Gal. 5:14

paulespino
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Gal. 5:14

Post by paulespino » Sun Mar 15, 2015 3:03 pm

I just want to share this verse.

Galatians 5:14 NIV

14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself"

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Paidion
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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by Paidion » Sun Mar 15, 2015 3:13 pm

That's a wonderful quote, Paul! Thank you.

I am not sure that "the law" in this verse refers to the law of Moses. I think that God has a Law which transcends the law of Moses, and even excludes part of it. Chapter 6 verse 2 refers to "the Law of Christ (Messiah)." Presumably this Law was expressed by Jesus in Matt 5,6, and 7.Someone called it "The Law above the law." When we love our neighbour, by helping him in his need, we have fulfilled the transcendent Law of God.
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

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paulespino
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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by paulespino » Sun Mar 15, 2015 5:56 pm

Thanks for your reply Paidion.
It seems to me that chapter 5 is the continuation from chapt. 4 in which Paul was telling the Galatians not to be enslaved by the law and therefore to put Gal. 5:14 in it's context Paul was referring to the law of Moses which includes the law of circumcision.

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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by dizerner » Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:11 pm

He leaves out here the primary commandment, love the Lord your God with all you heart. This verse always bothered me for this reason. I think putting God before anyone else is the supremely important thing, firstly as worship, but also due to the fact that I simply cannot love my neighbor without his love. So by loving God, my love for my neighbor is increased, but by trying to love the neighbor first, leaving God out of the picture, I become a broken cistern holding no water. Obviously elsewhere Paul leaves in the first commandment, so I assume here he wants to emphasize the relational side of the law, and emphasize that without the Work of Christ we do not fulfill it, and with that Work we do by the Spirit's life.

A verse like this, taken out of context, can imply a works religion where we all just try to be nice, good people and do our best, and that is somehow being Christ-like. Yet in the context of the passage, Paul was actually saying the opposite, that without the Work of the Cross we will never be able to truly love but instead manifest all these spiritual perversions, as fruit of our old Adamic nature. For Paul it begins and ends with him being crucified with Christ to finally be able to fulfill the lofty moralism preached on the Sermon on the Mount and ending with the ominous phrase "be perfect as your Father is." When Paul sets aside all of his own, old life, he finds the principle of Christ's life living again in him, and the difference between Try and Trust is as large and wide as between Heaven and Hell.

Paul clearly said "what the Law could not do, God did," and that Law was telling us "love thy neighbor." So to say the law is fulfilled in loving thy neighbor is true, to say any human being anywhere ever loved their neighbor truly, is false. If we try to obey the command to love our neighbor we bring the wrath of God upon ourselves, but if instead, by the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the flesh, we will find true love in the Cross applied to our heart. God did what we cannot do, therefore God actively does what we cannot do. God loved on the Cross, so through faith in that Cross, God can love again in me. Like his covenant with Abraham, sometimes God needs our own contributions out of the way, to be able to bring the perfection of the Heavenly Father that we so desperately need for our righteousness.

Therefore all the world's religions that preach the moralism of loving one's neighbor never demonstrate true, ultimate love; but Christianity does with Christ giving up deity to die on a cross. And all the world's religions preach good works to be moral like God, but Christianity preaches a brand new spiritual birth, because the flesh cannot please God, but must be crucified with Christ.

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TheEditor
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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by TheEditor » Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:23 pm

Maybe we are over-thinking this? I think John sums it up best when he says:

"If anyone makes the statement: “I love God,” and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should be loving his brother also." (1 John 4:20-21)

The logic of this is flawless; We cannot interact with God in the same way we can with one another; our families, friends, neighbors, etc. If we are unable to love those we can interact with in a very concrete sense, we cannot claim to love God whom we can only interact with in an ethereal or less tangible sense. We prove our love for God is real by loving our brothers and neighbors.

Regards, Brenden.
[color=#0000FF][b]"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."[/b][/color]

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Paidion
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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by Paidion » Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:59 pm

I see it much the same way as Brenden described. To truly love one's neighbour is to help him in his need. It is not merely to have a positive emotion, a good feeling toward him. Love is not emotion; it is action, though it usually involves emotion. But the good feeling is the consequent of the action and not the other way around. Similarly, to love God is to do his will—to serve Him. Again, it is not merely to have a good feeling toward Him, though the service to Him usually involves good feeling toware Him. But the good feeling is the consequent of the service and not the other way around.
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Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by Singalphile » Mon Mar 16, 2015 12:27 am

Galatians 5 is great (of course!) and encouraging and motivating. I agree, Paidion and TheEditor, but I would also just add (something you already will know) that even loving actions can be done without love. Paul says in 1 Cor 13:3 that "if I give all my possessions to feed the poor ... but do not have love, it profits me nothing."
... that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. John 5:23

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TheEditor
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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by TheEditor » Mon Mar 16, 2015 12:38 am

Good observations, both. And yes, Singalphile, what you say is true. Today they are referred to as "Tax Deductible Donations". :lol:

Regards, Brenden.

[color=#0000FF][b]"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."[/b][/color]

paulespino
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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by paulespino » Mon Mar 16, 2015 4:13 am

Thanks for your reply guys,

Most of you express your concern that love may become works but Paul stated that we do not love our neighbor by our own effort.

Ga 5:16–18
 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Paul stated that in loving our neighbor we must walk by the spirit so that love will not turn into the works of the flesh but instead it will be the works of the Holy Spirit Therefore whenever we do works such as the works of love we must do it together with the Holy Spirit.

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Re: Gal. 5:14

Post by robbyyoung » Mon Mar 16, 2015 5:07 am

paulespino wrote:Thanks for your reply guys,

Most of you express your concern that love may become works but Paul stated that we do not love our neighbor by our own effort.

Ga 5:16–18
 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Paul stated that in loving our neighbor we must walk by the spirit so that love will not turn into the works of the flesh but instead it will be the works of the Holy Spirit Therefore whenever we do works such as the works of love we must do it together with the Holy Spirit.
Hi Paulespino,

Everyone provided some excellent commentary. I would like to add a snippet regarding your closing remarks on "walk by the spirit". How does one accomplish this? Well, we also walk by "faith" in the truth of God's Word. Love conflates with everything, it's the glue that holds our Christian claims together. To be led by "The Spirit" is to fill your heart, soul and mind with God's Truth and then, BY FAITH, live it.

Galatians is indeed a pivotal teaching regarding the Christian Hope, God bless :) .

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