Fulfilling the Law: Love Thy Neighbor

By: Rev. Robert Vergeson D.D.

Fulfilling the Law: Love Thy Neighbor

We can read all about Christian love, charity, and what a Christian church should be like in the New Testament. Christ spoke of love as being a virtue of patience and that love is kind. Love always protects, trusts, hopes, and it perseveres while never failing. We are told in the New Testament of the Bible in:

1 Corinthians 13: 7, 8, 13

7. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

It is clearly spoken that among the three graces, faith, hope, and love, that love is the greatest of these.

13. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Yet, if we have not love, we have nothing, even thou we may give all we have to the poor, or even if our faith moves mountains, if we do not have love, we have nothing. Let us return back to:

1 Corinthians 13: 2,3

2. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

However, when love is perfected in us, those faults or errors in us are forgiven. Christ has commanded us to love each other, as you have loved me, and my Father. If what we have read, and what we have been told by Christ to do, then love is certainly the greatest command we are given by Christ. Yet, if man follows not this command, but is contrary to this command, then man fails to fulfill the law. Back in 1 Corinthians 13 we discover:

1 Corinthians 13:10

10. but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

And throughout the New Testament we find the law repeated in:

Galatians 5: 14

14. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

John 15: 12,17

12. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
17. This is my command: Love each other.

What is easier for us to do, Love thy neighbor, or Hate they neighbor. For certainly Christ tells us that we are to Love thy neighbor as we love ourselves. Therefore, if we are full of hate toward some part of our lives, sins that may still govern us, then it would be difficult to love ourselves first, until this hate is given over to the Lord. And when we have been given this forgiveness, and replace the hate with love, then are we able to fulfill the law and love our neighbor. In:

Romans 13: 9,10

9. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
10. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

When the body of the church, the fellowship of many having obeyed the law, they seek together to fulfill the law through charity, Peter tells us to have charity among ourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. We are asked to be charitable in the many aspects of love, to be merciful, forgiving, and to share our love among our brethren in faith, and as well as those who are poor in faith. Therefore we are asked to lift up those who are lacking in faith, love, and hope by the charity of ourselves, and the body of Christ. If there are those among our community who struggle meeting ends meet, then we are asked to fulfill the law by reaching out with the abundance God has given us. If God has granted us his love, then we shall share this love with others. If we are forgiven of our sins, then we are asked to forgive others. If we are blessed with more then others, then we are to share this blessing, to equal ourselves with them, so that they stand together with us united in faith, hope, and love. In:

Romans 12:13

13. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality

Ephesians 4:13-15,32

13. until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
15. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

32. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Romans 13:10

10. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law

Our benevolence shall be built on a foundation of love that is strong, and unified in the body of Christ. As we all have different gifts bestowed on us by the Holy Spirit, each given accordingly their strengths, faith, and measure of hope. We remain one, a building built on the same foundation, but with many rooms and many doors that lead into this House of God where the Family of God worships and fellowships together. In:

Romans 12: 3-10

3. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
4. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5. so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
6. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
7. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
8. if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
9. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
10. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

In the House of God, some may enter a door that is clearly marked as the entrance to worship, while another may seek a door to administration, and others enter a door to spiritual education. The rooms can be many, each offering some aspect of Christ, giving the Family of God an opportunity to serve those who enter. These doors are not locked against non-believers, but beckon all to enter, in hope that the non-believer finds hope, discover their measure of faith, and encounter love that which will deliver them from sin. There should be just as many doors in the House of God, as there are rooms to enter. You cannot have a room without a door, for how shall you enter. Did not our Lord Jesus say in:

Matthew 7:7-8

7. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

If we do not provide these rooms in our House of God, and if we do not have doors to these rooms, then how can those seeking God be able to knock at a door if that door does not exist? We learn in:

Revelations 3:7,8
7. "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
8. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Like the church in Philadelphia, they have kept the word, nor denied his name. They kept open their doors to all.

