The Law of Love

It is transgression of God’s law—the law of love—that has brought woe and death, (SC 9).
“The law of God is as sacred as God Himself. It is a revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, the expression of divine love and wisdom,” (Patriarch’s and Prophets 52). As God Himself is love, and the law of God is a transcript of His character, so His law is love and the only acceptable obedience to His law is love itself. Love is foreign to us, it is “of God,” (1 John 4:7). It is a gift, a fruit, a manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, “but the fruit of the Spirit is love,” (Galatians 5:22). Herein lies humanities problem after the Fall. Our nature changed. We could no longer render obedience to God’s law of love, His will of beneficence. We lost the image of God in our innermost being. We are no longer “subject to the law,” (Romans 8:7). Love, the divine constraint and spring of every action, was lost, and “selfishness took the place of love,” (SC 17). The whole Plan of Redemption, in simplicity, is the restoration of love in the heart of man that once again he may be in perfect accord with heaven and its spirit and render obedience to God’s law of love. In the Bible this vital, life-transforming transaction is spoken of as a “new heart.” “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh,” (Ezekiel 36:26). But His word doesn’t stop there. The following text brings to light the essence, the fundamentals of Christianity—And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them, (v. 27)—God’s will of love and man’s recognition of it and his total heart surrender to it that the Father may accomplish in Him the necessary change. Restoration, Reconciliation, and eternal Reunion compose the glorious purpose and wonder of the gospel. As God condescended to dirty His hands in the formation of man from the dust of the earth so He, Emmanuel, “God with us,” (Matthew 1:23), condescended and “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” (Philippians 2:6, 7). But the wonder of the gospel is that not only is pardon freely proffered through the sacrifice of Christ but power is extended to every believer. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,”(Romans 1 :16). This power is Christ Himself—Love. It is freely given and when eagerly received effects the desperately needed transformation in the heart of man. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe on His name,” (John 1:12). He will not rest until we are a “chip of the old block.” The gradual and ever-increasing reception of the love of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, is sanctification itself. The great antagonist of love is selfishness and pride which man is all too familiar with. “Pride feels no need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the infinite blessings He came to give,” (SC 30). “To all, there is but one answer, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29),” (SC 19). Christ alone can accomplish the change in us whereby we are to be brought back into harmony with the Father. “Without Me,” He said, “ye can do nothing,” (John 15:5).

My song is love unknown, My Savior’s love to me, Love to the loveless shown, That they might lovely be. O who am I that for my sake My Lord should take frail flesh and die? (Samuel Crossman, Hymn 188—My Song is Love Unknown)

Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down; Fix in us Thy humble dwelling, All Thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure unbounded love Thou art; Visit us with Thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart. (Charles Wesley, Hymn 191—Love Divine)