The Righteous Requirement of the Law

The theme of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is righteousness. In this Epistle Paul explained to the Christians in Rome how to achieve righteousness without observing Moses Law.

Paul said, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3, 4, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some observations:

1. Because of the sinful nature of the natural man it is not possible for anyone to achieve righteousness by keeping Moses Law. The Law was given by God and therefore perfect (Rom 7:12). But, the fault was not in the Law; the fault is in us. God has never expected us to achieve righteousness by keeping the Law of Moses.

2. Therefore, God has provided an alternative way through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus gave His life as an atonement for the sins of all those who have broken the Law and also for the sins of those who have not been under the Law.

3. For those who believed and are walking in the Spirit the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled.

The Scripture revealed that even Old Testament saints were concerned about righteousness.

Job asked the question, “Truly I know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God” (Job 9:2)?

Hundreds of years later God gave the answer in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (Romans 8).

Love is the Righteous Requirement of the Law

The following verses of Scripture confirmed that “LOVE” is the righteous requirement of the Law.

1. A lawyer was testing Jesus by asking Him which was the great commandment in the law.

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:36 – 40, NKJV, emphasis added).

The Law and the Prophets represent the entire Old Testament Scripture. Jesus indicated that the first two of the ten commandments of loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves fulfilled the Old Testament righteousness.

2. Paul said, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal 5:14, emphasis added).

The one word is “love”.

3. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 34, 35, emphasis added).

“To love one another” is the only New Testament commandment to fulfill all the ten commandments. By loving one another Christians are showing the world that we are His disciple. This is the testimony Christians will reach the whole world for Christ!

4. Paul wrote to Timothy, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion” (1 Timothy 1:5, 6, NAS, emphasis added).

God is seeking “love” in His people which expresses in three ways – through a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. This is the kind of love that Paul expected Timothy to express through his instructions (teaching and preaching) to Christians believers.

In my opinion if you are a Pastor you must aim at producing love in the people who listen to you. If you are not aiming to producing love everything else is just idle talk or vain discussion and empty words! The goal of all Christian ministry is love. The will of God for Christian living is the consistent expression of divine love.

The Evidence of Being Born Again

Most apostles said the evidence of being born again is “love”.

1. Peter wrote to the Jewish believers who had been born again but were struggling in the midst of persecution:

“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:22, 23, NKJV, emphasis added).

It is clear that the primary evidence of being born again is to love one another fervently with a pure heart. Being born again is therefore a total life transformation.

2. John said, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:14, 15, emphasis added).

Clearly, a person who is born again has passed from death to life.

3. Paul wrote to the Church in Thessalonians, “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9, emphasis added).

4. Paul said, “Therefore be imitators of God dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1, 2).

As God’s children if we are imitators of God we will walk in love because “God is love” (1 John 4:16).

In my opinion, in the contemporary Church many people who claim to be born again do not want to undergo any radical life transformation. They just want to be respected as being born again Christians. They only think of themselves as nice people who go to Church and are heading to heaven. To them Christianity becomes a cliche and no more than a passport to heaven. Their relationship with God is not secured but shaky.

The Evidence of Knowing God

The primary evidence of a person who claims to know God is “love”. This is logical, because as God is love (1 John 4:16), a person who does not know God does not know what “love” is!

John said, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:7 – 9).

Notice that the “love” that John spoke about is “love of the brethren” or “brotherly kindness” referred to in 2 Peter 1:7. This is different from the “natural affection” that Paul referred to in 2 Timothy 3:3 which is the type of natural love shown by both the natural man (unconverted man) and Christian toward his family members.

How God imparts love to His people?

“Love” is not one of nine gifts of the Spirit, but nevertheless it originates from God and it is a gift of God for His people. The Scripture reveals two ways by which God imparts love to us.

1. By the Holy Spirit

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5, emphasis added).

Paul was talking about divine love here. The word for “love” is the Greek word “agape” which is God’s own love. Agape love is not humanly achievable except by the Holy Spirit. We can never produce agape love in our natural man.

After the new birth, in the new nature that is produced by the new birth, the Holy Spirit pours out the totality of God’s love into our heart. There is no limit of this love, but the limit is our receiving it (Read John 7:37 – 39).

2. By His Word

Genesis Chapter One shows that creation took place when God spoke His Word in the presence of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2, 3). Similarly, love being a creation of God, created in us also by His Word and the Holy Spirit.

Divine Love is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit

As mentioned earlier, God poured out His divine love in us without measure by the Holy Spirit. But, most of us are unable to receive the full measure of His love even when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Divine love, like all the rest of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23), takes time to grow. As we grow in the knowledge of Him, His divine power in us causes us to grow in “all thing that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

Peter continued to say:

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, the self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love (2 Peter 1:5 – 7, NKJV, emphasis added).

Peter wrote about the progress in the Christian life. There is an up-building of the Christian character; the climax is divine love. It takes six steps to get there. We need to add these steps to our walk of faith in Him.

1. Virtue – or excellence. The first thing you do when you have been saved is to become excellent. When you are a doctor before you are saved then you become an excellent doctor. When you are a slave before you are saved then you become an excellent slave.

2. Knowledge – the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God is revealed through His Word. So, we have to read the Scripture “Till we come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

3. Self-Control. Without self-control you’ll give in to lust, excessive appetite, yield to ungodly emotion and lose your temper. Without self-control you’ll fail to make progress in your Christian life.

4. Perseverance – endurance. In the process of maturing as a Christian you’ll encounter tests, trials and obstacles. Without perseverance you’ll give up. But Jesus said, “He who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mark 13:13).

5. Godliness. A godly person carries the presence of God with him wherever he goes. When he enters the room God enters with him.

6. Brotherly kindness – brotherly love. This is your love for your brethren. It means loving your fellow-believers. We need to admit that not all Christians are easy to love!

7. Love – divine or agape love. This is the climax of the Christian walk. This is the kind of love that helps us to love our enemies; love the people who persecute us, who don’t understand us, who are difficult to reason with.