The Families of God, these individuals who make up the House of God, are personal rooms within themselves among the many public rooms of the House of God. Most of these personal room have doors, and far to often to many with only just a window, which allows only a person to view what is in that room but unable to enter, but if they cannot enter that room, then viewing the room achieves nothing as the viewer only gets a veiled look. Even though we may be entering rooms through doors in the House of God, if we keep our own personal doors closed, or have door-less rooms, then are we fulfilling the Law Yet, many Families of God have just that, door-less rooms among the few public rooms with doors inside the House of God. These are the believers who have yet to build doors to the personal rooms they bring into the House of the God. They come to a house of God to worship in one large public room to which they hold great reverence too. They partake of the public doors of the House of God and nothing more, while they keep doors locked to their own personal room. These personal rooms have a few windows, often curtained, giving only a limited view within the room. Within the Body of Christ these personal rooms are people who have failed to fulfill the law to its fullest measure. They have failed to put off the old, and put on the new. In Ephesians 4:22-35 we learn that we where taught to do this very things.

Ephesians 4:22-35

22. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23. to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24. and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Yes, we are all members of one body, therefore, if we profess and confess that we are of Christ, then we are all members of one body. One body with doors open and rooms ready to receive all members of that body. The law says to love thy neighbor, not just one or two, or a select few, but thy neighbor. The law makes no lottery, where by we can chose whom we love.

The law is that to Love one another, yet if we as a Body of Christ, individuals who have personal doors among us closed, we are fulfilling only part of the law, not the whole law. The law very clearly tells us to not dissimulate among us, to love one and not the other. Therefore are we to open our door to one, but not the other, were is the equality and unification of love among brethren? Are we to have two standards, one where we present to believers, a room with an open door, and another we give to the non-believer, a room with a closed door? Are we not asked by Christ to love one another as we love ourselves? A closed-door can only mean that we are in doubt of this love for ourselves, therefore we shelter this doubt from others. In:

John 15:1-11

1. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
11. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Just as we as individuals have closed doors, so may the House of the God have unseen rooms that are not even viewed by windows. These rooms are the lack of the Body of Christ to provide public doors that which will invite its members to openly fulfill the law. Though we may have a part of our fellowship in Christ hiding personally behind locked doors, those who fear and have doubt about exposing themselves openly to others, in the Body of Christ, the House of God may be barring the fulfillment of the law by having these unseen rooms without doors. These rooms are the ideas, plans, talk and goals the House of God desires in fulfilling the law. Except for one reason or another they never get put into action. We have built a foundation for the House of God, we have filled our public rooms with the family of God, and certainly, we strive to fulfill the law. Yet, have we? For it is easy to speak about the need of these rooms, and to give a vision of these rooms (windows), we must put a door in the room so that we may actually walk through that door to partake of the gift of that room. If this room is a person, then building a door, is to open that room for others to enter with faith, love, and hope. Fellowship in Christ is all the rooms of the House of God being accessible to each other, not just a few. If the body of Christ is building door-less rooms, by offering just windows to look in, then this body needs to know how to build doors, for there are many waiting who need these doors open.

As each door is built or unlocked, and opened in us, then those unseen rooms in the House of God will also have doors open to them. Were we not asked in:

Romans 12:13 To:

14. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality

Hospitality is the key to opening doors into rooms we seldom enter, or see. Hospitality is each and every one of us in the Family of God fulfilling the Law. If we are fulfilling the law within ourselves, walking in Christ in the full measure of the law, then we are loving our neighbor. That is to say that we open not only our hearts to our neighbor, but our home, our wealth, our wisdom, our love, our faith, and our hope in Christ. To do less is to be ignorant of our neighbors needs, and to put our self above all others. For have we not already learned in:

Romans 12: 3-10

3. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Galatians 5: 14

14. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Romans 12:14

14. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
16. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
18. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Love, for Christ gave his life for us an act of everlasting love, shall we do less for our brethren. Without this love, we will never know what our neighbor needs from us. Shall we go blind in our walk in Christ never knowing that thy neighbor suffers in illness, that they are hungry both in body and spirit. Will we know that they are suffering in relationships, separation, and longing for comfort and fellowship? Are they having economic problems, lacking help, and guidance? Do they go to bed each night in fear of what tomorrow will bring? Do we sit in the comfort of our own home, snug in our own security of having faith and love in Christ, while the person we sat next two in church returns home feeling an outcast, unwanted, unloved. Have we become so confident in our own walk in Christ, that we walk alone in our faith believing we have fulfilled the Law?

