Verse of the Day
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Gods law lays out commandments they are as followed he teaches us
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does not harm another neighbor Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. God’s law is love.
What does Romans 13:9 mean?
Paul has written in the previous verse that the person who loves another has fulfilled the law. Now he begins to explain what he meant by that statement.
As an example of the entire law, Paul lists four of the Ten Commandments, those forbidding adultery, murder, stealing, and coveting. Paul then adds the statement “and any other command.” This is the equivalent of the modern “etcetera,” or “etc.” He has in mind all the commands included in the law, especially those about human relationships.
All those commands can be summed up in the word “love” from the command in Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” As Paul will show in the following verse, you cannot love someone and murder them or cheat on them or steal from them or covet their belongings. In this way, if we will obey the command to love our neighbors, we will fulfill all the other commands by default.
Context Summary
Romans 13:8–14 describes the Christian obligation to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. To do this is to fulfill the law of Moses, because love itself never hurts anyone. The time has come for believers to cast off any works of darkness, including drunkenness, immorality, and jealousy. Instead, we should live as people who walk in the light, taking on the spiritual armor of light and Christ Himself.
Chapter Summary
Romans 13 tackles three big areas that living-sacrifice Christians must address. First, since God puts every human authority in place to serve His purposes, Christians must submit to them; this idea comes with a particular context. Second, we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Third, we are called to live as people of the light and throw off works of darkness like drunkenness, sexual immorality, and jealousy. We are to take on the armor of light against the darkness and, in fact, take on Christ Himself instead of serving our own desires
What does Romans 13:10 mean?
In verse 8, Paul made the statement that those who love have fulfilled the law. He concludes his explanation of what that means in this verse.
Paul showed previously that we will, by default, end up keeping the whole law if we simply obey the command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Leviticus 19:18). Now he makes it clearer still: When we are acting in love, we will never hurt anyone. Thus, love fulfills the intention of every other commands given to protect people from harm.
We should be careful, though, not to read Paul’s words here to mean that the command to love our neighbors has now become the equivalent of the law of Moses. Paul is not teaching that if we succeed in loving others, we will obtain on our own the righteousness of God. Paul has been extremely clear that those who are in Christ have died to the law and have been released from the law (Romans 7:4–6).
Nor is Paul’s command suggesting that anything which displeases or bothers another is, by definition, unloving. For example, Christians are commanded to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15); truths such as the reality of our sin are sometimes hard to hear. What Paul means is that acts of love—in and of themselves—are not a source of harm. When we act for others’ best interests, we’re not doing anything to harm them.
Paul’s point here is that those who are in Christ are called to keep on loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. If we were able to do so perfectly—which we are not—we would perfectly keep the law—which we can’t. That distinction is one Paul has already addressed in this letter (Romans 3:10; 7:22–23).
Context Summary
Romans 13:8–14 describes the Christian obligation to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. To do this is to fulfill the law of Moses, because love itself never hurts anyone. The time has come for believers to cast off any works of darkness, including drunkenness, immorality, and jealousy. Instead, we should live as people who walk in the light, taking on the spiritual armor of light and Christ Himself.
Chapter Summary
Romans 13 tackles three big areas that living-sacrifice Christians must address. First, since God puts every human authority in place to serve His purposes, Christians must submit to them; this idea comes with a particular context. Second, we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Third, we are called to live as people of the light and throw off works of darkness like drunkenness, sexual immorality, and jealousy. We are to take on the armor of light against the darkness and, in fact, take on Christ Himself instead of serving our own desires
What Does Romans 13:10 Mean? ►
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:10(NASB)
Verse Thoughts
Christian conduct touches on every area of life. It should affect all we say and do at home, at work, in the community, or when we are completely alone. In Roman 13, Paul gives some important instruction on Christian conduct in two areas – the way we behave towards the government and how we should conduct ourselves towards our neighbour.
Paul makes it crystal clear that, “love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.” We are commanded to do no evil towards the people we meet in everyday life and to love them in practical ways. Loving the people that cross our path experientially, day by day, living a life of integrity and showing consideration towards others is the mark of a true believer who is walking in spirit, in truth, and in love.
