In the New Law, it is the Quality of the Heart That Matters

Love is life characteristics of God's Kingdom not that we have loved God, but He has loved us and sent His Son as an offering for our sins (1 John 4:10). Our basis for moral living is not our good intentions or efforts but rather the incredible fact of God's love for us. God has loved us, so let us love one another (1 John 4:11). This is necessary or else our love is merely a "noisy gong or clanging cymbals"  (1 Cor 13:1). Filial love is our response to the "one who loved us first." (1 John 4:19).

      This is the New Law, to love one another. The new law forbids not just killing but even anger; not just adultery but even lustful looks; not just false oaths but even harsh words. The new law tells us to forgive not to take revenge. It commands us to love even our enemies.  In the new law it is not external show but the quality of the heart that matters. "What emerges from within a man, that and nothing else, is what defies" (Mark 7:20)