Chapter # 13 Paragraph # 2 Study # 2
December 13, 2020
Humble, Texas
(086)
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 Driving Thesis: Love Fulfills Law (13:8 and 13:10; an inclusio).
- A. In Paul's "obligation" concept, certain "debts" are always "outstanding" (meaning, never completely finished).
- 1. Such is the condition of everyone in respect to "Law": its righteous precepts never "go away" and it is never "OK" to act contrary to those bedrock requirements.
- a. That Jesus fulfilled the Law in our stead does mean that the Law has been fulfilled for us so that its condemnations cannot be executed against us (Romans 8:1).
- b. But the Spirit of Jesus was given to us so that we might be empowered to act in harmony with the "standing" which we have "in Him" so that "Law" is essentially fulfilled by that Spirit in and through us. This is at least one major aspect of what Paul meant by 13:14.
- 2. No one has ever completely "paid what is due" in respect to taxes, customs, fear, and honor for one simple reason: those debts are perennial; they are never "over and done with".
- a. A "tax bill" can be said to have been paid when the amount on the bill is rendered to the proper "tax collector", but the "bill" immediately begins a new cycle of indebtedness as soon as the "due date" on the bill passes.
- b. A person who sits in the seat of "higher authority" is "due" fear and honor, but that seat is always filled so that the debts of fear and honor are never "paid in full".
- 3. Paul's demand regarding "debts" is not that they not be incurred, but that they do not fall into default.
- a. A person can be "debt free" on the day when the "bill" is due and paid, but those debts that are perennial are always going to come "due" again.
- b. Thus, if a person "pays on time", he/she is considered to have fulfilled Paul's requirement to "owe no man anything". This means that his "meaning" in respect to his command to owe nothing to anyone is "do not fail to pay what is due as it comes due".
- c. At least some of these "debts" come due every time the circumstances come wherein the "debt" exists: example; every time a "higher authority" is due "honor", that debt must not be defaulted upon. Point: "honor" is due every time any conversation or action has anything to do with the individual who has the place of "honor" established by God.
- B. Given the recurring nature of "debts extant", Paul moves deeper into the issues of "payment" to the underlying driving force: Love, the final answer to the question, "What is valuable?".
- 1. This is the primary "exception clause": Love is the continual requirement.
- 2. This raises the necessity of being as clear as possible as to the essential nature of "Love" and its means for fulfillment.
- a. It is important to note Jesus' excoriation of "established authorities" (as in Matthew 23:13-29) as a clear example that "Love" does not always appear to 'honor' those who are genuinely "loved".
- 1) Genuine "love" (as an outworking of "the Love of The God") only, always, means that the one who "loves" is willing to be personally sacrificed for the sake of the "beloved". It does not mean that one must resort to hypocritical "honor" and "lies" spoken in the expression of words of "honor".
- 2) Genuine "love" is willing to speak the truth about, and to, those whose greatest need is to be publicly humiliated so that they might come to repentance.
- 3) But, this is never to be a cloak for real hatred and vindictiveness operating on the supposed "greater need" of the one being publicly humiliated.
- b. There is a potent need for every believer to understand the "continuing obligations" which "Law" makes clear as "continuing obligations".
- 1) But this need must, absolutely must, be kept within the parameters of Paul's teaching that we have "died to the Law" (Romans 7:6, 9; and Galatians 2:19, 21).
- 2) This teaching is, most fundamentally, that our death to "Law" means two things: that our "death to Law" has this intention -- that we "live to God" (Galatians 2:19 and Romans 7:6); and that this "death to Law" has this result -- that we are absolutely free from the execution of the penalty (condemnation) that accrues to those who fail to fulfill it (Romans 8:1 and 33).
- c. And there is an equally potent need for every believer to understand how to "love" in such a way as to "fulfill" the Law.
- 1) The "means" of Love is One: Love is the fruit of the Spirit of Jesus (Galatians 5:22); and the way we bear that fruit is one: God Himself teaches us (1 Thessalonians 4:9) and empowers us (1 Peter 4:11 conjoined with John 15:4-5).
- 2) The "bottom line" for the Spirit's production of "Love" is one: a conscience that is void of offense toward God and toward men (Acts 24:16).
- a) This does not mean only to never violate "Love", though such a course would produce a blameless conscience.
- b) This also means not allowing failures to go unaddressed before God with genuine confession and repentance.
- i. Confession leads to forgiveness: 1 John 1:9. This is only true when "confession" is attended by "repentance".
- ii. Repentance leads to forgiveness: Luke 24:47. This is only true when "repentance" is attended by "confession".
- 3) This is not designed to be "easy"; it is designed to be effective.