When I taught my message again on “What is Love,” I added a short section at the end to discuss how it is not the goal of the Christian to fulfill the Old Testament Law. I decided to emphasize this fact because of how often I’ve heard it said, and how often I’ve said myself, that Jesus explained that the first and greatest commandment along with the second commandment (to love God with everything and love your neighbor as yourself) are what the Law and the Prophets hang on. In saying this, he conveys the idea that if any individual had been able to do those two things perfectly–loving God and loving man–then they would have been able to fulfill all the Law and the Prophets.
My concern is that those hearing this may walk away with the misconception that we must love God and love man so that we can fulfill the Law. Jesus made it clear that he came to fulfill the Law. So, we don’t have to. In this short clip (just over ten minutes), I walk through the scriptures to explain how it is not the goal of the Christian to fulfill the Law of Moses. I believe that it is worth your time to take a listen.
I’ve also attached my notes to this post for “What is Love” because my notes on this “law fulfilled” topic were added as “APPENDIX: The Law Fulfilled—Righteousness Imputed” to the end of that document.
