“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.For the [Gebot]: Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, or any other commandment, it culminates in this word, “Love thy neighbor as thyself!” Love does no evil to the neighbor; consequently, love is now the completion of the law.”

Rom 13:8-10

Not owe anything to anyone

Don’t owe anyone anything – this introduction refers to the human being, what we are dealing with. Paul then quotes the part of the 10 Commandments that have to do with our fellow man and leaves out the parts that speak of the relationship with God. The focus is clear: this is about our behavior in this world.

Just before, Paul said, “Pay to all the debts: Tax to whom the tax is due, duty to whom the duty is due …” (Rom 13:7). Now he adds to this with the statement: ” Do not owe anyone anything except to love one another. Our society is built on a financial system that is ultimately built only on guilt. Debt is essential to our economy. Interest and indebtedness (debt) are the normal. People get into debt with mortgages and many other things. Cities, cantons and states can get into debt. Paul exhorts us here to pay the debt, and be free. We should only be guilty of loving each other. This is a very different “debt” and denotes our attitude in this world toward others.

Of course, he does not mean the building up of “love-guilt,” but the attitude whereby we do not allow guilt of any kind to stand between us and others. Everything should be cleared up. Only the selfless love (Gr. agape) we should always have in mind for the others. This is something like a standing order, in which all other things are included.

He who loves the other has fulfilled the law

All the commandments culminate in this one word “Love your neighbor as yourself!” (Ex 19:18), which is expanded elsewhere to include “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.” (Deut. 6:5). This last formulation is directly following Israel’s confession: “Hear, Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is One!” (Deut. 6:4). From this oneness of God derives undivided love for God. And the two findings come together for the Jew:

“But he [ein Gesetzesgelehrter] answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.'”
Lk 10,27

Elsewhere, a teacher of the law asks Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment?” To this Jesus replied:

“But he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. But the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Mt 22:34-40

Love for God and love for neighbor belong together. Together, they are the core of the Law and the Prophets. Law and prophets are only elaborations of these things. Since Paul in the letter to the Romans speaks here exclusively of the behavior towards our fellow men, he limits himself to the “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Whoever loves does not break the law, but fulfills it. Love is the “completion” of the law.

Recognize the times

“And this do, knowing the term, because the hour is already come for us to be awakened out of sleep; (for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed; the night is already advanced, and the day is at hand).”
Rom 13:11-12

There are a few more reasons to love:

• We understand that God works in time, and not everything is realized today
• We understand that our salvation is closer today than yesterday.
• We are living toward the goal.
• We are living toward the day when Christ will appear and God will bring His goal a little closer.
• We may already behave today as if Christ were already there.

The Gospel is not just ethics. It is always about a reality in history and in the here and now. However, what is effected is not palpable, but spiritual. Much is absent or has not yet arrived. That is also part of this reality. We are all “in time.” This gives us the “today” but also a “future”.

This statement of Paul is an example and a testimony in one. How God meets us and comes to meet us in Christ Jesus is good news. This is the gospel of grace that is especially true today (Eph. 3:1-2). It tells about a God who works in and on the world, even if until now not everything is visible that is described. This God is for us, not against us. He bore witness to this on the cross. This story is handed down to us in the Bible.

Recognize faith

Why does faith work? Faith is for man. Faith is not the same as “knowledge”, certainly quite different from “seeing” and has nothing at all to do with “ignorance”. People can believe and trust. This is one and the same word in the original languages of the Bible. We live out our potential for trust day by day, to other people, but perhaps also to this God who has entered our lives with a stunning message.

Those who believe are neither aloof (“freaky”) nor unworldly, but have realized that it does matter what you think and where you stand in this world. Believing something has to do with confidence and trust, but also with how you want to see the world. That is why it is also deliberate and often a decision. We can accept things as important pillars of our existence. Things you don’t see, but that can turn your whole life around. You assume something without having any proof in your hand. We trust that God, through His Spirit, will open up to us many things that have meaning here and now, as well as for the future. This can be unreal, but it can also be grounded in one’s own experience and even in the experience and description of other people. The last we can perhaps read from the Bible and the impact on our lives.

Alignment of our life

The power of the Gospel begins where we are given answers and direction for thought and action. It is up to us to accept this, to classify it and to do something good with it.

