What a gorgeous piece of Holy Reasoning! If you love Jesus, you will keep His commandments. His commandments are that you love Him, and love your neighbor as yourself. In simple terms: "If you love Him, you will love Him. If you love Him, you will love others."
Romans 13:8 ~ for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Galatians 5:14 ~ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Synonyms for 'fulfilled' : accomplish, achieve, answer, be just the ticket, carry out, comply with, conclude, conform, discharge, do, effect, effectuate, execute, fill, fill the bill, finish, hit the bull’s-eye, implement, keep, make it, make the grade, meet, obey, observe, perfect, perform, please, realize, render, satisfy, score*, suffice, suit
Christ's love for me fulfilled (executed, finished, met, satisfied) the requirements of the law on my behalf. I stand complete in Him! Then, as my own act of love, I keep His commandments - which are simply to love. My sincere love for God and for others fulfills (answers, discharges, concludes) the requirements of the law.
If I love Him, I will live differently. That isn't legalism, it is love. If I love you, I won't lie to you. I won't cheat you. If I love Him, I do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Love is the driving force, and I love Him because He first loved me.
And now, according to I Cor. 13, there abides three core motivators of the human spirit: faith, hope, and love, "these three".
I accept my righteousness as a gift of grace through faith. Faith.
So many believers stop there. The grace-through-faith message is, for them, the end. But wait! There is also hope! Oh, dear one, Christ in me, the hope of glory! Hope. Romans 8:24 says, "For we are saved by hope..."
But saints. Thus saith the Lord: "The greatest of these is love."
Let us not stop at the doctrine of grace-through-faith, with no hope for real-time, this-lifetime deliverance and freedom. Give me hope! However...let us not stop at faith and hope, as stunning as it is for a believer to be able to believe and to have hope! Let us get past the limiting perspective of mere "legalism or not legalism." Let us fulfill our destiny, grow up, and bear much fruit in our relationship with the Father, and with each other. Let's be moved by the greatest motivator of all time and eternity: LOVE.
Some call it 'abstinence'. I say that love doesn't behave itself unseemly. Some call it 'sanctification'. I say that love doesn't rejoice in iniquity, it rejoices in the truth. Some call it 'the tithe'. I say that love does not seek its own. Some call it 'commitment to the local church'. I say that love suffers long, and is kind.
Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments."
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