How Love Fulfills the Law

Sermon video coming soon. Click here to view the sermon on Youtube

Romans 13:8-10, Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

One day a lawyer came up to Jesus to test Him. He asked a simple but deep question: What is the greatest commandment? Without a moment’s hesitation Jesus summarized our responsibility to God and our neighbor from Exodus 20 and Leviticus 19.

Matthew 22:37-40, 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 foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

What is Jesus saying? Love God with all that you are, mind, heart, soul. That’s first and foremost. You don’t start with man; you start with God, our vertical responsibility. The second is our horizontal responsibility – love your neighbor with the same fervor and concern and care that you love yourself. We aren’t saved by loving God and our neighbor. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, not by trying to keep the law. Paul clearly taught us, “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20). No amount of law keeping, no amount of trying to keep the Ten Commandments will earn a place with God in heaven. We are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).  That’s the gospel from Romans 1-11. 

Now in Romans 12-16 Paul is instructing us about progressive sanctification, or Christian growth. As we live for Christ, we put off the old ways of thinking and living, we are renewed in our minds by the washing of the Word of God, and we put on new ways of thinking and living.  In Romans 13:1-7 God teaches us our responsibility to human government. In verse 7 He says we need to live responsibly by paying our taxes and giving honor to whom honor is due.  You can see the connection between verse 7, “Render to all what is due them…” and verse 8, “Owe nothing to anyone….” And we learn that while we aren’t saved by keeping them, those ten commandments are expressions of God’s will for His people. Love God and love your neighbor. We seldom think of how God’s law and our love go hand in hand, but God’s moral law defines love, and love fulfills that law. 

Now Paul transitions from paying our taxes to our debt of love. The first thing he says is owe nothing to anyone.

LOVE MEANS LIVING RESPONSIBLY WITH OUR FINANCES AND PROPERTY

Romans 13:8, Owe nothing to anyone…

Some people think and teach that this verse forbids borrowing money. But is that what it is saying? First, it would be nice if you didn’t have to borrow money for a house, but most of us would never have purchased that first house without a mortgage. However, beware, borrowing money can be a real problem. Proverbs 22:7 says the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. So, if you want to be a slave, borrow money. Our federal debt is 34 trillion. Total consumer debt is $17 trillion. Americans rack up thousands of dollars a year in credit card debt, and if they don’t pay it off each month, they may be paying over 20% in interest. Here is a surefire way to stay out of debt: never spend more than you earn.

What this verse is really saying is, “Let no debt remain outstanding” (NIV). Never get in arrears. Psalm 37:21 says the wicked borrows and does not pay back. If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. Debt can be a vicious master that creates emotional, marital, and other problems. We live in a culture that constantly feeds the greed and “gottahavit” mindset. Television and the internet dangle all this stuff before our eyes and drive us over to click on Amazon or to the car lot for the coolest set of wheels with easy monthly payments or to get that latest piece of whiz-bang technology. Here are three simple pieces of financial advice to keep us all out of financial trouble.

1. Never default on a loan. If you can’t pay, then God is telling you to make radical changes in either your attitude or spending practices or both. You owe what you agreed to when you took out that loan. If you can’t pay off that credit card balance every month, it’s time for ”plastic surgery.”  
2. Exercise self-control in your financial decisions. We can get awfully silly with buying stuff – to relieve tension (“retail therapy”), to reward ourselves (“I deserve a new car or the latest Apple product”), or to retaliate in anger – “Okay, I’m just going to go spend money. I’ll show you.”  Someone said, “When your outgo exceeds your income, the upshot will be your downfall.”  
3. Never damage another’s property without making it right. Have you ever broken anything at someone else’s house? If you have me over, it’ll probably happen. Our first instinct is to try to hide it, right? They’ll think someone else did it. Or you borrow something, then lose it. First Kings 6:5 talks about one of Elisha’s seminary students who was chopping wood, and the axe head flew off right into Jordan River. He cried out, “Alas my master, for it was borrowed.” It’s always good to have an Elisha around. Elisha asked, “Where did you lose it?”  “Right over there!”  So, Elisha cut off a stick, threw it toward the area and guess what? The axe head floated!  If you do damage someone else’s property, just “fess up.”

Owe nothing to anyone. Love means living responsibly in the area of finance and property.

