Chapter # 13 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
December 6, 2020
Humble, Texas

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1769 KJV Translation:

8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love [is] the fulfilling of the law.
11 And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof].

1901 ASV Translation:

8 Owe no man anything save to love one another; for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness.
13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

• I. Paul's "Owe" Is His Link To The Former Paragraph.
  • A. Paul had insisted that believers "give to all the thing owed" (using ofeile, the noun).
  • B. Now he insists that believer "owe" nothing to anyone (using ofeilo, the verb).
    • 1. A question that this text raises is this: how inclusive is this insistence? Is it strictly limited to the issue of submission to authorities as 13:7 addresses it? Is it "wrong" to go into debt in areas that exist apart from "higher authorities"?
      • a. Paul's "support texts" are not from "submission to higher authorities" texts; they are from the "Ten Commandments" texts; thus, strongly implying that he is branching out from the narrow confines of the concept of submission to authority" alone.
      • b. Paul is identifying a very broad, and general, biblical necessity: the primacy of "Love" in all of one's relationships; not just those relationships one has with civil authorities.
    • 2. The statement of 13:7 acknowledges that "debt" already exists ("Pay to all what is owed").
      • a. Civil "higher authorities" have existed by divine intent as long as there have been human governments.
      • b. The "debts" of "taxes", "custom", "fear", and "honor" are automatically already in existence and all men live under their "obligations"/"debts".
    • 3. Thus, since "what is owed" is already in existence, it cannot be that "owe no man anything" can be taken to mean "take on no debt" and must, then, be taken to mean "legally address the debt that already exists". In other words, do not default on any debt. This would mean that incurring "debt" is not forbidden. What is forbidden is not legitimately addressing that debt (i.e., "legally"/"righteously" -- i.e., "lovingly" -- addressing it). The instruction in the Law included the lender holding some form of collateral that allows the "debt" to be met if the obligation fails according to the terms of the "loan agreement".
  • C. At issue: the believer's freedom from "legal obligation" (Paul's emphasis is upon "Law" [nomos]).
    • 1. This issue of "freedom" is not an issue of removing "obligation"; it is an issue of fulfilling it.
    • 2. All "legalism" revolves around, not the presence of necessity, but the provision for the fulfillment of the necessity: the very first named characteristic of the "fruit of the Spirit" which God has given to every believer is "Love" of the first order (God's). Once "Love" is the dominating characteristic, all "action" that follows will be a genuine "fulfillment of Law".
• II. The "Exception".
  • A. "Law" had said "love one another". This is a "legal" obligation that cannot be set aside for any reason. It is the essence of the root beneath the six commandments of the decalogue that have to do with how we are to treat other human beings.
  • B. All "law" was subsumed under "Love". The greatest commandments are two: Love God and Love Your Neighbor. Jesus made this clear in Matthew 22:37-40.
    • 1. That Paul is following the reasoning of Jesus is indisputable.
    • 2. That "Love" is necessarily at the root of all action is also beyond rational dispute.
      • a. But the "love" involved is, also, necessarily that which is defined as "The Love of God" and not the perverse "loves" of men. Every sentient creature has a "System of Love" by which all "agenda" issues are determined, but Sin has corrupted the "agenda systems" of all who are apart from "The Love of The God" (Luke 11:43; 1 John 2:15).
      • b. This also is indisputable by any reasonable person. Any kingdom that is divided by the presence of various "loves" is "divided" and, thus, "cannot survive" (the competition between "loves" will generate disintegration).
    • 3. Neither of these two can be set aside in any case. The only collateral for this debt is the debtor's "life". If a "love" requirement cannot be met in any other way, "death" is the accepted basis for the removal of the debt.
      • a. "Love" for God means total self-sacrifice up to the loss of physical life in the pursuit of His agenda and method (Matthew 16:25/Mark 8:35/Luke 9:24).
      • b. "Love" for one's neighbor can hardly be reduced to anything less: Love is love.
        • 1) Is it "love" when there is a "less than total sacrifice" involved? Can a person "love" another with "limits"?
        • 2) There are always "limits". To "love" God automatically means that one cannot "love" anyone whose demands contradict "love" for God.
          • a) This is strictly defined as a "love" that pursues the agenda of the person loved. One can "love" his enemy in respect to the truth about what that enemy really needs with the outcome that the enemy's "agenda" is deliberately frustrated because his/her perverted "Love System".
          • b) By the same token, to "love" one's neighbor (given the strict definition) automatically excludes "love" for God. This is why Paul argued that it was better to not marry because it forces a kind of "compromised love" into the equation (1 Corinthians 7:32-34 and Matthew 10:37).