Jesus wants to write the law in our hearts. He wants to make it so central to us that we won't have to spend much time thinking or debating about it. Rather it will be the impulse of love that, when followed, leads to ever deeper relationship with the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
Have we fully received this transformation? More likely the law is still an external motivator to some degree. We try to keep it because of obligation and fear. And while this better than nothing, it is not enough. It is not what Jesus intends for us. It is not what he dies to give us. How can we be more deeply inscribed with the law of God?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Jesus dies for us. And the fruit of his death is that the Holy Spirit is unleashed upon the world. The Holy Spirit is the one who lives within us and gives us the power and desire to love and therefore to keep the law. There is a direct correlation between receiving from Jesus the gift of his loving death for us, for realizing the depth of that love, and being open to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must open ourselves completely to one who loved us even though we could do nothing to deserve it.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
Only realizing his love will allow us to surrender as deeply as must. He wants to make us perfect so that we can be sources of salvation to others. Only his love proves that all the suffering we experience along the way is worth it.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
LORD Jesus, you are the grain of wheat that is broken to sow the harvest of the Holy Spirit. Let us see in your death the depths of your love. Let us receive the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and be filled with the love that fulfills the law.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
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