ガラテヤの信徒への手紙5:13-15 Galatians 5:13-15,

律法全体は、『隣人を自分のように愛しなさい』という一句によって全うされるからです。　　　　　　　　（ガラテヤ5:14）

パウロはローマの信徒への手紙13章8節において「人を愛する者は、律法を全うしている」と述べ、本日の箇所においては、「律法全体は、『隣人を自分のように愛しなさい』という一句によって全うされる」と記しています。ここで、私たちは「全うしている」とか「全うされる」という言葉に十分注意を払いたいと思います。「守っている」とか「守られる」ではないのです。つまり、パウロは「人を愛する者は、律法を守っている」「律法全体は、『隣人を自分のように愛しなさい』という一句によって守られる」とは記していません。これは一見すると小さなことのようですが、実は小さなことではありません。なぜならば、「守っている」とか「守られる」という言葉が表す考え方は、「救われるためには律法を守らなければならない。そして、隣人を自分のように愛することによって、律法を守ることになる」という考え方だからです。

この考え方には大きな問題が二つあります。一つは、「人はキリストを信じることによって救われる」というパウロの宣べ伝えた大切な教えに反していることです。「救われるためには律法を守らなければならない」というのは、むしろパウロの教えに反することを宣べ伝えたユダヤ教的な伝道者たちの考え方です。もう一つは、隣人を愛することが、自分が救われるための手段になっているということです。「隣人を自分のように愛することによって、律法を守ることになる。だから、隣人を愛して、律法を守っていると神様に認められるようにしよう」というのであれば、結局は自分を愛しているだけではないでしょうか。

私たちが、自分の力で隣人を自分のように愛するのは不可能なことなのです。私たちの古い自我は罪深く自己中心的ですから、自分の力で愛そうとすると、相手を自分の自己中心的な思いの中に巻き込んでしまいます。そして、たとえ最初の動機は隣人愛であったとしても、最終的には愛ではなく悪を相手に行うことになってしまいます。そこで、神様は聖霊の導きに従って隣人を愛する道を備えてくださいました。本日の箇所のすぐ後の16節でパウロは「わたしが言いたいのは、こういうことです。霊の導きに従って歩みなさい」と勧めています。また、少し後の22節と23節では、「霊の結ぶ実は愛であり、喜び、平和、寛容、親切、善意、誠実、柔和、節制です」と述べて、まことの愛の思いや行いは聖霊の導きによって与えられるものであることを示しています。そして、聖霊の導きを受けるためには、隣人のことを覚えて祈ることが必要です。　　　　　　　　　（6月9日の説教より）

Today we would like to consider one of the most well-known teachings of the Bible: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” In this letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul teaches his congregations what true freedom is. True freedom consists of two aspects: to be freed from the things that bind man and to live in a way that is worthy of a liberated person. Of these two, today’s passage teaches about the freedom to live worthy of a liberated person. First, in verse 13 Paul says: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” I preached about this verse 13 in detail in last week’s service.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on what I preached about last week. When Paul says, “through love serve one another,” he dares to use the Greek word dūleuō (δουλεύω), which means “to serve as a slave.” And this probably means that a person serves one another without daring to claim rights through love even when a person has rights that he/she can claim. For example, Paul had the right to receive reward from the church in Corinth, but he dared to evangelise and pastor without receiving reward. And when there was a dispute over property among the believers in the Corinthian church and an appeal was made to the courts of this world, he said, “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” (1 Corinthians 6:7) This is a teaching that goes against common sense, but encourages us to live following Christ of the cross with a view to resurrection to a body of eternal life on the Last Day.

It is followed by verse 14, which states, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’” and Paul gives the basis for the exhortation to “serve one another through love.” This teaching may sound very similar to what Christ said, if you are a careful reader of the Bible. In Matthew 22:36-40, we find the following question and answer between Christ and a scholar of the law.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The five Old Testament books from Genesis to Deuteronomy contain God’s various laws. The Jewish people call these five documents as “the Law,” and these laws were very important to them as what they were to observe. A scholar of the law tried to test Jesus Christ by asking, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Presumably, he intended to question and condemn Christ if he gave a wrong answer. However, Christ’s answer was perfect, beyond reproach. First, as “the great and first commandment,” he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:5 in the Old Testament. He also mentioned the second law that is “like” the first commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is a quote from Leviticus 19:18. Leviticus 19:18 states, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”

There are many laws in the Old Testament, but central among them are the Ten Commandments, which we read every week in worship. And the Ten Commandments can be further summarised as the two laws that Christ said. That is, the first commandment to the fourth or fifth commandment can be summarised as “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The fifth or sixth to the tenth commandments can be summarised as “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” As for the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother,” there are two schools of thought: either parents are included in the law to love God because they cooperate with God to create the life of their children, or they are included in the law to love neighbour because they are also children’s neighbours. In any case, the core of the Old Testament law is the Ten Commandments, which can be summarised as two commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Now, in today’s passage, Paul says: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The question arises here. Christ summarised the whole law into two laws, but Paul only mentions the second of the two. Why is this?

