Romans 8:4
Love is the Core
Romans 8:4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
In verse three, we read that Jesus condemned sin in the flesh. The sentence does not end with a full stop but continues in verse four after a comma, that the righteous requirements of the law may be fulfilled ……
The word righteousness in the Greek means divine approval; in other words, the approval of God.
According to the law, we do not meet the approval of God, as we have all sinned. Yet God imputes righteousness.
In Romans 4:21, we read that Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to fulfil all that God had promised; therefore, righteousness was imputed to Abraham. Abraham received God’s divine approval. In like manner, we believe in God who raised Jesus from the dead, and we are imputed with righteousness.
As a result, we are permitted to approach God and be in His presence because of His approval. We meet his standard of holiness; we have full legal rights. In our bodies in the flesh, there is no way that we can fulfil what is required to please God.
That is why God sent His only begotten Son. Love motivated God to fulfill what was needed to bring us into right standing with Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
It is important to note that the requirements are fulfilled in us. The approval is not an outer action but a result of what has been completed in our spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Our spirit mingled with God’s Spirit is the very Spirit according to which we walk. The Spirit of life is in our human spirit. If we walk according to this mingled Spirit, all the righteous requirements of the law will be fulfilled spontaneously.
Romans 13:8-10 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
We do not need to keep the law to receive God's approval. The requirements of the law are fulfilled spontaneously by the law of the Spirit of life. God is love; therefore, our spirit mingled with His Spirit makes us to be love. The core of God is love.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.
Now replace the word love with your name. Use the scripture below, taken from the Message Bible.
You never give up. You care more for others than for yourself.
You do not want what you do not have.
You do not strut,
You have not got a swollen head,
You do not force yourself on others,
Not always “me first,”
You do not become extremely angry,
You do not keep score of the sins of others,
You do not revel when others grovel,
You take pleasure in truth,
You endure in all things.
You trust God always,
Always looking for the best,
Never looking back,
But keeps going to the end.
1 John 4:17-19 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Love fulfils the requirements of the law. The core of the law is love.
Amen