If we have a misunderstanding of what that law is, are we truly walking in Christ? Love is more then the mental and physical aspect of life. Love is a spiritual act, where by we breakdown barriers, and we become more then a part of Christ, we become the whole Body of Christ, where we open not only our heart, we offer our soul, we share our spiritual and physical wealth in Christ. As a whole body of Christ, made up of many members, we are equal and unified in fulfilling the Law, and when there is an imbalance in the Body of Christ, we need to fix this imbalance. It is love that creates a balance through charity and benevolence of the Fellowship of Christ. There are no doors-less rooms which bar us from fulfilling the law, all rooms have doors, and they are always open, and the rooms that they beckon us to enter have no windows, where by others, may only view the fellowship from the outside in. Personally, in Christ we have no doors locked to ourselves, but openly present our love, the love we have for ourselves the love Christ has for us, and the love we share with others. Only in this may we fulfill the law “Love Thy Neighbor”. The House of God that can fully comply too this commandment is the Family of God who has every room in their house open to all others. The are not rooms with just windows, but rooms with doors beckoning, inviting, and encouraging the Family of God to enter and share each other lives together. The House of God that offers less, the Family of God that builds door-less rooms, can never fulfill the law. Each and every day in the life of the House of God should be spent building on the foundation that Christ as asked us to build. The Family of God needs to support that foundation by fulfilling the Law. The center of that foundation is Christ, all else shall be built around his Law, room after room, door after door, and Christian and non-believer after Christian and non-believer, until the law is fulfilled. And what a glorious day that will be when our House of God is full of love for each other, its neighbor, the poor, the needy, the hungry, the sick, those who mourn, those who seek, and those who love in Christ with all their heart and soul as one community in Christ, one family in Christ, one Body in Christ fulfilling the Law.

I would ask the family of God, is their house in order are there rooms without doors in their own lives, or the live of the House of God. If so, ask God, what can I do to open these doors and fill these rooms with love. And his answer is already written for us, for we shall find it in the love God had for us, by the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ who loved his Father, obeying his command to lay down his life for our sins.

John 15:8-14

8. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
11. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
12. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14. You are my friends if you do what I command.

Yes, we are Christ’s friends; if we do has he commands. When we fulfill the law, we are complete in Christ, and we shall have much fruit in our lives, being true Disciples of Christ. Now we may ask ourselves what must we do to continue fulfilling the Law, and what area’s in our personal lives, or even in our House of God, what we need to do.
As simple as the Law is, “Love Thy Neighbor”, it is just as equally easy to obey it.
Let me count the ways:

Know thy Neighbor, are they suffering, do they have needs, lack something, if they are seeking Christ, then offer a guiding hand. To achieve this open you life to them, open your home and get to know your neighbor. Your neighbor may actually be your next-door neighbor, or it may be someone you have crossed paths with in your work, shopping, or recreation. Most importantly, this neighbor is the person who you sat next to in Church, bible group, or social time at church. This person or persons may well be new to the church, seekers, visitors who are looking for the Love God has commanded us to share with our neighbor.

Are there those in the community who can benefit by the charity and benevolence of the House of God? Then lead others to fulfill the Law. Now regardless of the size of the House of God, charity and benevolence should always be a primary focus for the House of God right along side of bringing new seekers to God. The House of God should be calling those to lead and those to follow in fulfilling this Law. If the House of God neglects this charity and benevolence, they fail to fulfill the Law. There can be many reasons why the House of God does this. The topmost of this is money, next is willing warm bodies, third, setting goals, and directives to provide charity and benevolence. It is understandable that a small church needs first to start and build its own foundation up, and then to fill the pews, and rooms it has doors to. Therefore, reaching out in charity and benevolence may not be economically feasible. Thus a small church group may only be able to affect a very small program of charity and benevolence within their own small circle of believers. However, small or large, charity and benevolence starts at home. So a believer in Christ, not always the House of God, is the home by which charity and benevolence starts. When it starts here, the law is fulfilled, when it spreads throughout the House of God, because the body of Christ is active in fulfilling the law, then the House of God is fulfilling the law. Now it is as I have said understandable that a small church needs to focus on surviving and building growth. Their budgets for expenses are developed to make this surviving possible. Nonetheless, to fulfill the law, these budgets should always have a line item for charity and benevolence. As with a larger group it should be the same, a line item in the budget that encourages the body to give of themselves in fulfilling the law. If we fail to have this line item, at any stage of our growth as a House of God, we fail to teach the value of charity and benevolence in our body of Christ. So from the very start, this should be a part of the Body of Christ, so that they may fulfill the law. To do less is to teach that charity and benevolence comes second to all else.

