Yesterday’s discussion ended with an appeal to pay everyone what is due to them. Today’s Bible verses begin by telling us that we should owe no one anything except love.
Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Romans 13.7).
Jesus taught that the first and greatest commandment was to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
The second commandment was to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
Jesus explains that all the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments (Matthew 22:40).
A close study of the Old Testament shows that God desires to be worshiped through acts of love toward others, especially the most vulnerable—such as the poor, widows, orphans, and immigrants.
John highlights the inconsistency of claiming to love God while failing to show active love toward others.
If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20).
Politics by nature tends to divide people. Politicians seek to persuade some to reject their opponents and support their candidacy. A common tactic used to create this division is fear, often warning that if the other candidate wins, life as we know it will drastically change, creating a sense of risk in voting for the opponent.
These divisions can sometimes spill over into the church. However, as we read in this passage, we are called to owe nothing to anyone but love. It also reminds us that we cannot claim to love God while harboring dislike for others.
Let’s not be misled by the political climate in America, where we may end up giving the love we owe to God and others to a political party. In doing so, we love those on our side of the political aisle while disliking those on the other. This is not how God intended His people to live.
Wake Up
Scholars believe that the Letter to the Romans was written around AD 57-58.
Paul believed that Christ’s return was imminent, and that was nearly 2,000 years ago. What we know today is that Jesus’ return is now 2,000 years closer than it was then.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.
Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Romans 13.11-14).
Even if Jesus does not return in our lifetime, we can be certain that we will one day stand before God and be accountable for our actions. That is why it’s important to take seriously His command to love and to embrace other aspects of Christlike behavior.
To emphasize the point, we are called to cast off the works of darkness and instead “put on” Jesus. This means rejecting behaviors like drunkenness, debauchery, quarreling, and jealousy.
We are to embrace honorable living, reflecting the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. In short, we are to put off our old self and live a life that mirrors Jesus.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this today. It is on the Bob Spradling YouTube channel.
Real Voices 