WWUTT 1362 Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law (Romans 13:9-11)

Love as the Fulfilling of the Law

The commandments, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet. Keeping these commandments are done in this way. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in Romans 13. Looking at the latter half of the chapter this week. That section starting in verse eight through verse 14. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome.

Oh, no one anything except to love each other. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet.

And any other commandment are summed up in this word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to awake from sleep.

For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone. The day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

The First and Second Tables of the Law

Yesterday, we looked primarily at verse eight. Oh, no one anything except to love each other, which is the command of God, that we are to give one another the love that God has shown to us. As God has loved us, so we must love one another.

The one who loves another has fulfilled the law, Romans 13, eight says. In this particular instruction that Paul gives, he begins and ends the same way. He says, the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

And then he comes back to that again in verse 10. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And in between those two statements, we have individual commandments and all from the second table of the law.

So remember that the 10 commandments, what we also refer to as the Decalogue is the summation of the law. And you have the 10 commandments divided up into two tables. The first four commandments are vertical commandments.

They deal with our relationship with God, God's relationship with man. So you have, I am the Lord, your God, you will have no other gods before me. You will not worship a graven image. You will not blaspheme the name of the Lord, your God, and you will keep my day holy.

So all of those are vertical commandments. The next six are horizontal commandments. Honor your father and your mother, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet.

They deal with man's relationship with man. So that's considered the second table of the law. When Jesus said in Matthew chapter 22, that the greatest commandment is, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

And he said, a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. What Jesus said with that answer was that all of the law is important.

The first table of the law is about loving God. The second table of the law is about loving your neighbor. So Jesus wasn't saying you don't need to ignore all of the law except for these two commands.

For again, as he summed up his answer, he said, Matthew 22, 40, on these two commandments, depend all the law and the prophets. So loving God, first table of the law, loving others, second table of the law.

You might see that summarized as, love God, love others, or love God, love people. That's not the gospel, that's law. But we fulfill that law when we love. We love God and we love others. Here, Paul is only dealing with that second table of the law but as I mentioned to you, well, it was either yesterday or last week, that doesn't mean that the first table of the law he's ignored.

That's what we went through for the first 11 chapters of Romans, understanding that we rebelled against God. What we deserve was judgment, but God showed his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5, 8.

And so by faith in Jesus Christ, we love God. We have this doctrine of justification by faith that Paul has spent the first 11 chapters of Romans laying out. And then when we get to Romans 12, when we read about the application of this justification by faith, how this now looks in the life of a believer, we begin that second section of Romans 12 or that second section of Romans in chapter 12 with Paul saying, I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

This is your spiritual act of worship. So there he's summarizing, love God, first table of the law. And now here with our application, we're mostly talking second table of the law here in this latter third of this letter to the Romans.

So here is he goes through commandments from the second table of the law. He says, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder. Well, if you look at the 10 commandments, you know that those commands are the other way around.

It begins with you shall not murder. And then the next one is you shall not commit adultery. That's the sixth and seventh commandments respectively. So why does he flip them here? Why does he say you shall not commit adultery first?

Well, I've mentioned to you before that oftentimes when you see a list of sins, sexual sins are at the top of that list. And the reason for that is because there's nothing more exemplifying of the passions of our flesh than sexual sins.

If a person is in sexual immorality, they are demonstrating by their lifestyle that they're chasing after the passions of their flesh, they are not pursuing God. If a person is dominated by those sexual proclivities, then they are still living according to the flesh and they are not living according to the spirit.

Remember as we looked at the fruit of the spirit versus the works of the flesh in Galatians chapter five, that list of sins there begins with sexual sins also. And when Paul was addressing the Corinthians about this in 1 Corinthians chapter six, where you have that list of sins in verses nine and 10, it says, do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality.

So even idolatry that's mentioned in there with those sins, that's tied with the sexual sins because in Corinth in particular, there was a temple where you would go to the temple and pay homage to a sex God by having sex with a priestess prostitute.

Sexual immorality and idolatry were very much linked in the Corinthian culture. So that was why Paul put idolatry with the sexual sins there in that list. But later on there in 1 Corinthians six, Paul says that every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but sexual sins a person commits with the body.

So in that sense, sexual sins are unique. And it is so imperative that we aspire toward that instruction that's given there in Romans 12 one, that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship, because the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

So we must be holy even in our bodies. This is contrary to what was said by the Gnostics. The Gnostics said anything that you do in your body doesn't really have any eternal ramifications anyway, because the body is material and all things that are material are eventually, they're just gonna waste away, they're gonna go back into the dust, they're gonna become nothing, but the soul is eternal.

