The Heart of the Law

The heart of what the law requires is the heart of the man to whom the law is given. The law requires obedience from a heart of love (Is. 29:13; Hos. 6:6; Matt. 15:8; Mark. 12:32-33). And the law of God instructs men how to love God and how to abide in God’s love (Deut. 6:5-6; Josh. 22:5; 23:11-12; Jn. 15:9-10). The Ten Commandments are summarized by love. The first table explains how men are to love God (Ex. 20:3-11). The second table explains how men are to love their neighbor as themselves (Ex. 20:12-17).

This is how Jesus summarized the law when asked which commandment is the most important of all. Mark 12:29-31, “Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Jesus in Matthew’s account says all of the “Law and the Prophets” hang on these two great commands (Matt. 22:40).

The first great commandment is to love God. The undivided and uncontested God requires undivided and uncontested worship (Deut. 6:4-5). He is infinitely beautiful, glorious, and lovely (Zech. 9:17). No ounce of love is sinfully misplaced in Him. An eternity of affection for Him could not grasp the depth of His loveliness. There is no one greater whom we can set our love upon (Ps. 18:1). And the Scriptures warn us to take heed that we love God, and do not give our love to anyone else (Josh. 23:11; Song. 2:5; Hos. 3:1; Jude 21).

The second great commandment is to love others as ourselves. Similarly, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies (Eph. 5:28-29). By nature, we care for our bodies and our interests. But in our sinful nature, we are not inclined to love others. Self-love, selfish love, is the god of our sinful hearts. Left to ourselves, we are incapable of loving God or others. But it is the love of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ that fulfills the law for us (Rom. 5:8; 13:10; Eph. 5:25). Christ is the one who has loved God with all His heart, mind, and strength. Christ loved the church in giving Himself for her (Jn. 17). This is the fullness of love displayed for us. This is the gospel message of Love that has come for us (Jn. 15:13). This same love we experience in our conversion, and we are called to share with others (Rom. 8:5; 1 Pt. 1:22; 4:8). Self-love will only be extinguished in a heart that is enthralled with the love of God for sinners in Christ, and only then will that same heart overflow with love for others.

We must pay careful attention to the ordering of these two great commandments. Love for God must come before love for neighbor. When the first is cast aside, the love of a neighbor will become a spectacle of injustice and idolatry. We cannot love our neighbor if we divorce our love for them from God. He is love and instructs us in His law how to love. Love for God regulates and situates love for neighbor. A culture that is infatuated with the “idol of love” will inevitably be a culture that is infiltrated with astonishing cruelty and hate. The irony is that it will be done loudly and brazenly under the banner of love.

The love of God and the law of God are sweet friends (1 Jn. 5:2). Love for God and love for one another do not operate abstractly apart from the law. On the contrary, the law shows Christians how they are to love God and love others. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” These commands are not burdensome for us because the yoke of Christ is easy and light (1 Jn. 5:3; Matt. 11:30), and we receive the law of God from the law-keeping hands of Christ.

In Christ, Pastor John