A New Law of Love

 

“Great peace have those who love your law…”

—Psalm 119:165a

In the Old Testament times, God’s chosen people could express their love for God only by following the Law He had given them. This prompted the Psalmist to write in Psalm 119:165-168:

Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.

I wait for your salvation, Lord, and I follow your commands. I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.

But, after God’s Son came to earth as a man, He brought a new and living way for believers to express their devotion, as recorded in Mark 12:28-31:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

‘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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

For us as believers, the pathway of obedience has become paved with love: love for God in all four human modalities—spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical—and love for others.

This new pathway of obedience that our Savior has opened for us really coincides with a fulfillment of the Old Testament Law, made possible within us by the enabling of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

As we follow the Great King Jesus, let us enthusiastically embrace the Law of Love. And, let's allow God’s love to flow through us this day to touch the lives of everyone with whom we come in contact.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

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