Love is not a work of the law-it's the nature of God and the very reason we were made, the purpose we were made for. Justification consists of forgiveness of sin and justice/righteousness given, defined most exhaustively and particularly by love. That's how God justifes the ungodly, by transforming us into His own nature, with new hearts and spirits.
"And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Rom, 5:5
And love, as with any of the other virtues of faith and hope, is necessarily a gift first, and a choice, of ours, to embrace and act upon that gift, and continue to do so, and grow in it-or not. We can turn out to be poor soil, we can be lukewarm, we can taste of the heavenly gift and later reject it, we can escape the pollution of the world by the knowledge of Christ and later return to it, returning to the flesh, we can fail to persevere-all biblcal concepts. We can resist the movement of the Spirit, we can resist grace. But to the extent that we don't, meaning that we've remained in Him, then we will produce much good fruit, fruit driven by the love He's given us. Here's an example of that choice, to reciprocate with the love we've been shown and given, or not, with Jesus speaking to His followers:
"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matt 6:14-15
So we have to read the whole bible, not just the encouragements and exhortations, but the warnings and admonishments that bring balance, as well. Will we necessarily continue to bend to His chastisements? Will we remain on the Way that we began on, with Him? More on choice, the highest and worthiest choice a created being can be given, the choice for good over evil, life over death, God over no God, the choice to love at the end of the day:
"Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God." Rom 8:12-14
"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." Heb 12:14
"To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life." Rom 2:7
Justice, love, is a free gift; we don't work to receive it. Now that we have it, we must live it, the life of God in us, the best we can. We're never forced to do so even as we're encouraged, admonished, enabled, empowered to. God wants our wills involved, and increasingly so, for our highest good. The first step, the doorway, is faith, the doorway to Him and the Life He has for us.
"The only thing that counts is faith working through love." Gal 5:6
That's the opposite of a work of the law. Both, love and the law, have the same goal but only the former, which is the righteousness of God to which the Law and the Prophets testify and which is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Rom 3:21-22), can acheive it. The law is all about achieving or proving righteousness by the flesh, by the letter, on my own and apart from God, while love is about achieving it by the Spirit, now grafted into the Vine and in union with Him as I was created to be. In no way is the gospel a reprieve from the need to become righteous- and to live accordingly.