YOU WILL ALWAYS OWE THE DEBT OF LOVE

Romans 13:8, Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Paul says we have one debt that we can never pay off – to love one another. Paul refers to love five times and loving your neighbor three times in these three short verses. God’s will for each of us is to love others. We hear this so often, we yawn, yeah, yeah. But I want you to see how huge this is in the New Testament. Hang on for a speedy run through the New Testament. And remember, Jesus said it is the second greatest commandment.

• In John 13:34 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another.”
• In John 15:12 and 17 Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another.”
• 1 Peter 1:22 and 4:8 says, “Fervently love one another from the heart.”
• What about 1 Corinthians 13?  Love is patient, kind, jealous, doesn’t brag, isn’t arrogant, isn’t rude, isn’t self-seeking, isn’t easily provoked, doesn’t hold grudges, doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices in the truth, bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things, and never fails. That’s God’s kind of love. It’s not a feeling that I feel when I feel the way I feel about you.

• James 2:8 says you are fulfilling the royal law when you love your neighbor as yourself.
• Ephesians 5:1-2 says be imitators of God and walk in love just like Christ loved us and gave himself for us. Nothing so illustrates agape love like the cross.
• Ephesians 5:25 says husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. 
• In 2 Peter 1:7 love caps all the other godly character qualities: add to your faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love.
• In Galatians 5:22-23 love begins the fruit of the Spirit. All the other fruit are simply love unfolded: joy is love singing, peace is love resting, patience is love enduring, gentleness is love’s touch, goodness is love giving, faith is love’s loyalty, meekness is love’s humility, and self-control is love holding the reins.
• In Colossians 3:14 love is the wrap on all the other graces of the Christian life – compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other, and then, put on love, the perfect bond of unity.
• 1 Timothy 1:5 says love is the target or goal of all our preaching.
• 2 Timothy 1:7 says God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.
• Philippians 1:9 Paul prays that our love may abound more and more.
• 1 John 3:14 says we know we’ve passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. 

We’ll always have this never-ending debt of love toward one another. When God says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, that doesn’t mean we have to learn to love ourselves first. Back in the 80’s and 90’s when psychology swept into the church, so-called Christian psychologists and even preachers took up the mantra, “Before you can love others you have to learn to love yourself.” We already love ourselves plenty. We’re born self-centered sinners who want others to do for us. We don’t walk around with empty love tanks needing others to fill our tanks before we can love others, either. No, God means we are to love others, our neighbors or whomever God brings into our lives, with the same fervor and energy and thoughtfulness that we already love ourselves.  

YOUR LOVE IS DEFINED AND DIRECTED BY GOD’S LAW

Romans 13:8-9, Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

John Calvin wrote, “God intended nothing else by all His commandments than to teach us the duty of love.” True godly love is always guided by truth or God’s law. The world’s view of love goes far astray from what biblical love really is. Love is not tolerating every kind of unbiblical way of living. When people protest, “You can’t tell me who to love,” they really mean they don’t want to acknowledge biblical standards for their behavior, and they resent anyone telling them what God says. Love doesn’t tolerate sin. True God-honoring love always honors or fulfills the law. Godly love comes from God and honors God and His law. Romans 5:5 says God poured His love into our hearts. Biblical love is a God-given, God-honoring love that cares and wants the best for others. It isn’t selfish or indulgent. When the Beatles sang, “All we need is love,” they weren’t thinking of the same kind of love Paul is thinking about. Love comforts and encourages, but there are times when godly love is strong and warns and rebukes. Paul says the law defines for us what true love is. Galatians 5:14 says the whole law is summed up in one word – love your neighbor as yourself. When Paul details the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, he ends with “against such there is no law.” Why? Because love is the application of God’s law.

Now in verse 9 Paul gives us four examples of love fulfilling the law. If we are truly loving our neighbors, which means anyone in our world, we will be keeping the spirit of these laws.

Love will never commit adultery or use another person for one’s own pleasure. Love respects the sanctity of the other person’s purity as well as the sanctity of the marriage covenant. First Thessalonians 4:6 warns against defrauding or taking sexual advantage of a brother. Jesus said even to look on a woman with lust is to commit adultery in the heart.

A young man who truly loves a young lady will want the best for her, her purity, a good relationship with her parents, God’s blessing on her future without regrets. Love doesn’t use someone for selfish pleasure.

