“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).
In the Old Testament, God established a covenant with the children of Israel and gave them a series of commandments to guide them. As they assembled before Him in the wilderness, He gave them a long list of “dos” and “don’ts” that had grievous penalties if disobeyed.
As hard as the children of Israel tried, they couldn’t obey all the commandments. Worse still was the fact that if they broke just one commandment, they had broken the whole Law. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).
God saw their helpless situation and came to the rescue. He sent His Son to die in their place. The Bible says. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:13-14). Through His death on the cross, Jesus abolished the Law of Moses and gave us a new law; the law of love.
All God expected the children of Israel to do are fulfilled in this new law. The Bible says, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). In other words, if you walk in the law of love, you won’t have to bother about obeying the Law of Moses because you won’t steal, lie, or covet from people you love.
As a new creation, life doesn’t have to be a struggle because you’re not trying to obey commandments. You were born with the nature of love; therefore you can love people naturally for love is a fruit of your recreated human spirit.
Prayer
Dear Father, I thank you giving me your nature of love. Life is easy and beautiful for me as I walk in love today, expressing your nature and character to everyone I come in contact with, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further Study
1 Timothy 1:9
Romans 13:10
(Taken by permission from Christ Embassy Church , aka Believer’s LoveWorld Ministries , Lagos, Nigeria. www.ChristEmbassy.org )
