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There are many in the church of Christ today who seem convinced that the church, as an organization, can in a collective way do anything it desires without Biblical authority. One person wrote: “The law of Christ is love. It is NOT a list of commandments to be searched out from the New Testament.” False teachers have resounded this false teaching over and over again, and the result has been devastating for the Lord’s church. They preach love and minimize the importance doctrine—it is unimportant they say. But to reject doctrine is to reject knowledge. Note the plight of God’s ancient people when they rejected knowledge:
(Ho 4:6) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Indeed, when Christians reject the commandments of Christ by claiming that the epistles are merely love letters, they are destroying themselves by rejecting knowledge.
This error has developed due to a misunderstanding and misapplication of the following passage:
Rom. 6:14-15 - For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
True, we are not under Law but under grace, but how are we to understand this teaching? Does it mean the kingdom of Christ is a lawless kingdom?
Before we deal with the above passage we need to emphasize the need for good hermeneutics when we study a passage, because a failure to do so is sure to result in misunderstanding and misapplication of a text. We must look for passages that might shed light on the topic and then study them and prayerfully come to a conclusion that allows for harmony of the scriptures.
Was love all that the apostle Paul wrote about and emphasized? Paul wrote: “…The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37b). Surely no one would suggest that Paul only wrote about love? He provided examples of church practices designed to teach us to do the same. Thus, the concept of the “law of Christ” being nothing but love and that we need not bother looking for and following commandments, was not in the apostle's mind. The Lord’s church is an organization and organizations have rules by which they are governed. The concept of rules, laws, and commandments are synonymous. In view of the passage presented below, the idea that the Lord’s church has no rules or commandments to follow is absurd:
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2).
Unfortunately, commenting on the above text, many commentators refer the reader to a statement made by Jesus that leads people astray:
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).
Jesus said, "I give unto you a new commandment". He did not say, “Love is the ONLY commandment,” or “love is My entire law”. Jesus’ law was taught by the apostles. Don't ever forget Paul’s statement: “…The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
Paul said, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2).Commenting on the word "fulfill", Gill says, "...by 'fulfilling', it is meant, doing it, acting in obedience to it, and not a perfect fulfilling it, which cannot be done by sinful creatures".
Now let us get back to the Roman text.
Rom. 6:14-15 - For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Paul states that we are not under the Law, i.e. the Law of Moses, but are under grace. Does this mean one may reject rules, law and commandments and still benefit from grace, or that the commandments of Jesus (other than love) are not important?
Let us look now at various passages that relate to this issue:
(Joh 15:10a) - If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; (John 14:15) If ye love me keep my commandments.
These passages tells us that we can’t even love the Lord or be loved by the Lord UNLESS we keep His commandments. Note that “commandments” is plural rather than singular, which means “love” cannot be what Paul was talking about when he said “the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (See also John 14:21 and 1 John 3:24).
(1 John 3:4) "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."
Is John talking about the Law of Moses? No, he is talking about the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).
(1 Cor 7:19) "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God."
Albert Barnes hits the nail on the head with his commentary: “But the keeping of the commandments of God, is something, is the main thing, is everything; and this can be done whether a man is circumcised or not.”
(1 John 2:3) "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."
Some think they know Him because they "feel it in their heart", i.e., they believe that love is all they need to be saved. But God said,
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).
(1 John 2:4) "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
In view of the fact that one is a liar who DOES NOT keep His commandments, how can we NOT emphasize the importance of keeping His commandments, which includes the teaching of Paul (1 Cor. 14:37)?
(1 John 3:22) "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."
Love is a motivator, but if we want to receive anything from Jesus we must keep His commandments and DO certain things. (See also James 1:22-25).
(Rom 6:16) "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Since obedience is “unto righteousness” we are forced to conclude that there is more to Christianity than love and grace.
(2 Thes 1:8) "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Is the apostle merely concerned with whether one has “love” or is he concerned about people who do not obey the gospel?
(Heb 5:9) "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him".
If it were true that love is the only important thing, then wouldn't the word “love” be found where the word “obey” is found in the above passage?
(1 Peter 4:17) "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
From Peter’s statement it is evident that obedience to the gospel is essential. Unfortunately, because of the error that is taught, many today who claim to be Christians have not, in fact, obeyed the gospel. These same people scoff, ridicule and brand as Pharisees those who emphasize obedience.
The real power of salvation is in the blood of Christ (Matt. 26:28; Acts 20:28; Rom 3:25; 5:9; Eph 1:7; Heb. 9:13-14; 1 Pet 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7).Thus, one cannot save himself by works (Eph 2:8, 9). By His grace God saves us through faith. But “faith” that has not proven itself by actions is dead (James 1:22-25; 2:17-24).
When you hear someone teaching that we are not under law and that one’s salvation is based entirely on love or grace, and that the church can engage in any work it desires without seeking authority because it is all about love and nothing about commandments, you can be sure that he is not teaching from the inspired word of God. The "commandments of the Lord" very definitely contain apostolic teaching directed to churches and individuals. We must learn of them and obey them.
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