Concerning Love and the Fulfilling of the Law, part 46
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Colossians 3:12–14
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Click for a recording of today's lesson.
From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession
In the Confutation, the adversaries have also cited against us Colossians 3:14: “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” They infer from this that love justifies because it renders men perfect. We could supply many replies about perfection but will simply give Paul’s meaning. Paul was clearly speaking of love towards one’s neighbor. We must not imagine that Paul would ascribe either justification or perfection to works of the Second Table instead of to those of the First. Even so, if love renders men perfect, there is then no need of Christ as propitiator, for faith apprehends Christ alone as propitiator. This, however, is far distant from the meaning of Paul, who never suffers Christ to be excluded as propitiator.
Pulling It Together: Paul consistently teaches that we are accepted on account of Christ and not on account of our love, or our works, or because we keep the law. For no one perfectly fulfills the law. Since he writes and teaches that there is no perfection in this life through our works, it must not be thought that Paul is speaking here of personal perfection. Because we cannot live up to the demands of the law, God sent his Son as satisfaction. Jesus, as both God and man, fulfilled the law for everyone. So, yes, we are instructed to love our neighbors, as the second great commandment teaches us (Mark 12:31). Yet we should never assume that love of neighbor, which we fulfill imperfectly, satisfies God’s law. Only Jesus has done this, so we must put our faith in him alone.
Prayer: Help me depend upon your righteousness, Lord, while your Spirit empowers me to love my neighbor. Amen
Share this post
Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
Click Here For Content Archives