Love Fulfills The Law
Joseph Fletcher, the infamous situation
ethicist, has popularized the anti-biblical and unreasonable concept that
nothing is right or wrong within itself; it all depends on the situation. Fletcher denies all absolutes except one--love. In his book, Moral Responsibility
(Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1967), Fletcher interprets the words of
Jesus in Matthew 12:3-4 to mean that "the ultimate norm of Christian
decisions is love: nothing else" (p. 17).
Fletcher argues that Christian ethics has an obligation to "tinker
with scripture" (p. 18). In other
words, we can manipulate the scriptures to justify our beliefs and
behaviors. Fletcher insists that the end
justifies the means (p. 22). The real
problem with Joseph Fletcher's emphasis on love as the only absolute is that he
fails to give any content to love.
No knowledgeable Bible student will deny the
Lord's emphasis on love. A Pharisee
asked Jesus, "Which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second is
like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets" (Mt.
The apostle John--the apostle of love--makes an application of some of the principles enunciated in 1 Corinthians 13. Please listen to these brief excerpts from John's first epistle. "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso has this world's good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his heart of compassion against him, how dwells the love of God in him. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:16-18) "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone who loves is of God; and everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God. He who loves not knows not God: for God is love....Beloved, if God so loves us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:7-8, 11).
Jesus expressed these powerful views: "A new commandment I give
unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved
you, that you also love one another. By
this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another"
(John
Tragically, many people in our world--including some who are devoutly
religious--believe that love is a kind of warm, fuzzy feeling. But love from a biblical viewpoint involves
concrete actions. What else could Paul
have in mind when he wrote as follows to the Romans: "Owe no man anything,
but to love one another: for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For this, You shall
not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not
bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment,
it is briefly comprehended in this saying, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. Love works not ill to his
neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:8-10).
The kind of love that fulfills the law must be based on biblical
principles. In many cases, it involves
what some would call "negativity."
Love must be positive in that the one loving will do good
unto all men as the opportunity arises (Gal. 6:10). But true love means refraining from actions
that hurt others. Paul utilizes five of
the Ten Commandments to show how love is the fulfilling of the law. I invite you to listen carefully as we examine
these five of the Ten Commandments and show how obeying them fulfills the law.
The seventh of the Ten Commandments demands: "You shall not commit
adultery" (Ex.
A summary of the points Solomon emphasizes in
these readings should be helpful. One of
the purposes God gave his law to the Israelites was to prevent their becoming
involved in immoral sexual relationships.
God lays down principles in his word that keep us from destroying
ourselves and from hurting others. If we
love God and one another, we are not going to engage in adultery. Solomon warns of the physical and financial
consequences of adultery. Adultery has
caused many men to lose their businesses and to destroy their peace of
mind. Solomon affirms that a man through
adulterous relationships can be brought to a piece of bread. His immoral conduct can cause him heartaches,
a guilty conscience and the loss of his family and friends.
Solomon asks two questions that illustrate
the utter stupidity of adultery.
"Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his
clothes not be burned? Can one go
upon-hot coals and his feet not be burned?" He
then draws this conclusion: "So is he who goes into his neighbor's wife;
whosoever touches her shall not be innocent." Adultery among modern men
and women may be thought of as being exciting and fun, but it violates the law of God and brings destruction on those who
engage in it. According to Solomon, the
man who commits adultery will have to give an account to the woman's
husband. Solomon uses an illustration
which helps us to understand the seriousness of committing adultery. When a man is hungry, he may steal to satisfy
his hunger. But if his theft is
discovered, he will have to pay seven times the worth of the food he has
stolen. We understand why a man would
steal when he is starving, although theft cannot be excused even then. But adultery belongs in a different
category. No man has to engage in sexual
activity to survive. So Solomon says
very plainly: "Whoso commits adultery with a woman lacks understandings:
he who does it destroys his own soul."
Adultery cannot be excused on any basis.
People who commit adultery are morally and spiritually foolish. They may describe their immoral behavior as
love, but it is nothing more than lust.
