Love Fulfills the Law, Part 2 B

Love, like music, is so simple a child can understand it. Its combinations are so infinite, a lifetime could never begin to exhaust its possibilities. It is a comprehensive grace that includes everything there is in terms of Christian living.

It is possible to fulfill the law. The only way is through love. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. There's nothing wrong with an extravagant Valentine's Day surprise to show your sweetheart how much you care. But love isn't just a once-a-year thing. It's a daily giving of yourself.

No one demonstrated that more than Jesus Christ. John MacArthur looks to his example today as he continues his series, Love No Matter What. But before the lesson, something very important to acknowledge. Today, February 9th, 2024, is the 55th anniversary of John MacArthur's Pastoral Ministry at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. And by extension, it is the 55th anniversary of Grace to You. And to celebrate, we're doing something special. The details in just a bit, but John, let me start by saying on behalf of everyone here at Grace to You, we rejoice at God's faithfulness to you and your teaching ministry.

John MacArthur It's just hard to even imagine that it's been five years over half a century. I'm thankful for good health. The Lord has brought me through some physical issues over the last couple of years, and I feel thankful and strong and grateful. But I think the greatest joy is that over those 55 years, the Lord has built up and surrounded me with this massive amount of gifted, faithful, wonderful people who extend this ministry really all over the planet.

I think the greatest fruit of ministry is in the lives of the people that are influenced by the Word and the Spirit. And with over half a century of teaching the Word of God and seeing the Spirit give life through that Word, I have seen the power of Scripture firsthand close up. As I think about those 55 years, I have to also say, when I first came to Grace, I was thinking about Ephesians, now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think.

And I wondered, how can it be possible to do more than you can ask or think, because I could think of a lot of things and ask for a lot of things. But the Lord surpassed that. I know exactly what that means, because there is no human explanation for what the Word of God has done for 55 years. And I see it at four generations deep, because we've gone through four generations of families in the same congregation.

And I've seen it in its extension all over the planet through the people who have left our church to pastor and give spiritual leadership to ministries and cover the world as missionaries. So the work of the Word has been the great, great blessing, and I'm so thankful the Lord let me stay around to enjoy it. In celebration of our 55th anniversary, we're making the MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series available at an amazing low-cost price for today only. It's our most comprehensive resource right from Matthew through the end of Revelation, 33 volumes. It's an amazing, amazing series that will take you into the depth of the entire New Testament. And here it is, this one special day being offered at a never-before-offered price.

Here's the important note. It's only today, and it's only for the first 250 orders. But for any orders placed after the first 250, I need to say, we'll still manage a great discount for you as well, the second best price, which is still a great savings off our regular price. This runs through next Friday, February 16th. But for one day, low price, place one of the first 250 orders today for the MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series.

Go to gty.org or call during normal business hours. Thanks, John. And, friend, keep in mind, there's still a deep discount on the Commentary Series, even if you're not among the first 250 orders.

That special price will be available through next Friday, and I'll give our contact information before we close. But first, here's John with today's lesson. Romans 13, 8 to 10 says this, O no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. If we as Christians say, how can I fulfill the law of God? How can I keep all of God's law?

The answer is in love. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Now Paul suggests four of the commandments, the seventh one, the sixth one, the eighth one, and the tenth one. He leaves out the fifth and the ninth of the second half of the Ten Commandments.

And I don't think there's any particular reason for that. He's just selecting them as samples of the Ten Commandments. And that's why he says, notice verse 9, and if there be any other commandment.

He's really just sampling the Ten Commandments and drawing out four of them. The law is summed up in this statement, you will love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law is collected into that one statement. So the key to obeying the law is love. If we love, we're going to obey the law.

I mean, it's this simple, folks. Thou shalt not commit adultery is a moot point if you love somebody, right? And the same thing in regard to killing. Thou shalt not kill. Now if you love someone, it precludes the command, doesn't it?

I mean, I don't need somebody to remind me not to kill people if I love them. Then it's a moot point to say thou shalt not steal. I'm not going to take what belongs to someone if I love that someone. Nor am I going to covet what they have if I love them. So love is not to replace the law.

We're not saying the old is gone and the new is arriving. What we're saying is love is what Paul says is the fulfilling of the law. Love is to give us a bottom line so that we understand how God's whole law can be fulfilled. And what God is after is not outward obedience.

And that's what this says. I mean, the Pharisees would like to say, well, we don't commit adultery and we don't kill and we don't steal and we don't covet. But in their hearts, they were full of it, weren't they? They were committing adultery with their minds. They were murderous in their thoughts with hate.

