THE LAW FULFILLED BY LOVE
‘Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.’
We must be careful to understand the real meaning of the text. It is the assertion of a fact. We must not read it to mean that if a man has this principle of love firmly embedded in his nature, it will help him to keep the law, but that it is tantamount to the actual fulfilment of the law. ‘Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.’
Now, the law referred to by the Apostle is primarily the Law of Moses. Let us, however, speak of the law implied rather than expressed in the text. We mean the spiritual law of the Gospel. This law is to some extent undefined, but it is unmistakable. The Gospel speaks to the conscience. It does not say, ‘Thou shalt’ or ‘Thou shalt not,’ so much as it appeals to man’s better nature.
I. It postulates that man, however degraded, has something in common with God.—It is true it cannot ignore the fact that this Divine principle in man may be either alive or dead, awake or asleep, just as he obeys or resists the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. ‘The Spirit is given to every man to profit withal,’ and when the Spirit of God is neither resisted nor quenched, He reveals the eternal law of right and wrong, of true and false worship, of heart service and lip service, of self-sacrifice and service exacted from a mere sense of duty. The Spirit of God, working in man, through the principle of love, makes it possible for him to choose the better part; to mould and purify his character, even as Christ Himself is pure, so that when He shall appear again with ‘power and great glory’ we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
II. In the painful consciousness of our sin and weakness we are tempted to ask, ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’—We turn to the Divine Man, Christ Jesus. Under the temporal law of Moses He was the ‘Lamb of God Which taketh away the sin of the world.’ Under the eternal law of the Gospel He was the perfect example of a godly life. And His promise was, ‘And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.’ And in Christ we see, not a cold, lifeless model, which repels rather than attracts, but a heart filled with love and sympathy for suffering and sinful humanity. And when man’s spirit reunites with God’s, He is ready to rouse and kindle into a flame that principle in the creature, that existed, and always will exist, in the bosom of the Creator—a love which ‘worketh no ill to his neighbour.’
III. And let us not forget that love begets love.—If we are not loved by those around us, more than often the fault lies in ourselves.
—Rev. C. Rhodes Hall.
Illustration
‘If a man neglects his children he cannot look for protection from them in old age. If a master is absorbed in self-interest, he must be content with mere duty and routine, instead of cheerful and grateful service. Unless a government is actuated by the purest and wisest motives towards the people it governs, legislating for their temporal and spiritual welfare, it cannot and must not expect them to be and to remain law-abiding citizens.’