It comes from a heart that is not attuned to love of God and of one's
fellowmen.
A neighbor might forgive a thief for stealing
bread, but he will not forgive or ignore a man who commits adultery with his
wife. In truth, as all of us know, many
of the murders in our day are directly related to adultery. I am not trying to excuse murder--whatever
the rationale--but the man who knows that his wife is committing adultery may
kill both the wife and her partner. I
remember a case in
It ought to be obvious that one who kills
another, except in self-defense or in time of legitimate warfare, does not love
his fellowman. Yet in our day, not only
is murder rampant in the
Does the prohibition about killing apply to killing in the womb? May we kill the child who is born with some
gross abnormality? Incidentally, many
Americans seem to have more respect for snail darters than for human beings. Is it not time that we examine our attitudes
toward the sacredness of all human beings?
What I am pleading for is a biblical basis for our behavior. No person who believes the Bible to be the
word of God can destroy human beings just because they are unwanted,
handicapped and troublesome in some way.
Love for God and for our fellowmen demands that we treat others as we
want to be treated. Can we as a nation
ever have God's approval when we have so little regard for others?
Loving one's neighbor also includes not stealing. How can anyone claim to love his neighbor
when he steals his possessions? Does
this divine prohibition not show that personal property is sacrosanct? There is one sense in which we can be said to
own property for a brief period. We may
own a house for fifty or sixty or even seventy years, but no one can take his
property with him into the next world.
But the Lord gives us the right to own houses and lands and other
possessions while we live on this earth.
Stealing another's property is a serious offense--not just against the
laws of various countries, but against the law of God. The law of God certainly applies to the man
who breaks into houses and steals guns, jewelry and such like. But it also applies to the businessman who
engages in false advertising, over-prices his merchandise, sells shoddy goods,
takes advantage of his customers when there are emergencies and engages in
other immoral activities, even if those activities are not illegal.
An example of how some business
establishments take advantage of their customers in an emergency may be
helpful. About thirty years ago when
Molly and I were in the sporting goods business in
The law of Moses
forbad God's people and all others from bearing false witness. Can a man love his neighbor and lie to him or
about him? Many of us probably think of
bearing false witness only as it applies to the courts of our land and that is
a serious problem, but the law applies far beyond that practice. We can violate the ninth commandment by
simply lying to another about any item.
It does not have to in a court of law.
The book of Proverbs lists six things the Lord hates, yea, seven that
are an abomination in his sight. Will
you please listen careful to these "A proud look, a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet
that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he
who sows discord among brethren" (Prov. 6:16-19).
What is particularly disturbing is when influential leaders--whether political, educational, business or religious--deny their involvement in illegal or immoral activities when they know and others eventually learn that they are guilty as sin. When president Clinton pointed his fingers at the television cameras and denied any involvement with Monica Lewinski, he left a moral blot on the office of the president that will take years to remove. When preachers or other religious leaders are caught in illegal or immoral activities, deny their complicity, but later confess their evil deeds, their behavior hurts every religious leader and every religious organization. The ungodly behavior of religious leaders causes, many Americans--both old and young--to argue that all churches and preachers are corrupt. God will hold those leaders and their apologists accountable for their lying and for their deception.
The last commandment Paul lists in Romans 13
is God's law against coveting. The Greek
word translated "covet" literally means to fix the desire upon,
whether good things or bad. Simply
desiring an object does not constitute covetousness. If I want a new automobile, for example, and
I am willing to pay for it, that does not make me
guilty of covetousness. But when my
desire for an object drives me to use illegal or immoral means to obtain it,
then I am over-reaching and my desire becomes evil. And when I desire the forbidden, I can be
guilty of covetousness. God explained
all of this to Moses and the Israelites when he first gave the Ten Commandments. "You shall not covet you neighbor's
house, you shall not covet you neighbor's wife, nor his man
After listing these commandments from the law of Moses, Paul added: "Love works no ill to his
neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom.
Winford Claiborne