Love is the first and most important fruit of the Spirit, the channel through which all the other fruits are borne, and it is the essence of God's law. God's character is based on love, and He gave the Ten Commandments to guide the development of that character in us. Love is keeping God's law and results from keeping it (John 14:15; Romans 13:10; I John 5:3). The two great commandments, loving God and loving neighbor, sum up the whole law (Matthew 22:36-39; Galatians 5:14). Love is expressed as obedience and as outgoing concern, compassion, kindness and service toward others. Carnal man is naturally God's enemy and cannot love properly, so true love must be imparted by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). God's love differs entirely from the world's version, which confuses love with self-centered, destructive lust. The Father showed His love by giving His Son, and Christ showed His by laying down His life. We love God because He first loved us, and that love is proven by loving our brethren. As we keep His commands and love one another, God's love is perfected in us, meaning His own character of love completes our maturity and unifies us as one body, as Christ is one with the Father. Love is the bond of perfection, and it frees us from fear of punishment. God is building a Family whose main characteristic is love, so His Kingdom is the kingdom of love.

The letter of God's law is its starting point, and the spirit is the activating or essential principle, the intent and direction behind it. That intent in every law of God is love, which is why John says love is the keeping of God's law. Love toward God with all the heart, mind, and soul, and love toward fellowman equal to love for oneself, is the essential element of the law. Neither letter nor spirit does away with law. The spirit does not cancel the letter but reveals its full intent, just as worship is not confined to a place of worship yet does not abolish it; the place becomes the starting point for applying the principle everywhere. To worship God in spirit and in truth is to obey the full intent of His law with all one's being in every area of life: marriage, childrearing, work, play, and business. This worship is guided by the Holy Spirit, springs from a circumcised heart, and is motivated by God's love shed abroad in the heart. Mere external ritual, or reliance on ancestry or membership in the true church, is not enough, as Jeremiah 7 and John 8 show. Jesus kept the Sabbath according to the spirit of the law, which is always love toward God and men, and Paul likewise obeyed all that is written in the law and the prophets.

Love is the essence of the spirit of God's law. Human law targets specific actions without regard to motive, and the Pharisees buried God's law under the letter, but the true effectiveness of any law lies in its purpose and intent. Christ upheld both the letter, down to the jot and tittle, and the spirit, and the true Christian needs both. Paul sums up the commandments against adultery, murder, theft, false witness, and covetousness in the saying "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," so that love does no harm to a neighbor and is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10). James calls this the royal law and the perfect law of liberty. Breaking it at one point, such as showing partiality, breaks the whole, and mercy must be part of keeping its spirit. All sin is lawlessness, and the sum of all law-keeping is love of God and love of the brethren. When we love, we have found the true principle of obedience, and the Law becomes a living principle within rather than a condemning taskmaster outside. Under the New Covenant, God writes His laws on the heart and mind. The Holy Spirit empowers this fulfillment, and love is the first and positive essence of the fruit of the Spirit. Imitating Christ, who embodies the Law, conforms our lives to both the Law and His image.