START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 13:8-14
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OBSERVE:
Paul articulates the same royal law of love (James 2:8) taught by Jesus and later by his brother James. Jesus declares that all the law and the prophets are fulfilled in the commandments to love God and love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).
Here, Paul focuses exclusively on the horizontal expression of the law of love that deals with human relationships. Interestingly, he argues that the Christian should be free of any sense of indebtedness except the debt of love:
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
This is part of a larger discussion of Christian responsibility. Paul insists that the grace-filled life of the Christian means true liberty from legalism — but in contrast, he does acknowledge that freedom must be exercised responsibly. In relation to governing authorities, paying taxes, honor and respect to those in authority, Paul says this:
Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake (Romans 13:5).
Thus the Christian, though free, is still to live as a responsible and conscientious citizen of the city or nation in which he or she may find themselves.
Paul’s next discussion of the law of love in relation to the Mosaic law is interesting. We are reminded that he has presented a very nuanced view of the Mosaic law throughout the theological portion of Romans, arguing that the law is holy and just and good but also arguing that the law itself has no power to save us, nor can anyone except Jesus perfectly fulfill the law.
But the Christian who has been saved by grace through faith, and filled with the Spirit of Christ, is also empowered to love. And all of the Mosaic law, including the Ten Commandments are fulfilled in the law of love:
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
It is important to note that this law regarding love of neighbor is an Old Testament law from Leviticus 19:18. Paul has never repudiated the law and the prophets, only their false interpretations. Note also that the four commandments Paul specifically cites from the Decalogue relate to our horizontal relationships with other human beings.
And there is an urgency to his exhortations about how Christians are to live. His view of time is eschatological. One doesn’t know when time will end, so it is imperative to live well:
Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far gone, and the day is near.
Paul is not engaging in any apocalyptical speculation so rampant today. He is simply stating the obvious — that every day one is closer to the end of the age. And that day is nearer today than it was yesterday. This is a call to wakefulness and awareness, because, as Jesus teaches:
Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes…. Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come (Matthew 24:42,44).
In light of this awareness, that the day is near, Paul exhorts us:
Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
His imagery contrasts night and day, with darkness suggesting behavior that is associated with night-time revels (drunkeness and sexual debauchery) as well as interpersonal conflict (strife and jealousy). And light becomes a palpable thing — the armor of light that we are to put on clothes us with protection. Indeed, he extends the metaphor, that we are to put on Christ — like the light, Christ is to envelop us.
And Paul reminds us of a metaphor that prevails throughout Scripture — we are to walk properly, as in the day. The imagery of walking with God, and walking in God’s ways, is scattered throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. And it is readily apparent that walking is far easier in the light than in darkness! We are to:
walk in the light, as he (God) is in the light (1 John 1:7).
We also see the contrast of flesh and spirit, and are reminded of Paul’s earlier declaration:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:5-6).
Making provision for the flesh and its lusts leads to death; the Spirit leads to life and peace.
APPLY:
The law of love is at the heart of Christian ethical teaching. The New Testament appropriation of this principle insists that it sums up all the law and the prophets. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Jesus or Paul or James are negating the Old Testament law, but that love is the foundation for obedience to the law.
Do we go to church out of duty, or because we love God? Do we tithe because it is a rule, or because it is a measured means of expressing our love? Do we visit the sick or feed the hungry because we were told to do so, or because we care? The answer is pretty clear — we do these things, and obey the principles of the law not because they are legalisms, but because they offer guidance in loving God and neighbor.
Augustine of Hippo once said:
Once for all, then, a short precept is given you: Love, and do what you will….let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good (Augustine’s Homily 7 on 1 John 4:4-12).
There is an irrefutable logic here:
- If you love, you won’t commit adultery, which damages entire families, not just the two people involved.
- If you love, you won’t murder — the ultimate unloving act.
- If you love, you won’t steal — depriving someone else of the right to their own property is a selfish, unloving thing to do.
- If you love, you won’t covet — covetousness is the inner root of dissatisfaction that leads to envy and jealousy and lust and disharmony with others and ourselves.
It is impossible to think of an instance when love fails to fulfill the proper regard between God and ourselves, between ourselves and others, and within our own mind and soul.
The Apostle John sums it up this way:
We love him, because he (God) first loved us (1 John 4:19).
When we love, we become most like God.
RESPOND:
Many years ago when I was in college I had a roommate who had been recently saved. He was zealous in his church attendance and in his witnessing to others. But I remember one time having a conversation with him about the love commandments of Jesus, and the commandments of love that permeate all the Scriptures.
He seemed completely puzzled. This conversation was at least ten years prior to Tina Turner’s troubling song, “What’s love got to do with it?” But that seemed to be his attitude — what’s love got to do with being a Christian?
I was every bit as puzzled by his attitude as he was by mine. Christianity without love is like walking in the total darkness of night. Christianity without love is like living in the world of Fight Club instead of a loving family. Christianity without love makes religion into a set of rules instead of a Spirit-led walk with God guided by the principle of love.
When we forget to love as God has loved us, we forget that we too have been those unlovely and unlovable selfish broken creatures for whom Christ died:
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Our Lord, your command to love is inspiring, but impossible without your love living and working in and through us. May we walk in your light and bring others into your light as well. Amen.
PHOTOS: "'Put on the Armor of Light' ~ Romans 13:12" by Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
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