They would steal anything they could steal and they coveted what they did not have. And so if all you had was the external law and its external definition, you could actually fulfill it without fulfilling its intent. That's why the scripture says the intent is that you love so that you do not commit adultery not because you're afraid to get caught or want to be pious, but because you love the person. In other words, the keeping of the commandment flows from the heart of love. You can obey the law out of fear.

Sure. Men may be afraid of God's punishment. They may be afraid of God's judgment and so they obey out of fear. But you don't really fully obey the law because fear is not the basic motive for obedience. The Bible doesn't say you shall dread the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Scripture says many people draw near to God with their lips, but their hearts are what?

Far from him. Fear will restrain you from some evil and its effect can be somewhat productive, but it is incomplete. We are to keep the law not out of fear only, but out of love. Now there are other people who keep the law out of self-interest. They do it because they think they'll get something out of it. There are those people who want to live a moral life because they feel that God will owe them something and they'll get repaid for it. But that itself is not a pure motive. That is the motive of selfishness.

It's not complete. It may restrain you from evil. It may even assist you in doing some good outwardly. But the true intention of the law is to cultivate love from the heart. That is how the law is really fulfilled. And remember back in Matthew 22, what the Lord said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets, right?

I mean it's a marvelous thing to understand. Now if you were to go back to the law for a minute, can we do that for just a brief moment? Go back to Exodus chapter 20. And I want to give you the condensed version of this. But go back to Exodus chapter 20. And I want to show you how the ten commandments are simply the law of love. The first four of the ten relate to God. The second half of them relate to relationships to men. And it begins really in verse 3.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Now that's a perfect description of love. Love first of all is loyal.

Did you get that? Love is loyal. Love is loyal. It is true. It is not fickle.

It is single minded. It doesn't have other gods. True love toward God will mean that there's no love for any other deity, right? Love is loyal. And if you really love God, you'll be loyal to God. Secondly, love is faithful.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any carved image, any likeness of anything in heaven above or in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down my self to them nor serve them for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. And here we learn that love is faithful. It is loyal, single minded, true, not fickle and it is faithful. That is, it keeps its promise, is devoted to its object and it obeys.

This is just another kind of love, another dimension of love. Thirdly, love is reverent. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain. If you love God, will you curse his name? If you love God, will you be unfaithful to his word? If you love God, will you be disloyal to him and follow another deity?

Of course not. Therefore, the summation of those first three is love. They are simply ways to demonstrate love. And then finally, in reference to God, verse 8, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you'll labor and do your work. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you nor your son or daughter, man-servant, maid-servant, cattle-stranger within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them.

Rest of the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day in Haladin. And what is he saying here? Love sets apart itself for pure, undefiled, uncompromising devotion and worship. We could say love is holy. Love recognizes the place of God.

Love sets apart itself for devotion and worship. If you say you love God, you're going to worship God. If you say you love God, you're going to serve God and keep his commandments. If you say you love God, you're going to be faithful to all of his word. You're going to be reverent to his name. You're going to be loyal to him as your only God. So you might say then that the first four of the Ten Commandments sum up the first and great commandment of Deuteronomy 6 quoted by the Lord in Matthew 22 and that is, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Now listen to me. If I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul and strength, am I going to have to worry about these laws?

Not really. Because if I love him like that, I would never have any other God. I would never make any graven image. I would always obey him. I would never take his name in vain and I would always remember that he is a holy God who is to be worshiped, right? So love fulfills all the law.

It's just that simple. Now the remaining six commandments are the ones really that Paul refers to and they speak about love toward men. For example, verse 12, honor your father and mother that your days may be long on the land which the Lord your God gives you. Now isn't that an expression of love? If you love your mother and father, are you going to honor them?

Of course. So we could say love is respectful. Love is respectful.

It bows to authority. It respects those who are worthy of respect. In verse 13, thou shalt not kill. Of course not because love is protective. Love doesn't slaughter. Love protects. It believes every life is sacred.

Everyone created in the image of God. And verse 14, thou shalt not commit adultery. He says love is pure. Love doesn't defile other people. Love lives to exalt what is holy and pure and good and virtuous.

Thou shalt not steal. Love is unselfish. It doesn't take what belongs to someone else.

It gives rather than takes. Love is truthful. Verse 16, it doesn't bear false witness against thy neighbor. It doesn't lie.

It doesn't give false testimony. And love is content. It doesn't covet the neighbor's wife or covet the neighbor's house or his manservant maidservant ox-ass or anything that is the neighbor's.

Do you see the point? Love fulfills the whole law. And the second half fulfills the second part of that great law. Love thy neighbor what?

