Love is absent from the Ten Commandments as a command because love cannot be forced; it must spring from within.
The Ten Commandments were written on tables of stone and could only convict and condemn; they had no power to make a person obey. As Les Feldick explains, no one can force another person to love, so love was never given as one of the ten demands. Under grace, love becomes the fulfillment of the Law from the heart rather than a written rule.
Romans 13:10 — This verse states that love is the fulfilling of the law, showing why the Ten Commandments are not about forcing love but about measuring the heart.
1 Corinthians 13:4 — Les uses this to show that true love naturally keeps the commandments, such as not coveting.
The Bible shows that the Ten Commandments are external laws. In Romans 7:7, Paul asks, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." The commandment "Thou shalt not covet" reveals that the Law speaks to inward desire, not merely outward behavior. Romans 13:10 states, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." This places love at the center of the Law's purpose. Instead of being a separate command, love is what fulfills the commands. In 1 Corinthians 13:4, the Bible describes love as "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." This connects love to the commandment against coveting, showing that love and law are not enemies; love is the inward reality the law points to.
Les Feldick emphasizes that the Ten Commandments were written on cold, unmovable tables of stone and could do nothing but condemn. The Law had no power to stop a person from stealing or committing adultery. He points out that even if a person is told to love the Lord, love cannot be forced — it has to come from within. This is why the Law was not a love system; it was a command system that only exposed sin. Under grace, everything changes. Les teaches that love becomes the dominant force in the believer's life. Love is the fulfilling of the Law, so when love is operating, the believer does not commit adultery, does not kill, does not bear false witness, and does not covet. Paul repeats nine of the Ten Commandments in his epistles, with the Sabbath being the one exception. The believer does not obey "thou shalt" out of fear, but automatically, from a heart of love. That is the difference between law and grace.
Les says the Ten Commandments were written on cold tables of stone and stood in stark reality to convict and condemn. When it comes to the command to love God, he asks, "Can you force anybody to love someone?" He answers that it is impossible. Love must spring from within. The Law could only say "don't do it" or "you'd better do it"; it had no power to create a loving heart.
Under the Law, love was not the key — commandment was the key. But as soon as you get into grace, the emphasis becomes "love, love, love." Les says that in the believer, everything God said "thou shalt" does not become permissive; it becomes something that comes from within. A believer is not going to steal, commit adultery, or have a pagan idol. Love is the fulfillment of the Law, so it is not a written rule but the inward power that keeps the rules.
Les points out that commandments are not limited to the Ten. God commands husbands, "Husbands, love your wives" (Ephesians 5:25). He also observes that the New Testament contains commands like "pray without ceasing" and "resist the devil." These show that God does speak in commandment form about love. But in the case of the wife, Les notes that God never commands the wife to love her husband — love is something that must be freely returned from the heart.
Coveting is a Heart Issue
Paul quotes 'Thou shalt not covet' to show that the Law speaks to inward desire, not just outward actions.
The Law Cannot Force Love
Les says the Law written on stone only condemned and had no power to help; love cannot be forced and must spring from within.
Love Fulfills the Law
When love operates, the believer doesn't commit adultery, kill, bear false witness, or covet; love is the fulfilling of the Law.
Love Does Not Covet
The attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13 show that genuine love directly fulfills commandments such as 'Thou shalt not covet.'
Law Centers on Commandment, Grace on Love
Under the Law, love was not the key — commandment was; under grace, the emphasis is 'love, love, love.'
Grace Produces Heart Obedience
Under grace, 'thou shalt' becomes something that comes from within; the believer automatically keeps the commandments from a heart of love, except the Sabbath.
Love Commanded in Ephesians
God commanded husbands to love their wives, yet never commanded wives to love husbands, showing love cannot be demanded from within by law.
Commandments Beyond the Ten
Les uses New Testament imperatives like 'pray without ceasing' and 'resist the devil' to show that God's commandments are not restricted to the Decalogue.
Romans 7:7: What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Paul uses this commandment to show that the Law exposes the inward desire behind outward sin.
Romans 13:10: Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
This helps explain why love is not one of the Ten Commandments — love is what fulfills them all.
1 Corinthians 13:4: Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Les uses this to show that genuine love cannot covet and naturally keeps the commandments.
Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Les points out that God does command love in a specific relationship, even though the Ten Commandments do not command love as a rule.
The Bible commands love in specific places — such as "Husbands, love your wives" — but the Ten Commandments themselves are law written on stone. Les says love cannot be forced; it must spring from within. In the New Testament, love is presented as the fulfillment of the Law, not a law itself.
Les says the stone tablets show that the Ten Commandments were fixed, unmovable demands that could only condemn. They had no power to help anyone keep them. Love, by contrast, must come from within the heart and cannot be written on stone.
Les says Paul repeats nine of the Ten Commandments in his letters, and the only one he does not reiterate is the Sabbath. The believer under grace is not under Sabbath law.
Watch the Teaching: The Ten Commandments Explained: Why "Love" Isn't Mentioned