The Spiritual Fruit of Law-Abiding Love: The Ten Commandments Coupled with the Fruit of the Spirit

By Dennis Prutow

In the popular evangelical sub-culture of America, there is an ongoing tension between law and grace. The law stands in opposition to grace. Romans 6:14 becomes a slogan, “You are not under law but under grace.” This sloganeering throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. The grace of God in Christ does not stand opposed to the Ten commandments. God’s grace stands against the concept that obedience to the Ten Commandments is a means of pleasing God and gaining salvation from Him. The grace of God in Christ and the law of God summarized in the Ten Commandments are entirely compatible. Therefore, Jesus teaches, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). He then adds, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves” (John 14:21). The Apostle John defines love in terms of the Ten Commandments. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3). And again, “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments (2 John 1:6 ). Since law and grace are compatible, I call this study of the Ten Commandments and the fruit of the Spirit, “The Spiritual Fruit of Law-Abiding Love.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis Prutow
• Release date: Jan 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781945305191

Dennis Prutow

Denny Prutow was born in 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the US Military Academy at West Point (1959-1963), Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (1965-1968), and Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida (1995-1998). Denny was an Army Chaplain, a pastor in both the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, and the Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. He developed Westminster Evangelistic Ministries and remains its administratior. Denny retired in 2013 after forty-five years of active ministry and is now RPTS Professor Emeritus of Homiletics. His books include So Pastor, What's Your Point?, Joyful Voices, Public Worship 101, The Visions of Revelation, You Cannot Escape from God, Biblical Baptism, and What is Saving Faith? He and his wife, Erma, live in Indianapolis, IN. They have three grown daughters and eleven grandchildren.

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Introduction

In the popular evangelical sub-culture of America, there is an ongoing tension between law and grace. The law stands in opposition to grace. Romans 6:14 becomes a slogan, You are not under law but under grace. This sloganeering throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. The grace of God in Christ does not stand opposed to the Ten commandments. God’s grace stands against the concept that obedience to the Ten Commandments is a means of pleasing God and gaining salvation from Him.

The grace of God in Christ and the law of God summarized in the Ten Commandments are entirely compatible. The Apostle Paul declares that the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). He tells us that the Law is spiritual (Romans 7:14). The problem is not with the law. It is good. The problem is with us; we are fallen sinful beings. Our hearts turn away from God. "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:6-8).

The word translated mind in Romans 8:6-8 is not the usual word for the thinking apparatus. It refers to the mindset, a person’s attitude. Romans 8:6 tells us that the mindset of the flesh is death. How so? The mindset of the flesh is hostile toward God (Romans 8:7). This hostility, this enmity, is chronic opposition to God. As a result, it does not subject itself to the law of God (Romans 8:7). Bent as it is against God, it simply will not submit to Him in the Ten Commandments. Paul adds, "It is not even able to do so" (Romans 8:7). This inability arises from hostility. The mindset of the flesh is incapable of submission to God because it will not submit. It cannot because it will not. We are rebels at heart. We cannot follow God’s commandments because we will not follow God’s commandments.

Radical change is necessary. You must be born again (John 3:7). God must remove your hostile, hateful heart and give you a new heart. And He must fill this new heart with His Spirit. Amazingly enough, God promises to do this very thing. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances (Ezekiel 36:27). What is the fruit of the new heart? It is obedience to God’s Commandments. When God gives you a new heart, He removes hatred and enmity. He replaces hostility with love. The outcome is obedience from the heart.

Therefore, Jesus teaches, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments (John 14:15). He then adds, He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves (John 14:21). The Apostle John defines love in terms of the Ten Commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (1 John 5:3). And again, "This is love, that we walk according to His commandments (2 John 1:6 ).

God never intended that the Ten Commandments be enforced as only outward compliance. God’s intent was and is that this law be written on the heart. God promises, I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:33). Two example will suffice. Jesus warns, You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court (Matthew 5:21-22). Jesus does not set aside the Sixth Commandment. His argument is with the adequacy of outward and Pharisaical compliance. Jesus maintains that obedience to the commandment is and always has been a matter of heart. Those who have only been angry at their brothers, or arrogantly insulted them, or wounded them with some words of abuse, are homicides (John Calvin, Harmony of the Gospels, 1:184).

Jesus treats the Seventh Commandment in like manner. You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-29). Again, our Lord does not set aside God’s commandments. Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17). No! Christ insists on pure hearts and minds. We must banish lust from our hearts, or else we commit adultery in our hearts.

Since law and grace are compatible, I call this study of the Ten Commandments and the fruit of the Spirit, The Spiritual Fruit of Law-Abiding Love. In writing columns for the Reformed Presbyterian Witness over a period twenty-five years, the series on the fruit of the Spirit received the greatest positive response. My prayer is that