Yes — the Ten Commandments are best understood as two relational spheres: love for God and love for other people.
Les Feldick points out that the word 'love' is absent from the Ten Commandments because love cannot be forced from outside; it must come from within. In Matthew 22, Jesus makes the connection explicit by calling love for God with all the heart, soul, and mind the first and great commandment, and placing love for one's neighbor right beside it. Les sums this up by saying the two boundary lines for believers are love for God and love for other people.
Matthew 22:37-39 — Jesus directly explains how the whole law, including the Ten Commandments, hangs on loving God and loving one's neighbor.
Romans 13:10 — Paul states that love is the fulfilling of the law, which is exactly the point Les makes about the commandments.
In Exodus 20, the Bible records the Ten Commandments given to Moses on tables of stone. They begin with exclusive loyalty to God — 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me' — and they go on to include commands about honoring parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, not bearing false witness, and not coveting. The Bible nowhere in the Decalogue itself says the word 'love,' yet Jesus later interprets the whole law in terms of love. In Matthew 22:37-39 He says, 'Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' Paul then confirms, in Romans 13:10, that 'Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.'
Les Feldick observes that the word 'love' is glaringly absent from the Ten Commandments as God gave them on the tables of stone. He explains the reason: no one can force another person to love, and love must spring from within. Because the law could only say 'don't,' it had no power to help anyone obey — it could only convict and condemn.
Les notes that when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, the word 'love' is glaringly absent. He then asks a simple question: 'Can any one of you force someone else to love you? You can't force someone to love anybody.' Love has to rise from within the person; it cannot be produced by an external law. That is why the law itself had no power to help—it could only stand and condemn.
Les points his readers to Matthew 22, where Jesus gives the two great commandments: love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind, and love thy neighbour as thyself. These two commands, Jesus said, are where the whole law and the prophets hang. For Les, this is the key to the Ten Commandments—they are not just a list of rules but the expression of our relationship to God and our relationship to other people.
Les teaches that even under grace, love is the dominant force in the believer's life. 'Love is the fulfilling of the Law,' he says, so when love is operating, the believer does not commit adultery, does not kill, does not bear false witness, and does not covet. He describes two boundary lines that confine believers: love for God and love for other people. These keep us within the guidelines of God's commandments. Les also notes that Paul repeats nine of the Ten Commandments in his epistles, the only exception being the Sabbath.
Les teaches that coveting is the inner trigger behind many of the outward violations of the law. 'You cannot kill unless you covet. You cannot steal unless you covet. You cannot commit adultery unless you covet. You cannot destroy someone's character with false gossip unless you covet.' Even profanity, he says, often comes from coveting attention. So the root problem that violates love for God and love for neighbor is the covetous heart.
Love Absent From the Ten Commandments
Les points out that the word 'love' never appears in the Ten Commandments as God gave them to Moses, then directs us to Matthew 22 where Jesus summarizes the law in terms of love for God and neighbor.
Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law
Les explains that when love is operating, a believer will not commit adultery, murder, bear false witness, or covet, and that Paul repeats nine of the Ten Commandments except the Sabbath.
Law Cannot Force Love
Les emphasizes that no one can force another person to love, so the law had no power to help anyone obey—it could only convict and condemn.
Coveting Triggers Lawbreaking
Les shows that coveting lies behind murder, theft, adultery, false witness, and even profanity, making it the root that violates love for God and neighbor.
Ten Commandments as Social Behavior
Les teaches that the Ten Commandments are not a religious doctrine but the mind of God for mankind's good, so they remain the standard for social behavior.
Love for God and Neighbor as Boundaries
Les describes two boundary lines for believers: love for God and love for other people, which keep us within the guidelines of God's commandments.
Commandments Are Eternal and Holy
Les stresses that the Ten Commandments are perfect, righteous, holy, and eternal, and that every person—believer or atheist—will be judged according to that law.
What Does Revelation 22 Really Mean? Eternity Explained
In other words, pray without ceasing. What is that? It's a commandment. When Paul writes, resist the devil and he'll flee from you. What is that? Well, it's a commandment. And all the way through, these things that God has put into words become commandments, not just the Ten, although certainly they are valid as far as they go.
Exodus 20:3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
The opening commandment requires exclusive devotion to God, which is the foundation of loving Him above all.
Matthew 22:37-39: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Jesus points directly to love for God and love for neighbor as the two commandments on which all the law and the prophets hang.
Romans 13:10: Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Paul states that love is the fulfilling of the law, which Les explicitly applies to the Ten Commandments.
Les Feldick says the word 'love' is glaringly absent because love cannot be forced. No one can force another person to love, and love must spring from within the heart. This is why the law itself had no power to help—it could only stand and condemn.
Jesus said the first and great commandment is, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' He then said the second is like it: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' These two commands, He said, are where all the law and the prophets hang.
Les Feldick teaches that believers are under grace, not under law, but the moral content of the commandments is not canceled. Paul repeats nine of the Ten Commandments for believers, with the Sabbath as the exception. Love for God and love for other people are the two guidelines that keep believers within God's commandments.
Watch the Teaching: The Ten Commandments Explained: Why "Love" Isn't Mentioned