Law and Love

Dun-Dun! I would be surprised if you didn’t recognize this sound clip from the show “Law and Order.” I am amazed when I think I started watching this show back when I was . . . 25 years old! Considering I’m 58 now, I have been watching this show (the original, of course) for 29 years.  If I am traveling, I know that somewhere there is a Law and Order marathon in some channel, hopefully an episode where Jerry Orbach is playing detective Lenny Briscoe.

The premise of the show is that, without Law there is no order and so, the faithful application of the Law produces order. Thinking about Pastor Ken’s message on Sunday, one of the messages of the book of Galatians is that faith is the vehicle by which the Law will guide us to love.  However, as we consider this first, we need to understand that when Paul is referring to the Law, he is referring to the Torah, which in the Jewish definition means instruction. For the Jewish people, the Law is the instruction on how to live according to God’s instructions and guidance.

Paul makes a clear statement in Galatians 5:14 when he says, “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Fulfilling all the Law, fulfilling the instruction that God has given humanity, is actually a great concern for religious Jews today and it certainly was in those days as well.  I marvel today at all the things that they do in their desire to fulfill every one of the 365 commandments. And unfortunately, the Galatians wanted to keep trying to do that using the old ways.  That is why Paul has to tell them over and over “Why are you trying to do what you know doesn’t work?” The Galatians had not taken into consideration what the new covenant had given them: faith.

Faith is the vehicle which helped them and help us today to make the connection between law and love. In the Law, we are dead and prisoners. But now we are free in Christ.  That’s what He did, he freed us from the consequence of the Law which is the wrath of God.  And He did that because He loves us.  And, as the song goes, if you love somebody, set them free. That was Jesus did and so, like Braveheart, we can scream Freedom!!!!!