If I am truly living in the Kingdom of the Heavens, living under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, God will be fulfilling the purpose of the Law through me, the same way Jesus did during his earthly ministry. But If I use my freedom as an opportunity for my flesh, to mistreat or exploit my fellow believers, I am breaking the Law. If I bite and devour another believer, I have broken the whole Law--and I should fear being bitten and devoured myself. If I teach others that there are exceptions to the Law of Love, I am teaching others to "break" God's commandments and am the least in the Kingdom. Whenever I let the Holy Spirit do his walking through my feet, his work through my hands and his speaking through my mouth, I am free from the Law, free to do whatever the Spirit directs. I won't be doing what the flesh tells me to do, biting and devouring my fellows. The Spirit then fulfills the Law in me, and I am free.
The way to greatness in the Kingdom of the Heavens–God’s rule in the heavens all around us–is to “do and teach” God’s “commandments, and the way to be insignificant in the Kingdom is to “break” God’s “commandments:”
But what are God’s “commandments,” and how do I “keep” them? And what does it mean to “break” a commandment?
“Keeping” God’s commands can’t mean keeping every rule any religious authority finds to be required or implied by the Law of Moses. And failing to observe every detail of any such rule on any occasion cannot be what it means to “break” a commandment. Jesus himself famously “broke” the Sabbath regulations, as prescribed by the authorities of his day, and permitted his disciples to disregard the ceremonial purity/washing regulations, when “breaking” these regulations showed compassion.
And if { am really bound to keep all of the regulations strictly and to the letter, where is the freedom Jesus said he came to give me?
The answer to these questions is that, if I am truly living in the Kingdom of the Heavens, living under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, God will be fulfilling the purpose of the Law through me, the same way Jesus did during his earthly ministry:
I was called to freedom.
I am free to love my brothers and sisters in Christ, first of all. We are free to love and serve each other. And I am free to love my neighbor.
If I love my neighbor as myself, something God must and does give me the ability to do when I let him do it, I am fulfilling the Law. I am fulfilling the whole Law, not breaking any part of it.
On the other hand, the warning of this passage is also true. If I use my freedom as an opportunity for my flesh, to mistreat or exploit my fellow believers, I am breaking the Law–even if I am careful to “keep” the details of every regulation Moses gave. If I bite and devour another believer, I have broken the whole Law–and I should fear being bitten and devoured myself!
If I teach others that there are exceptions to the Law of Love, I am teaching others to “break” God’s commandments and am the least in the Kingdom. So, for example, if I teach others that it is perfectly OK to take my own revenge sometimes, if I am hurt particularly badly or hurt by the violation of particular rules or norms, where the Law of Love says not to take my own revenge but to show love to my offender instead (Romans 12:19-21), I am teaching people to break God’s commandments. If I teach others that there are exceptions to Jesus’ command to show love to those I know I have offended by seeking to reconcile with them, I am teaching others to break God’s commandments. And if I teach others that they may–or should or must–treat certain believers as nonexistent or less than human, or simply ignore their needs or actively hate them, because of their offenses or because of other characteristics, I am teaching people to ignore God’s commandments. I am the least in the Kingdom.
The only way I can truly fulfill the Law of Love that leads to freedom is to “walk by the Spirit,” that is, to let the Spirit do his walking through my feet:
Whenever I let the Holy Spirit do his walking through my feet, his work through my hands and his speaking through my mouth, I am free from the Law, free to do whatever the Spirit directs. I won’t be doing what the flesh tells me to do, biting and devouring my fellows. The Spirit then fulfills the Law in me, and I am free.
Email me: Ian Johnson.
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