Romans 13:8–14. There is a nice connection with the previous paragraph. Paul just said, “Pay to all what is owed to them.” Then he says, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other.”
This passage is also important because Paul quotes several of the Ten Commandments and says they are summed up in love. That fits something we noticed back in Romans 7: Paul does not treat freedom from the Law as freedom to commit adultery, murder, steal, or covet. The Christian's relationship to the Mosaic Law has changed, but God's moral will has not disappeared.
LOVE FULFILLS THE LAW
Romans 13:8–14
Paul has just said:
“Pay to all what is owed to them.”
Taxes.
Revenue.
Respect.
Honor.
Now he continues with the idea of something being:
owed.
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other.”
— Romans 13:8
There is one debt we never finish paying.
Love.
A DEBT THAT NEVER GOES AWAY
Paul is not necessarily giving a general prohibition against ever borrowing money.
That isn't his subject.
The context is about:
what we owe others.
His point is that our obligation to love never ends.
You cannot say:
“I loved him last year, so I've done my part.”
Or:
“I've shown her enough kindness already.”
The debt of love is always:
still due.
“THE ONE WHO LOVES ANOTHER HAS FULFILLED THE LAW”
Paul continues:
“For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
That could be misunderstood.
Does Paul mean:
If I feel love in my heart, God's commands no longer matter?
No.
Paul immediately explains what he means.
And he does it by quoting commandments.
LOOK WHICH COMMANDMENTS PAUL CHOOSES
Paul writes:
“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet.”
— Romans 13:9
Where did those come from?
The:
Ten Commandments.
Paul is quoting directly from the Decalogue.
That's worth noticing.
Back in Romans 7, when Paul wanted an example from the Law, he quoted:
“You shall not covet.”
Now he does it again.
And he adds:
Do not commit adultery.
Do not murder.
Do not steal.
These are not merely ceremonial regulations about Israel's national life.
They express moral obligations that Paul applies directly to Christians.
DOES THAT PUT CHRISTIANS BACK UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES?
No.
Paul has already said in Romans 7:
“You also have died to the law through the body of Christ.”
And:
“We are released from the law.”
We shouldn't make Romans 13 contradict Romans 7.
But neither should we make Romans 7 mean that adultery, murder, stealing, and coveting are now acceptable.
Paul does neither.
Christians are not under the Mosaic covenant as Israel was.
Yet God's moral will is clearly carried into the life of Christ's people.
And Paul now tells us what holds it together:
love.
“AND ANY OTHER COMMANDMENT”
Paul continues:
“And any other commandment, are summed up in this word...”
Then he quotes:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
That comes from Leviticus 19:18.
Notice what Paul is doing.
He takes commandments from the Law and shows the principle running through them.
Why shouldn't I murder my neighbor?
Love.
Why shouldn't I steal from him?
Love.
Why shouldn't I commit adultery with his wife?
Love.
Why shouldn't I covet what belongs to him?
Love.
Love doesn't abolish moral behavior.
Love produces it.
JESUS SAID SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He answered:
“You shall love the Lord your God...”
Then:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
And He said:
“On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Paul isn't inventing a new idea.
He is following the teaching of Jesus.
Love summarizes what God intended His commandments to produce in human relationships.
LOVE DOES NO WRONG
Paul explains:
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor.”
— Romans 13:10
That is wonderfully practical.
Sometimes people describe love mainly as:
a feeling.
Paul describes what love:
does.
Or in this case:
doesn't do.
Love doesn't murder.
Love doesn't steal.
Love doesn't commit adultery.
Love doesn't covet.
Why?
Because:
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor.”
“THEREFORE LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW”
Paul concludes:
“Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Notice he doesn't say:
Love makes right and wrong disappear.
Quite the opposite.
Love fulfills the moral purpose behind those commands.
If I genuinely love my neighbor, I will not deliberately do what harms him.
So biblical love isn't:
“Do whatever feels loving.”
Biblical love has moral content.
THEN PAUL CHANGES THE PICTURE
Paul has been talking about:
love.
