Romans (Part 37)
December 19, 2021

Romans (Part 37) - Love: A Debt, A Commandment, A Fulfillment

[Romans 13:8-10 ESV]
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other,
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments,
“You shall not commit adultery,
You shall not murder,
You shall not steal,
You shall not covet,”
and any other commandment, are summed up in this word:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor;
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love is a DEBT WE OWE

[Romans 13:8 ESV]
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other…

[Romans 13:7 ESV]
7 Pay to all what is owed to them:
taxes to whom taxes are owed,
revenue to whom revenue is owed,
respect to whom respect is owed,
honor to whom honor is owed.

[Romans 1:14-15 ESV]
14 I am under obligation
both to Greeks and to barbarians,
both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also
who are in Rome.

Love is a COMMANDMENT WE MUST KEEP

[Romans 13:9 ESV]
9 For the commandments,
“You shall not commit adultery,
You shall not murder,
You shall not steal,
You shall not covet,”
and any other commandment, are summed up in this word:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

[Matthew 22:34-40 ESV]
34 But when the Pharisees heard
that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40 On these two commandments depend
all the Law and the Prophets.”

[John 13:34-35 ESV]
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”

[John 14:21 ESV]
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them,
he it is who loves me…

[John 14:23-24 ESV]
23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word, and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our home with him.
24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words…

[John 15:10 ESV]
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

[John 15:12 ESV]
12 “This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you.

[1 John 2:9 ESV]
9 Whoever says he is in the light
and hates his brother is still in darkness.

[1 John 2:11 ESV]
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness
and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going,
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

[1 John 3:10 ESV]
10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

[1 John 3:15 ESV]
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,
and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

[1 John 4:20 ESV]
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar;
for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

[John 15:5 ESV]
5 I am the vine; you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him,
he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing.

[Galatians 5:22 ESV]
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love…

Love is a FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW

[Romans 13:8 ESV]
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other,
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

[Romans 13:10 ESV]
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor;
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

[Romans 3:20 ESV]
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified
in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

[Romans 3:28 ESV]
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.

Why do I OWE love to other people, especially to those who aren’t loving towards me?

[1 John 4:9-10 ESV]
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

[Luke 7:37-48 ESV]
37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

[1 John 4:19 ESV]
19 We love because he first loved us.

We have a Debt of love to pay…
We have a Commandment from our Lord Jesus to keep…
And it will Fulfill the Law, doing no wrong to our neighbor…