As thyself. So that sums up the law. And that is exactly what Paul is saying. Now you can go back to Romans chapter 13. So all of these things, don't commit adultery, don't kill, don't steal, don't covet and any other of the commandments is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And by the way, that is an exact quote out of Leviticus 19, 18. What is God saying in the Ten Commandments? Saying two things.

You ready for this? I'll sum up the whole law. Love me, love men. That's it.

Love me, love men. That is the fullness of the law. On that hang all the law and the prophets. It's all right there in those two simple things. And you know, I suppose when you look at the Bible and it's thick and you see so much in there and you wonder, how can I keep the whole thing?

How can I know what all the rules are? It's very simple. Love God, love men, do what you want.

And so you're kidding. No, that's exactly what I mean. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself and just go do what you want. And believe me, if you're living in those conditions, what you want will be exactly what God wants.

That's how the law is fulfilled. You're not going to kill anybody. You're not going to defile anybody. You're not going to steal from anybody.

You're not going to covet what somebody has if you love them. In fact, I'll, I'll make a confession. I steal every time I want to. I do. Every time I want to steal, I steal. You want to know something? I don't want to steal. So I'm, I'm, I'm protected.

You say, what is it? It is the spirit of God cultivating in the heart, the law that precludes any desire for that. Now what does he mean love your neighbor as yourself? He's not talking about some kind of psychological self love. He's not building a case for that, not building a case for you to develop a healthy self image. He's just saying if there's anything basic in life, it is this, you take care of you more than you take care of anybody else. It's similar to Philippians 2 where Paul says, look not each man on his own things, but on the things of others.

Be as concerned about the comfort and the happiness and the peace and the joy of others as you are about your own, which is taken for granted. It's assumed. I mean, whose face do you wash in the morning? Whose hair do you comb?

Whose wardrobe do you buy? Whose comforts are you so concerned about? Well, in the same way that you have instincts towards self preservation and self comfort, you ought to treat others the same way.

Pay as much attention to them as you do to yourself so that you're always loving, loving, loving, loving, loving. Say, who's my neighbor? Anybody who comes across your path.

Anybody. And you say, well, it's hard to do. You have a new capacity for that. The love of Christ is shed abroad in your heart. Now, if you want to know how that love acts, read 1 Corinthians 13 and it'll tell you how that love acts.

It's all right there. So the debt of love is an unpayable debt. You'll pay it all your life and never pay it up. And your debt is to keep on loving and keep on loving. And the discharge of that is simply toward your neighbor. That is, anybody who comes across your path ought to feel your love. And that love means that you will fulfill the law.

You'll never do to that neighbor anything harmful if you love. And that brings us to the last thought, and we've already hinted at it at the end of verse 8, the end of verse 10. For he that loves another has fulfilled the law, verse 8. Verse 10, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Verse 8 literally says, for the one loving has fulfilled the other law.

That's very important. For the one loving has fulfilled the other law. Do you know what the other law was? The second part of that two-part statement of Matthew 22. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself. That's the other law. And the one loving fulfills that other law.

Number two of the two greatest laws. And then verse 10 indicates that love is the pleroma. Love is the fulfilling, the fulfillment of the law. So love gives to the law the full measure of its fulfillment.

Now listen. A Pharisee a legalist, somebody keeping the law out of fear or somebody keeping the law out of self-interest can never really fulfill the law. Never fill up its intent. Legalism will never do that. You may restrain yourself from adultery, restrain yourself from murder and lying and coveting and all of that. You may restrain yourself from that because of fear or because of self-interest or wanting to appear religious because of some legalism. That is not the fulfilling of the law.

That's superficial. To fill it up, it has to come from love that is in you. Love that can be a reality because of the work of Jesus Christ. And I believe it says in Matthew 5 17 that Jesus came not to destroy the law but to fulfill the law. You can take that statement about Jesus fulfilling the law in many ways. He fulfilled it by being its fulfillment prophetically. He fulfilled it by keeping it perfectly and He fulfilled it by being the perfect expression of love.

Every way that it could be fulfilled, He fulfilled it. So we're called to love. And if we love, we fulfill the whole law.

And that is our unique relationship to society. Now remember, we're all the way back to chapter 12 verse 1 when all of this begins to unfold. From chapter 3 on to the end of chapter 11, everything's been about salvation, redemption.

Now that we're redeemed, we come into chapter 12 and we see the results. First we present our bodies. And then we're not conformed to the world. And then we begin to use our gifts. And then we begin to demonstrate certain virtues and graces to the church and to the world around us.

And then as regards the government, we submit ourselves and pay our taxes. And then as regards our relation to all of society, we are characterized by love. And again, we're back to John 13, 34 and 35. This is the new commandment I write unto you, that you love one another. By this shall all men know that you're my disciples.

