Love is the Fulfillment of Law - World Evangelical Alliance

With the Law Dies Love 15
How could this be possible since the central command of the New Testament
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” is an Old Testament quotation?
Let us have a look at the Old Testament quotation itself. In Lev 19,17 we
read: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall rebuke
your neighbor earnestly that you do not bear his sins”. Indifference and
lack of concern are the opposites of love. Either you hate your brother or
you will rebuke him according to the Law of God. It is only the next verse
that says: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the LORD” (Lev
19,18). The neighbor is not only the Jewish neighbor but also the foreigner:
“But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born
among you, and you shall live as yourself” (Lev 19,34). Those two verses
close a longer passage repeating all of the Ten Commandments with additions
detailing some of them (Lev 19,1-18). The Ten Commandments state
what God means by loving one’s neighbor, and it is not only love to live
according to those commandments, but also to rebuke brothers and sisters
not living in harmony with those commandments. Lev 19,18 summarizes
the commandments, especially the Ten Commandments.
Let us now have a look at the many places where Lev 19,18 is quoted in
the New Testament. Let us start with Jesus Himself. In Mt 19,19 Jesus
summarizes the Ten Commandments, which He quotes in a short version
to the rich young ruler with Lev 19,18. In Mt 22,35-40 Jesus is asked by an
“expert of the Law” (Mt 22,36) from the group of the Pharisees (Mt 22,35):
“which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Mt 22,36). Jesus answered
by combining Lev 19,18 and Dtn 6,5: “Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is
the first and greatest commandment. But the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself’. The whole Law and all the prophets hang on these
two commandments” (Mt 22,37-40).
Jesus is talking here about the Old Testament. The Old Testament depends
on love towards God and on the love of men coming from this love
towards God. Without this love the Law would not exist. In a parallel passage
in Mk 12,28-34 Jesus quotes the same two commandments and adds
“There is no commandment greater than these” (Mt 12,31). The scribe
asking the question affirms this answer is correct: To love God and one’s
neighbor “is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mt
12,33). Therefore Jesus tells him “You are not far from the kingdom of
God” (Mt 12,34). Every scribe could have known that all the commandments
were only regulations of love, and again I want to emphasize that
Jesus is talking here about Old Testament Law, not about something new.