Both secular souls and those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will often quote, “The Golden Rule” which is, “love your neighbour as yourself.” It was first written in Leviticus by Moses and was quoted and expounded by the Lord Jesus, and this command is further referenced in the letter to the Romans. While the Mosaic Law was given to Israel, and Christ’s ministry was to the Jew first, Paul calls on Christians to follow this Golden Rule as well, for in so doing we will live a life that is well-pleasing to the Lord, honours our Father in heaven, “and is the fulfilment of God’s Law.”
“Do no wrong to one’s neighbour”, may sound a very simple principle to perform, but on deeper reflection we realise it is an enormous undertaking that would prove to be impossible without God’s sufficient strength. To do no wrong to one’s neighbour covers every word we say, every action we undertake, every attitude we express, and every motive in the secret depths of our heart, that God alone can see.
Knowing that the Church, which began at Pentecost, is NOT under the Law but under grace, begs the question – WHY did Paul appeal to the Mosaic Law when promoting the Golden Rule and saying, “Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.” Well, we need look no further than Christ’s closing command to the Church – “LOVE, as I have loved. By THIS shall all men know that you are My disciples.”
When the Mosaic Law commanded Israel to, “love your neighbour as yourself”, the Law laid out a very specific instruction for the people to follow, to DEMONSTRATE that they loved their neighbour. The people of Israel were legally bound to fulfil each and every Law of love found in the Mosaic Law, and if they broke one of the commands they broke them all. As James teaches, “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
An Israelite who stole from his neighbour would have broken the 8th commandment, which breaks the law to love your neighbour. The Jew, who lied about his fellow Jew, would have broken the Mosaic Law, as it shows a lack of love towards his neighbour, and a farmer, who refused to leave stalks of wheat in his field for the poor to gather, would have broken the Law of gleaning – which similarly would break the Mosaic Law on LOVING their neighbour.
Israel were to practice love by obeying all the laws of Moses. The Church, however, are not under the Law but under grace. The Church is not given a list of things to DO, in order to fulfil the law of love towards our neighbour. We are given the broad principle to LOVE, and love does no wrong to a neighbour. At the end of His ministry, the Lord Jesus gave a new commandment to the Church, which condenses this important law of love, into one simple command, “LOVE one another as I have loved you – by THIS shall all men know that you are My disciples.”
Paul reminds us that when we love others in the same way that Jesus loved us we fulfil the whole of God’s law, “for love is the fulfillment of the law.” And James calls this the ROYAL Law, and it should govern every aspect of our lives. BUT we can only love as Jesus loves when we are walking in spirit and truth and allowing HIM to lead and guide every word we say, every action we undertake, every attitude we express and every motive of our heart.
And Paul, in his book of Galatians, expresses it this way, “bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfil the law of Christ.” In a world where the love of many has grown cold, may we fulfil Christ’s command to love our neighbour as He loves, and do him no wrong, as we submit to the leading of the Spirit and carry out God’s will for our lives.
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/romans-13-10
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/romans-13-10
Love is the Fulfillment of the Law—Romans 13:8-10
March 29, 2010
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“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10)
Love is an incredible thing. Love is what initiated God’s redemption plan for us. Perhaps the most well known verse in the entire Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” ( John 3:16 ). Because of God’s great love for us God sent Jesus into humanity to recue mankind from the power of darkness and bring us into fellowship with Him. In the same way, as believers, we ought to love one another, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” ( I John 4:7-8 ). Our love for each other shows that be belong to the truth because “God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” ( I John 4:12 ).
Paul reminds us in today’s passage that we are to leave “no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another”. As believers we should owe no man. We should be free from the bondage of debt. We should pay in full for the things we have and the thing we buy. This goes back to the previous verses identifying that we should pay what we owe, whether taxes, salaries, honor or respect ( Romans 13:7 ). The only debt that we should have is the debt to love one another. This obligation comes out of the realization of what Christ did for us. Once we understand how he overcame every barrier that sin put between us to bring us back into a restored relationship with the Father, it gives us a new perspective about our fellow mankind. We didn’t deserve His grace or His mercy but because He loved us we received both. In the same way, because he loved us we should also extend both grace and mercy to each other.