A young lady who truly loves a young man will want him to know and love Christ above all. She wants his best and encourages him to work hard, develop self-control, honor his parents and other authorities. She won’t attract him with her sex but with her godly spirit.  

It isn’t love when a married man meets a married woman at work and they both end up in the same motel room. Love is loyal and faithful and fulfills the law against adultery.

Love never murders or even hates or spreads gossip and slander. Love works hard to restore relationships. Jesus said if there’s a personal problem between you and your brother, go to him and be reconciled. That’s why love includes humility. Love looks past offenses of others and seeks to meet the needs of others. Love doesn’t sit around getting all bitter and angry because someone isn’t feeding me the cookies or isn’t buttering my toast. Or like the Florida guy who got all upset at the Subway worker for failing to cut his foot-long sub in half and threw the whole thing at the employee! He was arrested and charged with battery. Ephesians 4:31-32 says love puts off all bitterness, wrath, anger, slander, and all malice, but put on kindness, tender-heartedness, and forgiveness.  

Love never steals or takes what isn’t yours. God calls His people to work hard, to provide for ourselves, and become givers rather than takers.  

Ephesians 4:28, He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

Love never covets or wishes it had what isn’t yours. Achan coveted the silver and gold and fancy cloth, and it cost him his life, his family’s lives, and thirty-six soldiers’ lives cut down in battle at Ai. Greedy, covetous people are not loving people. They end up arguing about what they have and don’t have and whose is what. Jesus warned the man who wanted Him to settle an inheritance dispute, “Beware of every form of greed or covetousness.” Love doesn’t resent what others have.

Notice how Paul handles the Law at the end of verse 9. Rather than reciting all 630 commandments in the Old Testament, he says “Look, if there is any other commandment…”  Interpret God’s moral commandments with love for God or love for neighbors. And always go to the heart of the law – the heart of adultery, murder, stealing, coveting. Paul knows we’ll all come short of God’s standards of love. He knows we’ll need forgiveness. And he also knows we need the power of Christ’s Spirit to love that honors God’s law. Deny yourself, be concerned about loving others, be a blessing to others, even if it cuts into your private personal time and life. 

LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR FULFILLS GOD’S LAW

Romans 13:10, Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

When Paul says love does no wrong to a neighbor, he is using the literary device called litotes – putting the negative to emphasize the positive. Love does no wrong means love does whatever is needed; love does only good for a neighbor, ultimately helping him to see God and His love and grace in your life. The ultimate standard of self-denying, others-focused love is Christ loving us sinners on Calvary. He loved us and gave Himself for us. He did whatever it took to meet our needs. He bore the Roman scourge, the scoffing, the spitting, the crown of thorns, and most of all, the awful tormenting agony of bearing our sins in our place, enduring God’s wrath we should have endured. He loved us and gave Himself for us. This is the ultimate standard of love that fulfills the law. 

Paul says the standard of a husband’s love is Christ’s love for us. When a husband vows to love his wife till death do them part, what is he saying? “I will be faithful to you. I will meet my responsibilities to you. I will help meet your needs. I will try to understand you and make life enjoyable for you. When I fail, I will seek your forgiveness. I will not be selfish toward you. I will not use you or abuse you. I will be patient and kind and forgiving toward you.”  

The ladies are not off the hook. Proverbs gives a wonderful standard for a wife’s love for her husband.

Proverbs 31:10-12, An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.

SO WHAT?

How do we pull this off? First, only born-again, Spirit-empowered Christians can fulfill this responsibility. The fruit of the Spirit is love. As you grow in loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul, you grow in wanting to love others God’s way. And even then, we blow it and need God’s forgiveness. There isn’t a perfect lover in this room. And I’m glad God doesn’t accept us based on our perfect love. Remember, we’re not saved by keeping the law. But as believers the law sets the standard of what our love looks like. 

Take a tour of your life right now. Are you living a responsible, loving Christian life? Are there areas that you know you need to confess to God and seek His forgiveness?  Maybe you need to seek forgiveness from someone you’ve offended. We owe a never-ending debt of God-honoring love. We need to pray that God will help us truly love others as God has loved us. God loved us while we were yet sinners. If you have never received Christ as your Savior, this is the best time in your life to repent of your sins and from your heart confess Christ as your Lord and Savior.