Bible Verses of the Week

Faith and Love, not Rules

¹⁵ “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. ¹⁶ Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” (NLT, Galatians 2:15–16)

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” ²⁷ He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” ²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (NIV, Luke 10:25–28)

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (NIV, Romans 13:8–10)

The Jewish law of Jesus' time had 613 rules to live by, and the Jews believed that was all God required of them. But Jesus pointed out that it was possible to obey all those rules and still live wicked and greedy lives (Matthew 23:23-24, Mark 7:9-13). What is really required of us is to sincerely place our faith and trust in God and treat other people with kindness and respect ("Christian love"). For more details: What Does the Bible Say About the Old Testament Law?, What Does the Bible Say About Faith?, What Does the Bible Say About Love?