Now suddenly he talks about:
time.
“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.”
— Romans 13:11
Paul pictures Christians who need to:
wake up.
Why?
“For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.”
Every day brings God's people closer to the completion of their salvation.
We have already been saved.
We are being transformed.
And there remains a salvation yet to be fully experienced when Christ completes His work.
“THE NIGHT IS FAR GONE”
Paul continues:
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand.”
— Romans 13:12
Night and day become pictures of two different ways of living.
The old life belongs to:
darkness.
The Christian belongs to:
the coming day.
So Paul says:
“Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
Notice the action words.
Cast off.
Put on.
The Christian life involves deliberate choices.
LIVE AS THOUGH IT IS DAYLIGHT
Paul says:
“Let us walk properly as in the daytime.”
— Romans 13:13
People sometimes do things in darkness they would be ashamed to do in daylight.
Paul says Christians should live as people already belonging to:
the day.
Then he becomes very specific.
NOT IN THESE THINGS
Paul lists:
“Not in orgies and drunkenness.”
Then:
“Not in sexual immorality and sensuality.”
Then:
“Not in quarreling and jealousy.”
That last pair is interesting.
We might expect:
drunkenness
and
sexual immorality.
But Paul puts beside them:
quarreling
and
jealousy.
We sometimes create our own ranking of sins.
Paul doesn't allow us to condemn obvious sins while excusing the ones that flourish inside respectable religious people.
Quarreling and jealousy also belong to:
darkness.
PUT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
What is the alternative?
Paul says:
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Romans 13:14
What a picture.
A Christian should become so identified with Christ that Christ determines how that person:
thinks,
speaks,
acts,
and
treats others.
Instead of wearing the old life, we:
put on Christ.
DON'T MAKE PROVISION FOR THE FLESH
Paul finishes:
“And make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
That's practical advice.
Sometimes we pray:
“God, help me resist temptation.”
And then we deliberately place ourselves where we know temptation will be strongest.
Paul says:
Don't make provision for it.
Don't prepare the opportunity.
Don't feed the desire.
Don't arrange things so sin becomes easy.
If you know where you are weak, don't build a road that takes you directly there.
NOTICE HOW PRACTICAL PAUL HAS BECOME
Romans began with enormous subjects:
Sin.
Wrath.
Justification.
Grace.
Faith.
Adam and Christ.
Law.
Spirit.
Election.
Israel.
God's mercy.
Now Paul is talking about:
loving your neighbor.
not getting drunk.
sexual behavior.
quarreling.
jealousy.
avoiding temptation.
Why?
Because theology is supposed to become:
life.
WHAT ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
This passage helps us avoid two opposite mistakes.
One mistake says:
Christians are under the Mosaic Law just as Israel was.
Paul has already denied that.
The other says:
Since Christians are not under the Mosaic Law, its moral commands have nothing to say to us.
Paul doesn't teach that either.
Here he directly repeats commandments from the Decalogue and applies them to Christian conduct.
But he places them under the great command:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The question isn't simply:
“Are Christians under the Ten Commandments?”
A better question is:
How does the New Testament itself use those commandments when teaching Christians how to live?
Romans 13 gives us part of the answer.
That's letting:
Paul explain Paul.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Ask the text:
What debt can Christians never finish paying?
Love.
Which commandments does Paul quote?
Do not commit adultery.
Do not murder.
Do not steal.
Do not covet.
Where do those commandments come from?
The:
Ten Commandments.
What summarizes them?
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Does love eliminate moral standards?
No.
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor.”
How should Christians live?
As people who belong to:
the day.
What must we put off?
“The works of darkness.”
What must we put on?
“The Lord Jesus Christ.”
And now Paul moves into a very practical problem in the Roman church.
Christians don't always agree about everything.
Some could eat certain foods.
Others could not do so with a clear conscience.
Some regarded particular days differently from others.
So what happens when Christians who love Christ reach different conclusions about matters of conscience?
Paul's answer begins:
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.”
NEXT: WELCOME HIM—DON'T QUARREL
Romans 14:1–12
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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