Closer To Heaven
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Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 13 – Love Is the Fulfillment of the Law. It’s the fastest hour of the week!
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/love-is-the-fulfillment-of-the-law-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/
Daily Lesson for Thursday 27th of March 2025
If love is the fulfillment of the law, then one cannot keep God’s law in the full sense simply by refraining from doing wrong things. The law of love itself (expressed in the fullness of Scripture) not only commands us to refrain from doing evil but the law prompts us to do acts that reveal the love of God to others—not only to other church members but also to the world at large, which is so desperately in need of a true Christian witness.
Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com
Here, James strongly decries injustice in society, specifically identifying the dishonoring of the poor and oppression by some who are rich. Then, he calls attention to the law of love for one’s neighbor, saying if you fulfill this law, then “you do well” (James 2:8, NKJV).
As Ellen G. White has expressed it: “Love to man is the earthward manifestation of the love of God. It was to implant this love, to make us children of one family, that the King of glory became one with us. And when His parting words are fulfilled, ‘Love one another, as I have loved you’ (John 15:12); when we love the world as He has loved it, then for us His mission is accomplished. We are fitted for heaven; for we have heaven in our hearts.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages p. 641.
When we love the world, as Christ has loved the world—then we are fitted for heaven. What a powerful expression of what it means to be a follower of Jesus!
Jesus commands His followers to “ ‘love one another;’ ” even as “ ‘I have loved you’ ” (John 13:34, NKJV). Jesus also proclaims: “ ‘By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ ” (John 13:35, NKJV). Love is so central to Christian faith because God is love (1 John 4:8,16). And those who claim to love God must love one another (compare with 1 John 3:11; 1 John 4:20-21).
Accordingly, 1 Peter 4:8 exhorts Christians: “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’ ” (NKJV; see also Hebrews 10:24 and 1 Thessalonians 3:12).
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Dwell more on the idea of loving the world as Christ loved the world. How might this help us better understand the concept of Christian perfection and how we are made fit for eternal life? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath. |
(3)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-13-above-all-love-one-another/
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 26th of March 2025
The relationship between love and law cannot be overstated. Indeed, according to Scripture, to love is to fulfill the law.
In Romans 13:8-10, Paul teaches that “he who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8, NKJV). After listing many of the last six of the Ten Commandments, Paul declares that these are “all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Romans 13:9, NKJV). Indeed, Paul teaches explicitly, “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10, NKJV). Again, in Galatians 5:14, Paul explains, “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Galatians 5:14, NKJV). But what kind of love is that which fulfills the law? What does such love look like?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com
Jesus identifies the “weightier matters of the law” as “justice and mercy and faith.” And in relation to one law in particular—the Sabbath—we can see in Scripture that the Sabbath itself is integrally connected with deliverance and justice.
In Deuteronomy 5:1-33, the Sabbath commandment is grounded in relation to God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery. That is, the Sabbath is not only a memorial of creation but also a memorial of deliverance from slavery and oppression. And in the context about turning from one’s own pleasure to call the Sabbath a delight by taking delight in the Lord (Isaiah 58:13-14), the emphasis is on works of love and justice for others—doing good, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless (see Isaiah 58:3-10).
Given all of these teachings (and many others), those who wish to fulfill the law through love should be concerned not only about sins of commission but also about sins of omission. Love as the fulfillment of the law involves not merely keeping the law in the sense of refraining from committing sins but also consists of actively doing good—doing the works of love that faithfully advance justice and mercy. Being faithful to God is more than just not violating the letter of the law.
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-13-love-is-the-fulfillment-of-the-law-2/
Daily Lesson for Monday 24th of March 2025
Love is the foundation of God’s law. When God upholds the law, He upholds love. This is why Jesus died in order to save sinners, so that He could uphold the law while also extending grace to us. Thus, He could be both just and the justifier of those who believe (Romans 3:25-26). What an expression of love! Accordingly, the law is not invalidated by the process of redemption; rather, it is further confirmed.
Image © Phil McKay Goodsalt.com
While some believe that grace and redemption cancel the law, Paul is clear that we are not to continue in sin so that grace increases. Rather, those who are in Christ by faith have been “baptized into His death” and are therefore to count themselves as dead to sin and alive to Christ.
The law of God is not sin, but (among other things) it makes sin and our sinfulness apparent to us. That is why, yes, “the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12, NKJV). It reveals, as nothing else does, our great need of salvation, of redemption—the salvation and redemption that come only through Christ. Accordingly, we do not “make void the law through faith” but “on the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31, NKJV).
Christ came not to do away with the law but to fulfill all that was promised in the Law and in the Prophets. Thus, He emphasizes that “ ‘until heaven and earth pass away,’ ” not even “ ‘the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law’ ” (Matthew 5:18, NASB 1995).
The law of God itself represents God’s holiness—His perfect character of love, righteousness, goodness, and truth (Leviticus 19:2; Psalms 19:7-8; Psalms 119:142,172). In this regard, it is significant that, according to Exodus 31:18, God wrote the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets Himself. Written in stone, these laws are testimony of the unchanging character of God and of His moral government, which is founded on love—a central theme of the great controversy.
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(0)Daily Lesson for Monday 24th of March 2025
Love is the foundation of God’s law. When God upholds the law, He upholds love. This is why Jesus died in order to save sinners, so that He could uphold the law while also extending grace to us. Thus, He could be both just and the justifier of those who believe (Romans 3:25-26). What an expression of love! Accordingly, the law is not invalidated by the process of redemption; rather, it is further confirmed.
Image © Phil McKay Goodsalt.com
While some believe that grace and redemption cancel the law, Paul is clear that we are not to continue in sin so that grace increases. Rather, those who are in Christ by faith have been “baptized into His death” and are therefore to count themselves as dead to sin and alive to Christ.
The law of God is not sin, but (among other things) it makes sin and our sinfulness apparent to us. That is why, yes, “the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12, NKJV). It reveals, as nothing else does, our great need of salvation, of redemption—the salvation and redemption that come only through Christ. Accordingly, we do not “make void the law through faith” but “on the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31, NKJV).
Christ came not to do away with the law but to fulfill all that was promised in the Law and in the Prophets. Thus, He emphasizes that “ ‘until heaven and earth pass away,’ ” not even “ ‘the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law’ ” (Matthew 5:18, NASB 1995).
The law of God itself represents God’s holiness—His perfect character of love, righteousness, goodness, and truth (Leviticus 19:2; Psalms 19:7-8; Psalms 119:142,172). In this regard, it is significant that, according to Exodus 31:18, God wrote the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets Himself. Written in stone, these laws are testimony of the unchanging character of God and of His moral government, which is founded on love—a central theme of the great controversy.
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How does this link between law and love help us better understand Jesus’ words, “ ‘If you love Me, you will keep My commandments’ ” (John 14:15, NASB)? |
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-13-the-law-is-holy-and-righteous-and-good/
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