The Essence of the Law

¹² “So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,^{(A) 13} and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. ¹⁴ Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it,^{(B) 15} yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today.^{(C) 16} Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer.^{(D) 17} For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe,^{(E) 18} who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.^{(F) 19} You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.^{(G) 20} You shall fear the Lord your God; him you shall serve; to him you shall hold fast; and by his name you shall swear.^{(H) 21} He is your praise; he is your God who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.^{(I) 22} Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.^(J)

¹³ By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.^{(A) 16} So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. ¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.^{(B) 18} There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹ We love^[a] because he first loved us.

²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate,^[a] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.^{(A) 27} Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.^{(B) 28} You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.^{(C) 29} And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe.