Dr Paul Allen

To some, the concepts of love and law contradict one another. While love conjures images of warmth and family, law conjures images of coldness and isolation. In our contemporary culture, loving others and believing in objective moral standards are often seen as mutually exclusive commitments. But love and law are not opposed to one another. In fact, according to the Bible , love and law fit together by faith. 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. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” ( John 4:24 ) Mankind has always struggled with this aspect of God. The Second Commandment prohibited any attempt to represent God by any physical shape ( Exodus 20:4-5 ). The triune God cannot be contained by finite attributes. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” ( 1 Timothy 1:17 ) “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” ( 1 Timothy 6:16 ) Were it not for the Second Person of the Godhead, He whom the apostle John identifies as “the Word,” we would have no possibility of knowing God ( John 1:1-14 ). Philip asked to see the Father , and the Lord Jesus replied: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” ( John 14:9 ). But how can this be? Paul explained to the Philippian church that Jesus Christ