Keeping the Law is Love

Obeying the Law

Moses commands Old Testament Israel to faithfully obey the Laws as they begin their life in the Promised Land:

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are enteringy to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Ex.4:5-8

What do we make of it as Christians?

Some people try to obey all the laws

We end up inconsistent - some laws are weird, unworkable or bad

We don’t condone stoning disobedient children, or putting people to death for working on Sabbath

Some people throw out the laws - but Jesus tells us that’s not the right approach

The New International Version (Chapter 5)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commandscand teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus tells us that he fulfills the law - what does that mean? Does he keep the law so we don’t need to?

No! He shows us a different way of understanding what keeping the law means

Canada’s criminal code is always getting bigger, b/c government always has to add new crimes to regulate behaviors that weren’t even possible. So identity theft wasn’t a thing before our information was digitized. So laws written before couldn’t anticipate it. No static legal code can regulate all human behavior. But it can show us principles

The Old Testament Law is showing us 2 important things. We can see these in the passage we dub the great commandment

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 24:34-40

First: By tying together the command to love God and love people, Jesus is saying that the way we love God is by loving people.

Second: That what the law and the prophets are getting at is that our interactions with other people need to be loving. As Paul reaffirms:

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

So We shoudln’t throw out the law, nor try to keep the letter of it, but Jesus tells us that to fulfill it is to love others.

In your life you might not have a chance to return your neighbours donkey, or leave the edges of your field unharvested for the poor, but you do have a chance to love the people around you

You can pray for your friends, family, even your enemies

You can be kind and considerate to the people around you

Be inclusive of others - eg. eat meals with lonely people, visit people who don’t get many visitors

Then you’ll be fulfilling the point of the law - loving God by loving others