"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
— Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
Galatians 5:14 is Paul's short summary of what God's law was aiming at: love your neighbor as yourself. This page gives the verse, what the key words mean, where it sits in Galatians 5, and a plain reading. For more on the theme, see Bible verses about loving your neighbor, Bible verses about loving others, and Bible verses about freedom.
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The verse
The King James reads: "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
"Law" is nomos (G3551). "Fulfilled" is plēroō (G4137), to fill up or bring to completion. "Word" or "command" is logos (G3056), a single saying. "Love" is agapaō (G25), and "neighbor" is plēsion (G4139), the one near you. The command itself is quoted from Leviticus 19:18.
Where it sits in Galatians 5
The verse comes right after Paul's warning about how to use freedom: "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love" (Galatians 5:13). Verse 14 explains why: love is what the law was after all along.
Right after it comes the opposite picture: "If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other" (Galatians 5:15). Paul then contrasts life by the Spirit with the desires of the flesh, ending with the fruit of the Spirit, which begins with love (Galatians 5:22-23). In the next chapter he adds, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).
What the verse is saying
Paul has spent the letter saying that people are not made right with God by keeping the law. Here he shows that this freedom does not mean anything goes. The whole point of the commands about how to treat other people is gathered up in one sentence: love the person next to you the way you already look out for yourself.
Jesus said the same when He named the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). Paul says it again in Romans 13:10: "Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
Questions people ask
What does Galatians 5:14 say?
In the NIV it says, "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" The KJV says, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Where does "love your neighbor as yourself" come from?
It is first written in Leviticus 19:18: "Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." Jesus quotes it in Matthew 22:39 and Mark 12:31, and Paul quotes it in Galatians 5:14 and Romans 13:9.
Does Galatians 5:14 mean the law no longer matters?
No. Paul is saying love fulfills the law, not that it throws it away. Loving your neighbor is what the commands against stealing, lying, or harming others were pointing to in the first place.
How does Galatians 5:14 connect to freedom?
The verse before it says believers are called to be free, but should use that freedom to "serve one another humbly in love." Galatians 5:14 explains that serving others in love is what keeps freedom from turning into selfishness.
What verses go with Galatians 5:14?
Romans 13:10 (love is the fulfillment of the law), Matthew 7:12 (do to others what you would have them do to you), and Galatians 6:2 (carry each other's burdens) are close companions.
