Why don't you need the Ten Commandments drilled into you when you love others?
Under grace, the Holy Spirit empowers believers so love becomes the motivating power behind everything they do. When they love others, they automatically fulfill the Law. They will not steal, lie, gossip, covet, commit adultery, or kill, so the Ten Commandments do not need to be constantly taught or drilled.
Les explains that Paul is writing to believers about everyday practicality. He says, “love one another,” and “he who loveth another” under grace “hath fulfilled the law.” Under grace, believers do not have to have temple worship, a priesthood, animal sacrifices, or the Ten Commandments constantly drilled into them, because once they step under the light of grace and the Holy Spirit empowers them, love becomes the whole motivating power behind everything. Then they automatically fulfill the Law. Les illustrates: can you steal from somebody you love? Can you bear false witness or gossip about somebody you love? Can you covet what a loved one owns? No. Going through the whole gamut of the Ten Commandments, when love is operating, they all automatically fall away and no longer have to be taught and drilled. He says he does not have to tell you not to commit adultery, because if your Christian love is operating, you will not. “Thou shalt not kill” is obvious; you certainly are not going to kill somebody you love. Likewise, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and any other commandment is briefly comprehended in “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Verse 10 puts it in a nutshell: “love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore since love is the key, love is the fulfilling of the Law.” Les adds from Galatians 5 that faith worketh by love and love worketh by faith, and Paul asks the Gentiles who came out of paganism why they are being hindered after having run well.
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
More Questions
Why does love keep a Christian from committing adultery?
If a Christian's love is operating, they will not commit adultery, because love and adultery are mutually exclusive.
How does 'love your neighbor as yourself' sum up the other commandments?
The commandments against adultery, killing, stealing, bearing false witness, and coveting — and any other commandment — are briefly comprehended in the one command to love your neighbor as yourself.
What happens when love is operating in a believer's life in relation to the commandments?
When love is operating, the commandments are kept: you do not commit adultery, you do not kill, you do not bear false witness, you do not covet, and it comes down to 'love your neighbor as yourself' — statements drawn from the Ten Commandments.
How are all the commandments summed up in love your neighbor as yourself?
In Romans 13, all the commandments — not committing adultery, not killing, not stealing, not bearing false witness, not coveting, and any other commandment — are briefly comprehended in the single command, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
How does loving one another fulfill the law?
Under grace, when we have loved another, we have fulfilled the law.