"‘If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well." James 2:8

Though many teach that fulfill is to take away, it could not be further from the truth in this case. Here, to fulfill the Commandments are to live out their spiritual intent. For example, Jesus taught us that to keep from committing adultery in the letter fell short of fulfilling the spiritual intent of the seventh Commandment.

To fulfill it means that you cannot harbor lust in your heart for someone you are not married to and if you do you have broken the Commandment. The Commandments mean far more than what we see in the letter. A similar example is when Jesus magnified the spiritual meaning of the sixth Commandment which forbids murder. Here, Jesus taught that if you have hatred in your heart for another person you have violated this Commandment.

Our text is followed by Jesus teaching that Christians should speak and act as "those who are to be judged by the law of liberty" referring to the Ten Commandments. Since so many teach that to observe the Commandments constitutes going into bondage, I think it is interesting that James refers to them as the Law of Liberty. God’s great moral Law of the Ten Commandments should not be confused with the laws added because of transgressions at Mt. Sinai - Paul plainly teaches that the Sinai Covenant and it’s Laws bring bondage to those in that Covenant.

Love is the fulfillment of the Law, -"Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other Commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (Rom.13)

Of course, this is referring to the second division of the Law -love for your fellow man and does not nullify Jesus’ teaching of the first part that the first Commandment to love the Lord is the greatest of them all. And Jesus said that those who love Him will keep His Commandments. Love and the Commandments are forever united. As love is the fulfillment of the Commandments, the Commandments are the fulfillment of love, -"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His Commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments." (1 Jo.5)

 

The truth is, we cannot keep the intent of the Commandments without the love of God. The Pharisees appeared to keep the Commandments, but it was in letter only and the spiritual intent was not written into their hearts. Jesus asked them, -"Why do you transgress the Commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" (Matt.15)

And Paul wrote, -"For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves." (Gal.6) If Jesus is living His sinless life in us, then the love of God is also operative and motivates our actions. In this love, we will not act selfishly, be envious, nor seek our own interests, but will seek the interests of God first and the interests of others over the interests of ourselves. (1 Cor.13/Phil.2)