Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. (13:8–10)

Enthusiasm is easier than obedience. That truth is especially appropriate to this text. It is much easier to commend love than to live by it, as it was even for Paul. Earlier in this epistle he confesses, “For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate,” and that “the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish” (Rom. 7:14–15, 19). Every honest Christian knows that this sobering truth applies to his own life.

Yet obedience is the heart of faithful Christian living. It is through obedience to God that believers have blessing, joy, and spiritual power. Jesus warned, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). On another occasion He said, “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). Jesus also set the perfect example of obedience, the pattern for all believers to follow, saying, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34). The essence of His incarnation was to obey His heavenly Father. “I have come down from heaven,” He said, “not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). He also testified, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30). During His intense agony in Gethsemane over the dreadful ordeal He knew just awaited Him, He nevertheless twice prayed that His Father’s will be done. He first prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). A short while later, after finding the disciples asleep, “He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done’ ” (v. 42).

Obedience demands the exercise of will under the prompting and the power of the Holy Spirit, just as in coming to the Lord for salvation. Such power is the source of all obedience, yet the Lord demands obedience for living the spiritual life just as He demands faithfor receiving spiritual life. The popular admonition “Let go and let God” is valid if it is used in the sense of relying on God’s wisdom and power instead of human resources. But it is not valid, and certainly not biblical, if it means putting the will into neutral, as it were, and expecting God to control everything apart from personal volition and effort. Otherwise, the countless commands and exhortations in Scripture, very much including the New Testament, would be meaningless. Why chasten the disobedient if they have no responsibility in themselves? For that matter, why reward them if they do obey?

Still, for obvious reasons, obedience has never been popular. From a child’s earliest years, the idea of doing what his parents want him to do is disagreeable and frustrating, because it thwarts his own will and sense of independence. The notion of submitting personal will to the will of someone else, even God—or rather, especially God—has always been abhorrent to fallen human nature. It was Adam’s and Eve’s placing their own wills above God’s that was the first sin, and it is that same spirit of disobedience that has been at the heart of every sin since that tragic day. Sin is lawlessness and rebellion in its very nature (cf. 1 John 3:4).

As the apostle explained early in this epistle, disobedience because of unbelief caused fallen mankind from the beginning to embrace “ungodliness and unrighteousness,” to “suppress the truth in unrigh- teousness,” to dishonor God, to become “futile in their speculations,’ to have their foolish hearts darkened, and to exchange “the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and fourfooted animals and crawling creatures” (see Rom. 1:18–23). And it was because of that disobedience that “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (v. 24), “to degrading passions” (v. 26), and “to a depraved mind” (v. 28).

Because of the lingering old self (Eph. 4:22), obedience to God does not always come easy even for His own children. But because he is new in Jesus Christ and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the genuine Christian has a disposition that desires to do His Father’s will—and that inner desire is a most reliable evidence of salvation. Every believer can rightly say with Paul, that, even though “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good,” nevertheless, “I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man” (Rom. 7:21–22). Even the most spiritual saint will disobey his Lord on occasion, but his conscience will not be free until he repents and becomes obedient, because his disobedience not only is contrary to God’s will but contrary to his own deep longings.

For the believer, obedience to God’s Word is lovely, encouraging, and hopeful. Nowhere is that truth more beautifully and majestically portrayed than in Psalm 119. Without question, this poem is the grandest series of statements made by a child of God expressing his inmost desire to submit to his Lord’s will. The psalmist uses ten different words, most of them repeated numerous times, to represent the Word of God, which he loves and longs to obey. He tells the Lord (emphases added) of his desire to “learn Thy righteous judgments” (v. 7) and “never wander from Thy commandments” (v. 10). He declares, “I will meditate on Thy precepts, and regard Thy ways” (v. 15); “I shall delight in Thy statutes; I shall not forget Thy word” (v. 16); and, “If Thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction” (v. 92). He confesses, “My soul is crushed with longing after Thine ordinances at all times” (v. 20); “Thy testimonies also are my delight;they are my counselors” (v. 24); “Behold, I long for Thy precepts; revive me through Thy righteousness” (v. 40); “The law of Thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (v. 72); and “How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (v. 103). He implores the Lord, “Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, and keep it with all my heart” (v. 34); and “do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I wait for Thine ordinances” (v. 43). And he exults, “Those who love Thy law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble” (v. 165). All these longings are embattled by remaining sin, as the psalmist concludes when he ends the Psalm with, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant, for I do not forget Thy commandments” (v. 176).