So those things that are spiritual are therefore pure. This is according to the Gnostics. And whatever you do in the body does not have an effect on the eternal soul, since the body is limited and the soul is eternal.

But throughout the scriptures, we see just the opposite that is stated. Whatever you do in your body does have eternal ramifications. And so we have this instruction that we are to be holy in our bodies.

Since all of this is following that instruction that was given there in Romans 12 one, and this is still in the context of that, how do we live as Christians in these bodies in this world? We have it said here to obey the commandments, Romans 13 nine.

And the first of those commandments that Paul singles out, not the first of the commandments in the list of the 10 commandments, but the first one he singles out is you shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet.

And notice that all four of those commandments that are listed there to break any one of those commandments is an offense against your neighbor. It is to sin against your neighbor. So let's consider that in order.

The first one in verse nine, you shall not commit adultery. What's adultery? Well, it's sleeping with somebody else's spouse. But this commandment was not limited to sleeping with somebody who is married to someone else.

That's the specificity of the command, but it's really addressing any kind of sexual immorality. Consider what Keech's Catechism, what we also refer to as the Baptist Catechism says about this. What is the seventh commandment?

Answer, the seventh commandment is thou shalt not commit adultery. What is required in the seventh commandment? Answer, the seventh commandment requires the preservation of our own and our neighbor's chastity in heart, speech, and behavior.

So you are not only keeping yourself pure, your own body pure before God, but in obedience to the seventh commandment, you are also keeping your neighbor pure and your neighbor's spouse pure. So you're talking about community purity, that everyone together desires holiness before God, righteousness, that we live in a way that is righteous and upstanding before the Lord.

We not only consider ourselves when we are pursuing righteousness, but we also think about how we may help our neighbor in pursuing righteousness. Consider something that Paul shared with the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse three, for this is the will of God, your sanctification.

God's will for you is to grow in holiness. And he's addressing a whole church in this, going on that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the pagans who do not know God.

And now get this in verse six, so this is 1 Thessalonians 4, six, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter because the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

So by committing adultery, you've not only committed sin before God, you've sinned against your neighbor, you've sinned against your neighbor's spouse, you've brought impurity and transgression into the community here and have transgressed and wronged a brother even in this way.

When somebody engages in sexual immorality, there's always more than one party that is involved in this thing. And so there is a transgression against another that has occurred in this as well. So the desire for purity is a desire for holiness for everyone in the community or in the church, not just yourself.

Consider also the way this is talked about in the instruction given in Hebrews 13, verse four, let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

So let marriage be held in honor among all, not just among those who are married, but everybody would keep the institution of marriage sacred by understanding God has given sex for marriage to be enjoyed between a husband and his wife.

It's not something that we are to be engaging in outside the bond of marriage because that's what God has created it for. So sex between a husband and a wife is very good. That's what God has meant for it to be for.

Sex outside of marriage is gonna be sexual immorality. It makes the person impure and it brings transgression not only upon the self who does it, but even others are affected by it. So let me come back to the catechism here.

The next part is, what is forbidden in the seventh commandment? Answer, the seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions. Because as it says in Colossians 3, 5, that we are to put to death what is earthly in us.

And then Paul says, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. A lot of those sins that are mentioned there are sins of thought, not just sins that are committed with the body.

So the seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions. Jesus said in Matthew 5, if you even lust after someone else, you have committed adultery with them in your heart. So that's the first of these commandments that Paul mentions here in Romans 13, 9.

What about the next one? You shall not murder. Let's consider this one from the catechism. What is the sixth commandment? The sixth commandment is you shall not kill. What is required in the sixth commandment?

Answer, the sixth commandment requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life and the life of others. So again, the commandment requires that we preserve our own life and the life of others. Suicide is murder.

I got into an interesting discussion about that on Twitter last year, the series of Christians who were trying to tell me that suicide was not murder, or by saying that to somebody that we're unloving of someone else.

No, the scripture says do not commit murder and destroying yourself is also murder. So this is kind of summarized in the catechism here. What is forbidden in the sixth commandment? Answer, the sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life or the life of our neighbor unjustly or whatsoever tends thereto.

Anything that would not value or cherish that life, but could cause an end to that life would therefore be a breaking of the sixth commandment. It would be murdering a neighbor. So here we have you shall not murder.

And Jesus says in Matthew chapter five, if you've even hated your brother, you have committed murder against him in your heart. Even this is a matter of the heart first before it's something that we commit with our body.

Murder is hatred of another person. It is destroying that which was created in the image of God. And so therefore, most of all, it is an offense against God. To commit adultery is to treat another person like an object to gratify the passions of the flesh rather than honoring God.

