Love! That is the fulfillment of the Torah. Words that are so true, but not new. We have moved from chapter 10 to chapter 13 in Romans and the topic of love fulfilling the Law. What did Paul mean by this? Was it to say that if we love then you do not have to do the commandments? Let’s take a look:
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Roman 13:8-10
I think everyone can agree that we should love each other. Yeshua said the two greatest commandments were to love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, soul and mind and the second to love your neighbor as yourself and on these two commandments hang or depend the whole Torah and the Prophets. What does love mean? Is love some feeling you get? You know, like when you are in middle school and you see that girl and you blush and start to sweat. Or is love something else?
In 2 John 1:6 we are told love is walking according to His commandments. Paul says loving your neighbor is not committing adultery, murder, theft, to covet, or any other commandment. Paul is affirming what John said, love is performing these commandments plus any others that would show love to your neighbor. Paul is not stating love is the only commandment or love replaces these commandments. For the two greatest commandments that Yeshua gave were quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. To love is all throughout the Torah. We are to love G-d, to love our neighbors.
For those who may think that when Paul says that these commandments are summed up in this say…Paul is not stating to get rid of commandments. It is like giving a speech and you state in your conclusion paragraph “to sum it all up”. In other words, let me compress what I just said in a simple way for you. The Greek word anakephalaioō does not mean replace, but to sum up, to condense.
To sum this up :), Paul is not stating to have some nebulous feeling for your neighbor, but to love your neighbor through the commandments. Showing them your love as the MaShiach shows us His love continually.
Until next time…kadosh, kadosh, kadosh is HaShem!
Yochanan's Thoughts 