Now, as we set our minds on God day by day (cf. Psalm 1), we live in expectation of fulfillment (cf. Rom 8:22-30). This gives direction and alignment to our lives. We can nurture this and we can share what we have experienced and recognized with others. Thus faith also becomes a common life and knowledge (cf. Eph 3:18). We gain understanding and richness and much confidence from it. This is not only meaningful and enriching in the here and now, but also looks towards a fruit in the future. We have been sealed, Paul writes in Ephesians, toward a goal:

“In Him [in Christus] you also are [die Gläubige aus den Nationen], who hear the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation – in Him also you who believe are sealed with the Spirit of promise, the holy one (which is a deposit of our lot until the redemption of the one assigned to us) to the praise of His glory.”
Eph 1:13-14

So we do not have everything so far, but we “merely” have a promise, a promise. This is not palpable, but it is “spiritual”. This is the statement: we have been sealed with the Spirit of promise until the fulfillment comes. Sealed today, a fulfillment in the future. Both are there. Today is spiritually guaranteed what is promised to us for the future. On the one hand, we stand in this world today, but on the other hand, we may look ahead. This is not a look at a vague hereafter, but a look into the future and a trust that God will fulfill the promise one day. This is not something that has been lifted up, but rather saved – saved for the future and saved with God. This formulation makes us understand something and yet hope for something greater. The promise is the basis of our expectation. The Gospel addresses us as human beings, but equips us with grace and confidence, with a spiritual understanding that goes far beyond the “grasp” of a child.

Such an understanding speaks of trust, namely faith. This is not a blind faith, but a trusting devotion. We may not know or see much, but the message can gain reality in us, just as it is the expectation of that reality. That is great in this world.

Pragmatic approach to faith

Paul exhorts us to keep our focus forward: “Consequently, let us put off the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light! As in the day, let us walk decently, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in fornication and dissipation, not in strife and jealousy…” (Rom 13:12-13). The way of life and our everyday life should be guided by concrete steps, attitudes and deeds. It cannot be expressed more clearly than this: it is not yet day, but let us walk as we walk in the day. Let us honor God by thinking and acting from His purpose. Soberly, and in an attitude marked by love, as he just described before.

How to do it? Saying what you don’t want is not in itself a goal. The goal can and must be described only positively. Paul describes this as follows:

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for lusts of the flesh.”
Rom 13:14

Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ is figurative language for how we may clothe ourselves with His attitude. Elsewhere it says, “For all of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27). This imagery shows how we put off a certain behavior and put on another behavior after believing the gospel:

“But now you also put away all these things: anger, wrath, evil nature, blasphemy, profanity from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, for you have cast off the old man along with his actions and have put on the young [Menschen] who is being renewed for knowledge in the image of Him who created him …”
Col 3:8-11

This is about the behavior we consciously adopt. Two things to do: Take off + put on. It is difficult to put on the summer clothes before we put away the winter clothes. We can’t endlessly put things on top of each other. Being a Christian does not mean just putting on something “extra”, like a colorful accessory, a hat or scarf for example. Being a Christian is more than a little glitz, glamour and glory. Those who are Christians do not have faith as a kind of umbrella, which we take with us to quickly unfold when a storm threatens, while everything underneath remains unchanged. If we stand in faith, then it’s all about the whole thing: the old is discarded and the new is put on. The new corresponds to the wealth we have received. Thus we are “renewed in the image of Him who created us anew.”

The only obligation

With all these references, being a Christian may seem complex. Many carry particularly heavily on supposed “requirements”, with which one would have to be fair before God, for example. With Paul, this is never an issue because God’s righteousness was 100% accomplished at the cross. It is free from religious burdens. However, this is about something else. It is not about acceptability with God, not even about acceptability with people, as if it were about a deal in which everyone “gives something”. None of that applies here. This is about a different reality. That is this: We are loved and everything has been fulfilled that stands between us and God. This is the good news.

We are therefore free from something, but also free for something. We are free from religious requirements toward God (this was settled in Christ), but are also liberated to generously carry the love and confidence we have received to those around us (we stand firm in this world). This is exactly as Paul describes it when he says: “The love of Christ urges us …” (2Cor 5:14-21). Therefore, not only can the law be reduced to a basic requirement, but so can the gospel. As far as the people around us are concerned, we have only one obligation and task, and that is to love them.