For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
 – Romans 13:8 –

What is love?

Often it is defined as some sentimental feeling. Some emotional experience. Some pitter-patter in your chest. Rarely, is love associated with law-keeping, rules, or righteousness.

In our “if it feels right, do it” sort of society, love does not shack up with legal requirements. But in the Bible where love is defined by God (1 John 4:8) and demonstrated on the cross (1 John 3:16), love is regularly related to the law. In fact, Romans 13 says, “Love is the keeping of the law” (v. 8) and “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” Likewise, Galatians 5:14 reads, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Following the teaching of Jesus, Paul reiterates his Lord’s view of the law. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “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” (Matt 5:17). And later in the same Gospel (22:36–40), Jesus explained that the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments: to love God (Deut 6:4) and to love neighbor (Lev 19:18). Indeed, against popular opinion, the Law was not given to merely enforce rules. It was given so that the people of Israel might love one another with absolute righteousness. To say it differently, God’s love is defined and delimited by covenantal laws. Continue reading →