The amazing thing about this is that Paul said this love we extend to one another fulfills and summarizes the rest of the law. All of these commandments hinge on how we treat others. If we love then we will not murder, steal and covet our neighbor’s things. Love fulfills the intent of the law because all things can be summarized and fulfilled by love. Paul said in I Corinthians 13: 3, if I have not love, I am nothing. Love will never do harm to one another, therefore it meets all the requirements of the law.
When questioned about the Law Jesus recited the exact same observation. “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” ( Mark 12:28-31 ). By loving God with everything we are, we fulfill the law because we are looking to him for grace and mercy. This love equips and enables us to love one another in a deep and genuine way, showing that we are walking in His truth. This is the only debt that we should owe, the debt to love one another because “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” ( I John 4:7 ).
Today, I am thankful that God is love. I rejoice that he demonstrated His incredible love for us in the person of Jesus Christ. I am forever changed because of this love and I know that it extends to those around me because he has enabled me to love deeply. Today, I pray that you let His love flow through you and touch those around you. May you be a blessing and a light for His kingdom in this dark world, amen.
For this, thou shalt not commit adultery
The apostle here reckons up the several laws of the second table, with this view, that it might appear that so far as a man loves his neighbour, whether more near or distantly related, he fulfils the law, or acts according to it. He omits the first of these, the fifth commandment, either because he had urged this before, so far as it may be thought to regard magistrates; or because, according to the division of the Jews, who reckon five commands to each table, this belonged to the first: and he puts the seventh before the sixth, which is of no great moment; the order of things being frequently changed in the Scripture, and which is often done by Jewish writers, in alleging and citing passages of Scripture; and with whom this is a maxim, (hrwtb rxwamw Mdqwm Nya) , “that there is no first nor last in the law” {c}; that is, it is of no importance which stands first or last in it: it follows,
thou shall not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false
witness, thou shalt not covet;
which are the sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth commands of the decalogue, ( Exodus 20:13 Exodus 20:15-17 ) :
and if there be any other commandment;
of God, respecting the neighbour, either in the decalogue, as there was the fifth, ( Exodus 20:12 ) , or elsewhere, the apostle repeating this by memory:
it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shall love
thy neighbour as thyself;
see ( Leviticus 19:18 ) ; this is the summary and epitome of them; so Christ reduces the laws of the first table to the head of love to God, and those of the second to the head of love to the neighbour, ( Matthew 22:37-39 ) , as the apostle does here, and in ( Galatians 5:14 ) , and the Apostle James, in ( James 2:8 ) .
Love fulfills the law. If we love one another we can live righteously and harmoniously with each other. Jesus said the same thing, that in loving God and one another we fulfill the law. We have an obligation, we owe it to each other, to love one another.
Paul is telling his audience of believers in Rome what righteous, harmonious living through faith looks like. One of the essential aspects of harmonious living is to love on another. Even though Paul just told us to obey the rules of the government, there is a higher law that will always be appropriate, no matter the circumstance. In these verses, Paul is reiterating what Jesus said, that he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. In Matthew 22:33-40, a lawyer asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is. Jesus responds with the two greatest commandments, to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind—and to love others as you love yourself. Jesus goes on to state that these two commandments cover the entire law. Paul restates this, by showing his audience that if you love your neighbor you will do no wrong to them. You won’t steal, covet, murder, or do any wrong to them if you truly love them. Because of this, Paul makes it clear that living a harmonious life through faith involves loving one another.
Therefore, as we go about obeying the laws of the government, we should be looking to fulfill an even higher law, and that is to love others. That means serving others. In the USA, part of serving others is to exercise good stewardship of our citizenship and see that the government and its laws are done in accordance with the law of man and of God. This can require a lot of sacrifice, but that is service to both God and man.
Paul tells his readers that the only thing we should owe one another is love. The whole letter of Romans has entailed a debate about faith vs. law; what does God care about: us trusting in Him, or us following rules? Paul has demonstrated why it is faith that leads to righteous living, and through living harmoniously with one another in faith. Paul lists some of the most famous parts of the Old Testament Law: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, and he says all these rules can be summed up in this saying, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. If we love one another, we won’t harm each other in all the various ways that humans hurt each other. We’ll be at peace with one another. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Paul tells the believers in Galatia the same thing in his letter to them, that the law is fulfilled when we love each other (5:14).
Biblical Text
8 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.
Living Water Ministries 