If there is one book that highlights the dangers of mixing grace with law it’s Galatians. Which is why I am always surprised when people use Galatians to mix grace with law.
You wouldn’t think it was possible. It’s like opening a cookbook and finding recipes for poison. It’s like finding yeast in your matzah.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. (Galatians 5:9)
While writing my commentary on Galatians, I did a lot of reading. I was surprised at how often I found people trying to sneak a little law into Paul’s masterpiece on grace. It usually happened with this verse:
For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)
You have to admit, this is an unusual verse to find smack-bang in the middle of Galatians. Quoting law in a book warning about the dangers of the law is like finding a rock in a box of chocolates. It should lead us to ask questions, like this:
Is love your neighbor part of the new covenant?
No. This is from the Law of Moses (Lev. 19:18). It is 100 percent old covenant. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad law. “Love your neighbor” is a good law, an excellent law. But it is still a law, which means it has no relevance to your walk with God.
For you are not under law… (Romans 6:14)
Yet people say things like, “we must keep the law of love” and “God commands us to love our neighbors.” Hmm. The Jews having been trying to keep the “love your neighbor” law for 3,500 years. How’s that working out?
(I’m not picking on the Jews. We all fall short of God’s standards.)
If you think keeping the “law of love” is going to make you righteous and holy, or a better person, you are as foolish as the Galatians. And if you tell others that God commands them to love their neighbors, you are putting law on them. You are pushing them away from grace and promoting dead works.
Which begs the question:
Why does Paul quote an old covenant law in a new covenant letter?
Paul is not preaching a law you must obey. Read the verse in context with the one that follows and you will see that he is using the law to expose the hypocrisy of the law teachers. “Your hostility towards me and your attacks on each other prove that you are unable to keep the law that you are preaching.” It’s a devastating body blow to the legalists.
Like all the Laws of Moses, the “love your neighbor” law is not a law we can keep, and Paul is not suggesting we try. He is warning the Galatians, “These law preachers are phonies. Don’t listen to them.”
But didn’t Jesus quote this law?
Jesus quoted the “love your neighbor” law on numerous occasions and most of the time he did so in an old covenant context. For instance, when asked about the greatest commands in the law, he said “Love God and love your neighbor” (Matt. 22:36–40). If you were to rank the Laws of Moses, these are the top two. But these laws have no relevance in the new creation.
“Love your neighbor” is a great law, and how wonderful the world would be if we could love our neighbors. But history proves that we are incapable of loving our neighbors. Thankfully there is a better law called the Law of Christ. See if you can spot the difference:
Law of Moses: Love your neighbor
Law of Christ: Love one another as I have loved you
Jesus called his commandment a new commandment, meaning it was a new kind of commandment (John 13:34). The old commandment relied on your flesh – which is why we can’t keep it – but the new commandment is powered by God’s grace.
Do you see? The Law of Moses demands that you keep the law day in, day out, even if your neighbors are not the nicest people. But the Law of Christ only asks that you receive Christ’s love. Receive, receive, receive.
Christ loves us first, and as we receive from the abundance his love and grace, we find ourselves able to love others, our neighbors, even our enemies.
All this is to the glory of his grace.
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The latest installment in my grace-based series on the Parables of Jesus, “The Parable of the Minas”, has just been released on Patreon. It is also available on E2R’s Supporters’ Page.
