reason love is a central theme of entertainment is that is love and happiness are intertwined.

The search for love is a search for joy. When you find a person that is full of love you find a person that is full of Joy. In fact, I would tell you that these two emotions only exist in tandem with each other.

So then it makes sense that Jesus and Paul and Peter would all emphasize this idea of love.

I. Love is something that is owed.

Romans 13:8 CSB

8 Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, ...

Now Paul just got done saying to pay your taxes or those things that are owed. When they are payed they are no longer owed. But here he combines something unexpected Debt with Love. Love for one another is a debt that is owed.

Why?

Because perfect love has been given and made available to you.

If perfect love has been afforded to you than love can be given to others.

God’s love is a bank in which you have in which you have an unlimited line of credit. In other words because God’s love has been lavished on us, you can borrow from the bank of God’s love and give unlimited love. Love does not belong to us. We are not love, God is love. Therefore It must be spent according to God’s decree.

Therefore if through Christ you have been given access to God’s limitless love than limitless love can flow from you.

Therefore because you are the vessel of God’s love. Because of God’s perfect undeserved love has been lavished on you through the cross we are distribute God’s love through our words, actions, and deeds.

Show me a person who continually withdraws from God’s bank of love and I will show you a person filled with Joy.

have you ever noticed that the more selfish a person is the more enemies a person has. A selfish christian is a confusing thing because they have been given access to a limitless account. They can make as many withdrawals as they want and yet they choose no to access the very reason Christ died, love.

Love is owed to all because it doesn’t belong to us. It is given to us in limitless supply from God Himself.

II. Love fulfills the Law of God

Romans 13:9–10 CSB

9 The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.

Paul is paraphrasing Jesus. When you see a paraphrase made from either the New Testament or the old. It is important that we go back to the original statement for context. Think of a A paraphrase as an arrow pointing back to the original statement. Paul’s intention is not to leave out Jesus word’s but rather let his readers now the source he is pulling from. In this case, It is Jesus. So like an preacher does Paul explains the word of God and expounds upon its meaning.

So lets look Jesus words.

Matthew 22:36–40 CSB

36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Two ways love fulfills the law of God.

#1 Love does not sin against God.

When we consciously remember that God loves us, has sacrificed himself for us love and gratitude keep us from wanting to fulfill the desires of the flesh.

#2 Love does not sin against one another.

Romans 13:9 CSB

9 The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.

The fist thing we see here is

Love does not sin sexually against another.

Church did you know that the basis for why sex outside the commitment of marriage is wrong is love. No matter how our culture frames it. Sex outside the marriage weather through adultery, premarital sex, or pornography is wrong is that is a sin that is void of the commitment of love. Teens and adults it doesn’t matter what that good looking boy or girl says. Sex outside of God’s design is a sin against each other. True love is committed the needs of each other, solidified through marriage. Sex outside of marriage creates guilt. So when we choose to engage in it in a way that God hasn’t designed we are saying I am okay with you sinning against God as long as it meets my desire. In that way, it is not an act of love, it is at its core self-centered, selfish.

The love God gives prevents hate.

1 John 4:20–21 CSB

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

Love is generous( do not steal)

Theft is the opposite of generosity .

As Christians we are to be generous with what God has given us to steward. If we steal we are saying that we don’t trust God’s provision. If you fail to trust in God’s provision than you will not see be able to live generously. In this mindset the heart becomes desperate to provide for ourselves the things in which we think will bring us happiness. Stealing fails to trust in the love of God and fails to love others.

Love desires what is best for others(does not covet)

Covet - To long for something that would require a violation of the moral law to obtain it.

Exodus 20:17 CSB

17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

To covet means to desire something that is not meant for you. At it’s core it is the lie that God has not given you what is best for you. So you become envious of the goodness of God in someone else's life. A covetous person cannot and will not celebrate the goodness of God in someone else's lives. It takes many different forms. I have seen where women covet the outer beauty or abilities of another woman or man covets the respect. promotion or possessions of someone else . Covetous is the opposite of love because it is self-focused. It supposes that God has not done what is best in my life. A covetous person will always see life as unfair and fail to see the goodness of God.

We see all of these elements listed in I Cor. 13

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 CSB

4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love for God, love for others, is our greatest weapon against the enemy. It’s our greatest tool for creating change. Living in the love of God is our greatest hope in making a difference for Christ’s sake.