So that's why adultery is linked with idolatry because it is bowing at an altar of sexual immorality. Murder is destroying that which is created in God's image. So you can see how these two commandments are first offenses against the Lord.

What about the next commandment? You shall not steal. Let's consider this one from the catechism. What is the eighth commandment? Answer, the eighth commandment is you shall not steal. What is required in the eighth commandment?

Answer, the eighth commandment requires the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward state of ourselves and others. What you have earned, that belongs to you. That is your personal possession.

What someone else has worked for and earned, that belongs to them. That is their own personal possession. You do not take what does not belong to you. They do not take what does not belong to them. And in so doing, we further the wealth and outward state of ourselves and others.

You are upholding another man's dignity when you look at what he has and know that that belongs to him. It doesn't belong to you, it belongs to him. He's labored for it, he has earned it. And you consider his worth, his value, when you respect that property as his own.

That belongs to him, it doesn't belong to me. This incidentally is breaking down in our culture as Marxism is becoming more and more acceptable in the Western world, where your stuff doesn't really belong to you, it belongs to the state.

It's like it's publicly owned. That's an offense against God because nothing belongs to the state. Everything belongs to God. And God has said that a man owns what he has earned, what he has worked for and labored for and therefore possesses.

And as the catechism continues here, it says what is forbidden in the Eighth Commandment, the Eighth Commandment forbids whatsoever does or may unjustly hinder our own neighbor's wealth or outward state.

It doesn't matter whether you steal from your neighbor or the government steals from your neighbor, it's still theft and that is forbidden in the law of God. We continue on to this next commandment here, you shall not covet.

So the 10th Commandment is you shall not covet. We've skipped over false witness. That doesn't mean that Paul thinks it's unimportant, but just in the commandments that he summarizes here, we go to the last commandment, which is the one that specifically addresses a matter of the heart.

What is the 10th Commandment? The 10th Commandment is thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, his donkey or anything else that is your neighbor's.

That's Exodus 20, 17, that's what the whole verse says. So then what is required in the 10th Commandment? Answer, the 10th Commandment requires full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit towards our neighbor and all that is his.

So by coveting something that doesn't belong to you, you are in a sense saying to God that everything that he has given you is not enough. I'm not satisfied, I'm not good with what you've given me, God, I need this other thing in order to be happy.

And you've now made that thing an idol. As I just read to you from Colossians 3, 6, that covetousness is idolatry. So that thing that you need to have in order to have a fulfilled life, you've made God because you're not gonna be completely satisfied until you have that thing, that's idolatry.

And so anything that we desire, you don't even have it yet, you haven't possessed it, you haven't stolen, you haven't murdered your neighbor, you just want to have it and you're not satisfied until you can have it, that is a sin against your neighbor and it's a sin against God.

It is an uncharitable state of mind toward your neighbor and it's telling God that he's not giving you enough. What is forbidden in the 10th commandment? The 10th commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.

So being dissatisfied with what God has provided you is covetousness and therefore sin. And we must know that in Christ, we have been given everything. So if we love Jesus and we know that we have the forgiveness of sins, we know that there is laid up for us an eternal reward in heaven above and we are content with these things, then we are fulfilling the 10th commandment.

But if we long for stuff that does not belong to us, that we have not earned and we say in our heart, I will be happy once I get this thing, then we've made that an idol, we covet and we have sinned against God.

And the apostle Paul here says that all of these commandments you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, can be fulfilled, can be upheld, can be obeyed by loving your neighbor.

Any other commandment are summed up in this word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Verse 10, love does no wrong to a neighbor. All these other things, if we break those commandments, we do wrong to our neighbor.

If we love our neighbor, we're keeping those commandments and we are fulfilling the law. See, it's not enough to just say, well, hey, I'm not sleeping with my neighbor's wife, therefore I'm not committing adultery and I am keeping the seventh commandment.

Because again, as Jesus said, it's a matter of the heart. First, if you're lusting after somebody else, you're breaking that commandment. And so how do we fulfill the commands that have been given to us?

By showing love, by loving God and by loving one another, we are fulfilling what the law requires. Now we are unable to do this in a righteous way unless we have the righteousness of Christ. It is not possible for you to keep the law by your own strength, by your own merit.

We have to have the righteousness of Christ, doing all things to the glory of God. Christ's righteousness has been given to us by faith in Him. We are forgiven our sins and now we must walk righteously before God.

And in so doing, in keeping the commandments, we love God, we love our neighbor as ourselves, for love is the fulfilling of the law, amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for this word. Work this in our hearts today and may we know how to live this out in our respective lives, showing love to God and love to our neighbor, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, desiring to obey God and honor Him with our bodies.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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