Are there those among the Body of Christ who are stumbling in faith, or lacking some quality of life? Then know this neighbor do not assume they are okay or happy in their life. Know thy Neighbor, visit, call, go out of your way to bring to them the Love of Christ, and the charity and benevolence that starts in the home. If we wait for some directive from the House of God to act on our fulfillment of the Law, and as such directives are often delayed by church politics, policy and procedures, it is often that we wait on others to act first. This is not fulfilling the law. Charity and benevolence comes from the heart, a love that does not wait for procedures but acts without delay.

Are you rich in love, understanding, and wisdom of Gods love? Then open your door to your neighbor, be not afraid to love them as you love yourself. If you as a body of Christ, are blessed with a full abundance of love, understanding and wisdom of the word, and have this abundance within yourself, then to fulfill the law, Love thy Neighbor. Share this abundance, so that you may be equal in this Law among all others. As a body of Christ, in fellowship in Christ, worshiping in the House of God, equal among all others, then you are fulfilling the law.

As I have said charity and benevolence starts at home. If your life is rich in abundance, where others are poor, equal this gap between you. Give of your love and your wealth, the wealth you may have in time, the wealth you may have in skills, the wealth you may have in finances, and certainly the wealth you may have in knowing Christ and his love. Do not wait to share this wealth when need arises, but seek out the neighbor who is in need. For often they hide behind shame and guilt for having a need. Let your love for them erase this shame and guilt. To wait for them to come to you, is to never fulfill the Law within yourself. They who hesitate often miss an opportunity to serve and fulfill the law.

Together as a Body of Christ, seek ways to share you love for Christ, do more then just invite your neighbor to worship. Open doors for them that are often closed by others, those who lack love and fulfill not the Law. If you are secure in love, show others how they to can have this security. If you are happy in love of Christ, then show others how they to can be happy in love of Christ. If you are content in life, then show others how they to can be content. If they neighbor is separate from family, they share your family with them. Lift them up in fellowship in Christ; invite them to you home, so that they may share your bounty in Christ. This is the hospitality we are asked to provide in fulfilling the Law. Be not a shame of your circumstances in life, wealth of home, or social standard. For I assure you that there are those who have even less then you. Therefore should you shy away from fulfilling the Law? When believers are fulfilling the Law, equal among each other, then this shame shall be replaced by the Love of the Law.

Fulfill the Law. And if you are yourself, poor in the knowledge of the Law, seek those who can enrich you in the fulfillment of the Law. By sharing this enrichment you to shall benefit by the Law, knowing how to fulfill the Law. And if you know others within the Body of Christ who is lacking this knowledge then enrich them by sharing the benefit of the Law. Hide nothing, and keep all doors open. Love always, knowing that you will gain the full measure of the Law, equal among all others, blessed by God, loved by Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit. Ahmen.

This message has been brought to by God's Temple of Grace Ministries through the word of God as found in the Holy Writ, our Holy Bible, where we can all be inspired, and enriched by God's wisdom and truth for all mankind.

Article Source: http://www.religionarticlelibrary.com

For further bio information on the author please visit Http:\\www.geocities.com/revdocrobert, or visit the authors blog at http.\\todayschurch.blogspot.com for current blogs. Rev Robert D. Vergeson D.D. is an associate of the Universal Life Church and is the founder of God's Temple of Grace Ministry,(GTGM) currently a website ministry and hopes to in the near future to organize a physical body of members of the GTGM. Robert is a published poet and enjoy's sculpturing, painting, & writing.

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