Two things could be the reason. One reason is that in the Galatian churches there were disputes within the churches over teachings. As I have mentioned many times, Paul, who first preached the gospel of Christ in Galatia, taught that “one can be saved by believing in Jesus Christ.” However, the Jewish evangelists who came after Paul left the Galatian churches taught that “one cannot attain full salvation without not only believing in Christ but also undergoing the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law.” The Galatian believers were then misled by the teachings of the Jewish evangelists, and there was confusion in the churches. Because there was such conflict over the teachings, the Galatian believers would not have been able to say that they loved their neighbour as themselves. The warning in verse 15: “if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another,” would also have been a warning to the Galatian believers, indicating that there was conflict between them. Therefore, in order to resolve the conflict, Paul would have mentioned only the second law to the Galatian believers: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Another reason is that obedience to the first law: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” is evidenced by obedience to the second law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Why does Paul only emphasise the second law? This question also arises when reading other passages in the Bible. For example, in Romans 13:8-10 we read as follows.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Some may think that Paul is emphasising loving one’s neighbour because loving one’s neighbour is more important than loving God, when he says: “the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” But this is by no means the case. Loving one’s neighbour means loving them with respect for their characters, because both one and neighbour are made alive by God and forgiven by the grace of Christ. If we try to love our neighbour without loving God, we often end up imposing what we think is right on other persons. And when we impose on others what is not God’s teaching, even though we may think we are doing love to our neighbour, but in fact we are doing evil to our neighbour. The Reformer John Calvin said, “It is certain that, in the law and the prophets, faith, and whatever pertains to the du worship of God, holds the first place, and that to this charity is made subordinate.” However, he explains that the emphasis is still on love for neighbour in the sense that love for neighbour “is prescribed as the means which we are to employ in testifying a pious fear of God” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 8, 53). In other words, love for God is evidenced by love for one’s neighbour. That is why Paul writes in his letter to the Romans that “the one who loves another has fulfilled the law,” and in today’s passage he writes that “the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Here we want to pay close attention to the words “fulfil” and “be fulfilled.” It is not the words “observe” and “be observed.” In other words, Paul does not write, “the one who loves another has observed the law.” Nor does he write, “the whole law is observed in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” This may seem like a small thing at first glance, but in fact it is not. Because the idea that the words “observe” and “be observed” express is that “one must observe the law in order to be saved, and by loving your neighbour as yourself, you are observing the law.” There are two major problems with this idea. The first is that it contradicts the important teaching proclaimed by Paul: “One is saved by believing in Christ.” “One must observe the law in order to be saved,” is rather the teaching of Jewish evangelists who preached against Paul’s teaching. The second is that loving one’s neighbour becomes the means by which one can be saved. If we think, “By loving your neighbour as yourself, you are observing the law. So let’s love our neighbour so that God will count us as observing the law,” then in the end we are only loving ourselves.

It is impossible for us to love our neighbour as ourselves by our own power. Our old ego is sinful and self-centred, so when we try to love by our own power, we involve the other persons in our own self-centred thoughts. And even if our initial motive is love for neighbour, we end up doing evil to the others instead of love. Therefore, God has prepared a way for us to love our neighbour according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In verse 16, immediately following today’s passage, Paul says: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” A little later, in verses 22 and 23, he says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” indicating that the thoughts and deeds of true love are given by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And in order to receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is necessary to remember and pray for our neighbour. If we remember our neighbour and pray, we will not forget our neighbour first and foremost. And when we remember and pray for our neighbour, the Holy Spirit’s guidance will show us what we can do for our neighbour. And what you should not do to your neighbour is also shown by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, I would like to say one more thing to note about the teaching “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Sometimes, this teaching may be explained as follows: “In order to love your neighbour as yourself, first you shall love yourself.” The teaching “love yourself first” or “it is important to love yourself first” can easily enter the hearts of those who are suffering from so-called self-hatred. In other words, those who think “I hate myself” will be relieved when they are said, “Love yourself first” or “It is important to love yourself first.” They will think “Oh, yes, the Bible teaches me to love myself.”

But “you shall love your neighbour as yourself,” is really trying to tell you “love yourself first”? I believe that this will not be the case. In the teaching “you shall love your neighbour as yourself,” it is taken for granted that every human being loves oneself. “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” is not the message “love yourself first before you love your neighbour.” Loving oneself is considered as something one has already done, and not as teaching “love yourself first before you love your neighbour.”

If we think deeply about it, the thought “I hate myself” is connected with the thought “I want to be like someone else than who I am now.” It is precisely because you love yourself and want to be like someone else than who you are now, isn’t it? And even though one want to be a different person, one cannot do so, that is why one feel that one hates oneself. Then the thought “I hate myself” may seem on the surface to be the opposite of loving oneself, but in fact it is linked to a strong desire to love oneself, isn’t it?

If we think about it further, it is not necessarily a bad thing to have thought that “I hate myself.” We humans are all sinful and self-centred beings. As sinful and self-centred beings, it is natural to think “I hate myself,” isn’t it? And the Bible tells us that God loves you, even though you are such a sinful, self-centred being. The Bible teaches that God loves you, such a sinful and self-centred being, so much that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from them. Therefore, it is okay to have thoughts like “I hate myself.” But don’t get caught up in such thoughts, but let us live our lives with our hearts caught up in the love of God, who so loved us that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ. And let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and be transformed into people who love their neighbour.