The MESSAGE for October 1, 2023
The Dynamics of The Law of Love
Romans 13:8-11
Live Broadcast
Greater Concord Missionary Baptist Church
Love for the Lord accomplishes what fear of the
Law could never achieve. “He that hath my commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,” said the Lord Jesus (John
14:21). Love’s debt is large! Love touches the Christian’s
conscience and makes him eager to live beyond reproach.
The story of Zachaeus illustrates this. No sooner
had this dishonest tax collector come face to face with the Lord
Jesus than he exclaimed, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I
give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by
false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Jesus said to him,
“This day is Salvation come to this house.” (Luke
19:8-9) Zacchaeus was not saved because he wanted to put his
financial affairs in order. He wanted to put his financial
affairs in order because he was saved. His personal contact with
the Lord Jesus won his heart and quickened his conscience. The
Word of God says: “Owe no man anything.”
The debt of love is always owing, “Owe no man
anything; but to love one another. Peter raised the question,
“Lord how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive
him? till seven times? The Lord’s answer was, “I say not unto
thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven” (Matthew
18:21-22). He must forgive and forgive and forgive. Love’s
debt is large! Love fulfills the law as Paul goes on to prove.
“For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shall not kill,
Thou shall not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it
is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself” (verse 9). Love’s duty is to obey the
commandments of the law not because they are commanded under
law, for the Chrisitan is not under the law but under grace, but
because they are love’s lasting obligation to God and others.
Paul underlines the last five because they deal
with love’s duty to mankind. When a rich young ruler came to
Christ wanting to know what he must do to inherit eternal life,
the Lord Jesus simply quoted to him these five commandments.
When the young man claims to have kept all theses from his youth
up, Jesus showed him in a single sentence that he had done
nothing of the kind. “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven: and come and follow me”
Matthew 19:16-22.
The young man sorrowfully went away because “he
had great possessions.” The Lord’s sword thrust to his
conscience revealed in a flash that he really did not love his
neighbor as he loved himself. A man who loves his neighbor as
himself will not defile his neighbor’s wife, nor murder him, nor
steal from him, nor lie about him, nor covet anything he had.
Before I close this message, I must say something
about love’s desire. Love’s desire is for the well-being of men
and for the well pleasing of God. “Love worketh no ill to his
neighbor: therefore, love is fulfilling of the law”. (verse 10)
In Paul’s great classic on love, he explains
love’s attitude. “This love of which I speak is slow to lose
patience, it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not
possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish
inflated ideas of its own importance. Love has good manners and
does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not
keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other
people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth
prevails. Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its
trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in
fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen
I
Corinthian 13:48.
The underlying principle of the Christian economy
is love: Paul says that “love is the fulfilling of the law”.
Love’s moral conscience fulfills the law not only out of debt
and duty but also out of desire. These are the Dynamics of the
Law of Love. Debt, Duty, and Desire. Praise His Holy Name!
Pastor, Rev. Dr. Cullian W. Hill