Description
Paul entreats us in Romans 13:8, to carry on paying our debt of love to one another. Do we?
Romans 13:8
Owe no one anyt… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
We have another masterful argument from Paul in Romans 13 verse 8. Owe no one anything except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Just before this verse, Paul has said, pay what you owe. If you owe taxes, pay taxes. If you owe revenue, pay revenue. If you owe respect, pay respect. If you owe honour, pay honour. And the one debt that remains outstanding is love. And what is the significance of that? And why does he flip this argument in this way?
The point of our debt of love is that we can never fully repay it. Because love is the ultimate requirement under the law. If you split the Ten Commandments into two, you will get on the one hand, our duty to love God, and on the other hand, our duty to love people. So this love is the constant requirement, required by the law, and required by the full principle of the universe.
In fact, God himself is constantly giving us love, all the time. He doesn’t owe it to us, but he leads by example. He is love. That is true to his character, along with the character of justice, and righteousness, and mercy, and grace.
So how do we allow this debt of love to remain outstanding? And it is not, as we might think, by never paying it. That would be the obvious, wouldn’t it?
No, Paul wants us to fulfil the law. He’s not saying don’t give love. He’s saying you always have to give love and you always have to give more love. And if we could really cling to that principle, how different would our lives and our society be if we constantly gave love all the time to everyone?
That is a challenge, isn’t it?
God, as ever, we need your help with this. Please help us to be truly loving as you are loving, as Christ is loving. Thank you. Amen.
