Daily Verse Romans 13:8

[Lori Jane]

 

[Lori Jane]

Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves someone else has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8 LEB)

 

[Lori Jane]

13:8 except to love one another Represents the second greatest commandment (see Lev 19:18; Matt 22:39; Luke 10:27).


Love is the greatest of the Christian virtues and the distinguishing mark of Christ’s disciples (John 13:35). Both Jesus and Paul identified self-sacrificial death as the primary demonstration of divine love (John 15:13; see note on Rom 5:8). Those who exhibit this love do not seek to harm another (v. 10); rather, they work for the benefit of another regardless of merit. In this sense, love fulfills the requirements of the law.


has fulfilled the law Paul suggests that love of neighbor is the essence of the law (compare Gal 5:14; 6:2).

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ro 13:8). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

 

[Lori Jane]

13:8–10 The Christian is to pay all his obligations, but there is one debt we can never repay. This is the debt of love. Some have misinterpreted this verse as prohibiting all monetary debt, including having a mortgage on a house or buying a car on an installment plan. It may be wise never to go into monetary debt (cp. “the borrower is a slave to the lender,” Pr 22:7), but this verse has little to do with modern methods of finance. It is about fulfilling obligations of all kinds. We can never stop loving as long as we live. Love fulfills the law because if we love our neighbor we will do him no harm. We fulfill the first four commands by loving the Lord and the rest of the law by obeying the prohibitions as we love our neighbor.

Patterson, P. (2017). Salvation in the Old Testament. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (pp. 1801–1802). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.