The Law of Love
AM Psalm 87, 90 • PM Psalm 136
Joel 3:9-17 • James 2:1-13 • Luke 16:10-17(18)
Pastors will often say that their favorite book of the Bible is the one they are happening to be studying at the time. I have been leading a Bible study over the book of James, and as I’ve been working through it with my group, I have fallen into the same sentiment. I’ve never held James in low esteem; Martin Luther called it an “epistle of straw,” and people love to create a false argument between James and Paul regarding their respective messages of works and grace. I see none of that; what I do see is a text that expects a deeply spiritual person to also be deeply practical and earthy.
In light of that, I remember being taken with James 2:8, “You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” More specifically, I felt drawn to the phrase “royal law,” which other commentators have labeled the “law of love.” In the Latin Vulgate translation, the word used here is lex, which is indeed “law,” with the expectations of what we think that means. A term like that certainly implies something legalistic. However, lex has other shades of meaning, such as “principle,” “mode,” or “manner.” If we consider that, we see that the law of Jesus that James relates to us is not so much a legal code, but a way of life, similar to the Beatitudes that Jesus expresses.
This royal law, or law of love, does not glorify ethics as a means to an end, but is designed to lead us to radical selflessness and mercy. We love our neighbors as ourselves because we often realize how much we need the love of our neighbors, as well as the mercy of our neighbors. In a law of love, we live a life of willingly sharing mercy with everyone we can, because in that law, we see something wonderful: “mercy triumphs over judgement” (2:13).
Written by Nathan John Haydon
Nathan earned his PhD in English studying medieval literature and languages from the University of Arkansas. He’s an Episcopal priest, adjunct professor, Benedictine oblate, and a lover of cats and coffee. In 2021 he moved from Fayetteville, Arkansas to St Louis with his super smart scientist wife, Kathryn.