The Royal Law of Love

What Is Love?

1 John 4:7-8, 16 without a doubt LOVE is the very heart of our belief system.

But what is love? What does it look like? How can I know it when I see it? Is there anything I can do to walk in loving mindset?

Is love a feeling? Does love mean caring deeply [but then we have to ask what does caring means], is love sexual attraction? Love means different things to different people.

Problem:

1. If we all have a different definition of love then love really has no meaning at all. Note: this is how "love" is used as a deceptive code word to excuse, or encourage many self destructive behaviors. For example; If I discipline my child so they might develop self discipline and a better shot at success in life, am I loving, or am I rigid and harsh? If I give into every whim of my child and shower them with gifts such that they always expect to have their own way and don't learn to earn their success, am I loving, or am I lazy?

2. The most popular definitions of love [feeling or sexual attraction] are not actionable and therefore cannot be taught, or learned. Feelings or sexual attraction are merely responses to external stimuli.

The 10 Commandments Define Love

For love to be a helpful guide to life it must be defined and given actionable features. The 10 commandments of God are the beginning of creating such a definition. We must build on that foundation... but the 10 commandments is where we start.

Request your FREE copy of the helpful bible study guide: The Ten Commandments

Matthew 22:35-40 Jesus was providing a summary of the commandments ultimate purpose:

1. To practice, learn, and demonstrate love towards God

2. To practice, learn, and demonstrate love towards our fellow human beings

Jesus applies this summary overview to more than just the commandments... He says the whole bible [the law, and the prophets] expands on this theme. One purpose of the bible is to provide guidance in the right way to live, including action and intent. Another purpose of the bible is to depict the problems that arise from not practicing the way of love and the penalties [or consequences] of not practicing the way of love.

Love In The Old Testament

Love is the centerpiece of ALL scripture... the old testament, and the new testament.

When Jesus answered that the greatest commandment was love for God, and that the second was love for other people... He was directly quoting from the old testament.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 context=the second set of stone tablets with the commands written on them

Leviticus 19:18 context=examples and applications of the law regarding how to treat other people in your community

Following the commandments is intrinsically linked with love in God's way of thinking.

Romans 13:9-10 fulfill means to fill up with, like you might fill up a ship with cargo. In this way love is "filled up" by the commandments. The commandments provide content, definition, and detail.

Love & Eternity

John 3:16 God wants ALL of us to live forever, to attain eternal life.

But first, He wants us to learn to get along with one another, to love one another. He wants this so that eternal life might be harmonious, beautiful, uplifting, joyous.

1 John 3:14-15 God will not allow resentment, jealousy, envy, selfishness, violence, or hatred to enter into eternity.

Matthew 19:17 the road to eternal life is marked out with the signs that are the commandments.

Love Is A Package Deal

If I design and build a car, but if I design it and build it without wheels... then its not really a car... its just a big metal box that sits in a garage and goes nowhere. In the same way true biblical love means ALL the commandments.

James 2:8-11 if I renounce violence and murder that's a good step towards being more loving... and I would be a better person for it. But if I am at the same time unfaithful and disloyal to my wife and family... then you cannot define me as a person who practices love. The total package of my life is lacking.

James 2:12 every one of us falls short of the full measure... which is why we have to show mercy and grace towards one another. But we should be actively changing our lives to follow the law, which is called the law of liberty!

Law & Freedom

The bible depicts God's law as a way of freedom, or liberty. But what does it mean to be free? And what exactly are we freed from? Most people tend to view rules and commandments as the opposite of freedom.

We have to overcome thinking that freedom means a world where we all get to make our own rules and do as we please. That's not freedom, that's anarchy. What one person considers freedom of expression, another person might consider child abuse. What about my freedom to be free from your idea of freedom. So, we need boundaries if we are going to get along.

The freedom God's law offers is freedom from sin... and its consequences.

Romans 3:16-17 destruction and misery

Romans 6:19 [sets up analogy] 20-21 slavery and death

Your freedom comes when you are set free from deception, set free from destructive ways of thinking and acting that end only in misery and death.

Imagine yourself in a room. The massive walls of the room are slowly closing in on you and are going to crush you. There is no escape. Then a voice calls out to you and says I can get you out if you are willing to carefully follow my instructions.

That room is the inevitability of your physical existence. There is life outside that shrinking room. Getting out involves a change of mind, actions, and attitudes... and a sincere desire to live a different way of life Romans 6:17.

1 John 5:3 --> Psalm 119:44-45, 98-105 --> Deuteronomy 8:3

Love & Sin

1 John 3:4 lawlessness is activity outside the boundary lines drawn by God's commandments... the boundary lines that define life in eternity. A lawless person is one who acts and thinks as if there were no laws... so they are not compatible with eternity.

1 John 3:5-6 if we move and think outside the boundaries it will negatively affect our relationship with both the Father and the Son.

Jesus is going to enter into a special relationship with the first fruits. The bible uses the analogy of a human marriage to help us picture such a faithful binding relationship. Does Jesus Christ want to enter into this kind of special relationship with a person with completely different values from His?

Imagine this: what would happen if a man who wants a faithful monogamous relationship married a woman who believed that adultery was OK? The marriage is going to be difficult, unpleasant, and unsatisfying... imagine being trapped in a marriage like that for eternity.

1 John 3:10 such a person is not, and will not be, part of the family of God.

How do we have a right relationship with God? 1 John 2:4-6

And how did Jesus conduct Himself? John 15:10 Jesus set boundaries on His actions and thoughts based on the commandments. Jesus is looking for a helpmate who thinks and acts according to the same values.

Sin is lawlessness... refusing to be bound by God's rules... the rules which define a healthy, happy, satisfying relationship... between you and God... between you and Christ... between you and all people.

A Guide To Conduct

God's commands are a high level summary of God's way of life. The rest of the bible builds on that foundation. Jesus teaching built on that foundation.

With regards to the commandments He said... I am not here to replace the commandments with something different. I am here to fulfill them... to fill them up with additional meaning, application, and nuance Matthew 5:17. Notice that right after He says that He proceeds with the sermon on the mount... which takes commandments like "don't murder", "no adultery", and adds new meaning and understanding to these commands delving into the intent and emotions behind the actions.