And love is the fulfilling of the whole law. It's maybe possible to illustrate it like this. Have you ever thought of the fact that in music there are basically seven notes?

It's amazing. You know a little child can learn those seven notes in an hour? But a Handel or a Bach or a Beethoven couldn't exhaust those seven notes in a lifetime?

It's incredible what those seven notes can create because of an almost infinite number of combinations and interpretations. Those seven notes utter the grand music of heroism, the soft music of courtesy. Because love can be heroic and love can be courteous. Love can be patriotic. Love can be expressed in martyrdom, grandiose gifts of love and expressions of devotion. And yet sometimes it's the smallest, tiniest little act, a quiet word, a loving touch. Love, like music, is so simple a child can understand it.

Its combinations are so infinite that a lifetime could never begin to exhaust its possibilities. It is a comprehensive grace that includes everything there is in terms of Christian living, attitude, speech and action. It is possible to fulfill the law. The only way is through love. And so Paul says that should be your relationship to everyone around you. Now let me see if I can help you to see this flesh out. Listen very carefully. I want to read 1 Corinthians chapter 13, but I don't want you to look at your Bible. I'm going to read you a paraphrase that came from a group of people in South Africa.

Listen to this. 1 Corinthians 13, if I have the language perfectly and speak like a native and have not his love for them, I'm nothing. If I have diplomas and degrees and know all the up-to-date methods and have not his touch of understanding love, I'm nothing. If I am able to argue successfully against the religions of the people and make fools of them and have not his wooing note, I am nothing. If I have all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans and not his love that sweats and bleeds and weeps and prays and pleads, I'm nothing. If I give my clothes and money to them and have not his love for them, I'm nothing. If I surrender all prospects, leave home and friends, make the sacrifices of a missionary career and turn sour and selfish amid the daily annoyances and slights of a missionary life and have not the love that yields its rights, its leisure, its pet plans, I am nothing. Virtue has ceased to go out of me. If I can heal all manner of sickness and disease but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of his love that is kind, I am nothing.

If I can write articles or publish books that win applause but fail to transcribe the word of the cross into the language of his love, I am nothing. We owe a debt and the debt we owe is to love. It's possible because we have a new capacity. We have been given a new command and the new command is that we in fact do that. The design is that we may fulfill the law of God. What could never be done through the law can be done through love provided in us by salvation, the work of the Spirit of God. If there's anything that of necessity needs to mark believers, it is the expression of love, the expression of love. The world is watching us. So is the Lord and what they both wish to see is love in the little things as well as the big things.

Let's bow in a word of prayer. Our Father, we know that the greatest example of love is our Lord Jesus Christ himself. His love is the model and his love was fully sacrificial. He gave himself even to those who refused the gift.

He gave himself to those who disdained it, who mocked it, who were ungrateful. But he was love and love has to give. May we learn to give not because we want to get, not because we want to gain prestige or favor from men, not because we want to appear religious, but to give because we're filled with love. Help us to love the unlovely as well as the lovely. Help us to love those who love us and those who don't. Help us to love those who appear to be our enemies, our closest competition, those who are unkind, unfair and unjust, that the world may know that we have a debt to pay and our debt is love.

Some of us are punctilious about paying our financial debts and miserable when it comes to paying the debt of love. May we be faithful. May the world know us as lovers of men.

Work your work in every heart that we may experience the full release of the love shed abroad in us. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. His current study here on Grace To You is titled, Love No Matter What. Now, as mentioned earlier, today is the 55th anniversary of Grace To You. And to celebrate, we're offering the MacArthur New Testament commentary series at the lowest price you'll find anywhere.

The offer is good today only and only for the first 250 orders placed in the United States and Canada. So contact us now. Our number here is 855grace and our web address is gty.org. This comprehensive resource will give you access to John's decades of in-depth Bible study. It's like having John there to answer your Bible questions. And even if your order is not one of the first 250 orders today, you can still get the MacArthur New Testament commentary series at a steep discount that we'll run through next week, Friday, February 16th. But again, to purchase the complete MacArthur New Testament commentary series at the lowest price anywhere and still with free shipping, you'll need to place one of the first 250 orders today. Call 800-55-GRACE or go to gty.org. And friend, if Grace To You's Bible teaching has strengthened your faith or maybe even led you to salvation, we'd love to hear about it.

Email your story to letters at gty.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Remember to watch Grace To You television this Sunday on DirecTV channel 378 and be here Monday when John MacArthur helps you look beyond the temporary value of worldly love to the secret of lasting love. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Grace To You.