One's Faith Must Involve the Law and Love

"'Love' is a command of the law. If you enjoin people to love, you are giving them law. Conversely, if you tell them law doesn't matter, then neither does love, which is the summary of the law." ~Kevin DeYoung

I've been contemplating the content of this post for a couple weeks now. I began considering the importance of both the law and love when I was out at the Quakertown Diner late at night after picking my brother up from the airport. The conversation turned to evangelism and the importance of bringing others to Christ by teaching them not only about His great love, but also about the law, which helps people understand their need for a Savior. Another reason that I've been considering the unique ties between the law and love is because I began reading The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung. Both my late night discussions and excerpts from the book have helped me formulate the content of this post.

There are some in the world of Christianity that feel the law of Moses no longer holds any significance in the Christian life because we are under the New Covenant and saved by grace. These individuals might turn to Romans 6:14, which states, "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace," to establish their claim. If this was presented to me, I would have to agree that, yes, we are under the New Covenant that was established by Christ dying for our sins on the cross, thus allowing us to be saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Where I would disagree, though, is if this verse was used to reject the significance of the law. True, we are no longer under the letter of the law, but that does not mean that it is a tool to be discarded. Instead, the law can be utilized in evangelism to help people understand that in their sin, these laws are violated, and that the only saving grace they have is found in Jesus Christ.

Others within the Christian community zero in on the love that Jesus preached and focus their entire list of sermons and all of their evangelism efforts promoting the love of Jesus. Their supporting verse for this desperate need to only share about the love of Jesus might be, "'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another,'" ~John 13:34, or the summarized version in John 15:12, which states, "'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.'" Now don't get me wrong, the love of Jesus is a very important topic within Christianity, but we must not have blinders to other aspects of the faith. Yes, God is love, and promotes love, but He also despises sin. Where in the course of talking about the love of Jesus can one explain why sin is so awful?

The missing link that sometimes gets missed by those consumed by Jesus professing us to love one another is our need for repentance. One cannot merely say that they love Jesus and automatically be saved. Repentance of sins must also be a part of the process of declaring Christ as our Savior. We must not forget that the beginning of Jesus' ministry was not about love, but repentance. Matthew 4:17 clearly presents it this way: "From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" My question to you is how would people know they had to repent without knowledge of the law? The simple answer is, it's not possible. The two cannot be separated because in order to know and understand the depth and disparity between our worldy self and the self that can be found and abide in Christ, one must understand the law and what it commands. 

It is important to note two verses, John 14:15 and John 15:10. These verses pretty much state the same thing, but I believe it is important to take note that Jesus repeated these phrases within close proximity to each other in Scripture, probably due to their significance. The first states, "'If you love me, you will keep my commandments." The second states, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." These verses are proof that the law and love are closely intertwined. Jesus obeyed the commandments of God, and we are to obey the commandments of Jesus. By doing so, we demonstrate our love for Jesus. In essence, if we try to follow the law, we are demonstrating that we love Jesus. Remember, the Father and Son cannot be separated, which essentially makes God's commandments Jesus' commandments.

By no means does obeying commandments save us; only by grace are we saved. But obeying the law of Christ can assist in the sanctification process as we mature as Christians. Something that The Hole in Our Holiness has taught me is the fact that the obeying the law not only demonstrates your love for Jesus, but also helps to transform you in your walk as a Christian. The mark of a Christian who has truly accepted Jesus into their heart is evidence that he/she is attempting to live by the fruits of the Spirit. This by no means happens overnight, but at some point, there should be a measurable change or transformation within a Christian. The time period could be weeks, months, or years, but if there is no discernible difference between the now and when you first left your fleshly desires behind to become a Christian, you might want to question whether or not your heart has truly changed for Jesus. As Kevin DeYoung wrote, "Any gospel which purports to save people without also transforming them is inviting easy-believism. If you think being a Christian is nothing more than saying a prayer or joining a church, then you've confused real grace with cheap grace."

I think what we should all take away from this is that the law is in place for a reason and should not be discarded like last year's fashion. The law demonstrates how God wants us to live, and obeying the law helps us show our love as we abide in Christ. This obedience to the commands set forth in the Bible will in turn help show the outside world how you have been transformed by God's saving grace and will hopefully draw others to the faith so that they, too, can repent and be saved by grace that is only available from God through our acceptance and love of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.