To fulfil the Law

For the commandments, " You shall not commit adultery," " You shall not murder," " You shall not steal," " You shall not bear false witness," " You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.

– Romans 13.9-10

All the Jews knew the basics of the Law – you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet, and all the rest. It had been taught to them and they had heard it since they were children. Most folks in the Christian west are also at least familiar with the Ten Commandments. It is easy enough to memorise the Ten Commandments, but what about all the rest of the Law. That would be a nearly impossible task.

When we look at these particular examples we quickly notice that they all deal with how we are supposed to treat others. Don't commit adultery or murder or steal or bear false witness or covet.'

Jesus had already summarised the Law with a simple set of commands, 'Love God and love others.'

Here Paul does the same with one section of the law. He says that if we love each other we will never do him any harm. If we don't do our neighbour any harm we won't do any of the things here. You won't murder a man if you love him. You won't steal from a man if you love him. You won't steal a man's stuff if you love him. If you love a man you won't bear false witness against him. If our love a man you won't even covet his things.

So fulfil this part of the Law is pretty basic – just love.