A vital part of “the sanctifying work of the Spirit” is to enable us to “obey Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2). Paul admonished the Philippian saints, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). We “work out” our salvation on the outside by being obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul commended the Christians in Rome because their faithful obedience to Christ, often in the midst of persecution and hardship, was known throughout the churches (Rom. 16:19). The mark of any faithful Christian is a life of submission to God and to His Word, a life such as Paul’s that joyfully concurs “with the law of God in the inner man” (Rom. 7:22). His consuming passion is to please his Lord in everything.

Paul has earlier made clear that, as far as its judgment and penalty are concerned, a Christian is free from the law. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:1–2). But immediately he goes on to explain that God “condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (vv. 3–4). Because they reflect God’s own eternal character and will, the moral and spiritual demands of the law are still valid. The difference for a Christian is not in “the requirement of the Law” but in the way that requirement is “fulfilled in us,” namely, by our walking “according to the Spirit,” whose righteousness and power work in and through us. For believers, the divine requirement is divinely fulfilled as Christ’s Holy Spirit enables us to obey His holy Word.

I once talked to a recent convert who said, “Ever since I received Christ into my life, I seem to have a constant battle with sin. When will the struggle end?” I answered, “When you die or are raptured.” When she expressed understandable distress, I assured her that her struggle with sin in her remaining humanness was a reliable sign of her salvation. The unsaved have no such intense struggle, because their sinful living is in harmony with their sinful desires. I also assured her that, the longer the battle is faithfully fought in obedience to God’s Word and in the power of His Spirit, the more victorious our lives become.

In the practical section of the book of Romans, we have seen that Paul first deals with the believer’s right relationship with God (12:1), then with his right relationship with the world (v. 1), with fellow believers (vv. 3–8), with everyone (vv. 9–21), and with human government (13:1–7). He now focuses again on our relationship to others, a relationship that is to be summarized by love (vv. 8–10). More than that, he points out, love is the key to all godly obedience, because love fulfills God’s law (vv. 8b, 10b).

In these three beautiful and challenging verses, the apostle relates the debt of love (v. 8), the discharge of love (vv. 9–10a), and the design of love (v. 10b).

The Debt of Love

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. (13:8)

Paul has just been speaking of paying taxes (vv. 6–7), and the admonition to owe nothing to anyone continues his focus on the Christian’s financial obligations.

That phrase is sometimes interpreted to mean that a Christian is never justified in going into debt of any sort. But neither the Old nor New Testament categorically forbids borrowing or lending.

The Mosaic law did require that, “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest” (Ex. 22:25; cf. Ps. 15:5). It is obvious from this verse that if lending was permitted, so was borrowing. The moral issue involved charging interest (or “usury” KJV) to the poor. The principle of charging interest is stated more explicitly in Leviticus: “Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your countryman may live with you” (Lev. 25:35–36, emphasis added; cf. Neh. 5:7; Ezek. 22:12).

God also warned His people against refusing to give a loan to a fellow countryman because a sabbatical year was near, when all debts were canceled (Deut. 15:7–9). The Lord promised the unselfish and generous lender that “for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings” (v. 10). He declared that “the righteous is gracious and gives.… All day long he is gracious and lends; and his descendants are a blessing” (Ps. 37:21, 26), and that “He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed” (Prov. 19:17). Whether or not a gracious lender is repaid by the borrower, he unquestionably will be repaid by the Lord.

From those passages and many others, it is obvious that lending, and therefore borrowing, were common and legitimate practices in ancient Israel. The Law carefully regulated lending by prohibiting charging interest to those who were destitute, but it did not forbid lending with honest and reasonable interest.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives tacit approval of borrowing and commands potential lenders: “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matt. 5:42). Augmenting the truth mentioned above regarding divine blessing of those who give graciously and generously, Jesus said, “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High” (Luke 6:35). Again we are promised that, when we give out of genuine kindness to those in need, the Lord Himself will reward us in His own gracious way.

Both the old and new testaments, therefore, justify borrowing by those who are in serious need and have no other recourse, and both testaments command believers who are able to do so to lend to their needy brethren without taking advantage.

In the realm of business, apart from the needy, Jesus approved of financial borrowing for the purpose of investment. In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30), the master highly commended the two servants who had wisely invested his money, but he strongly rebuked the unfaithful servant who merely buried the money entrusted to him: “You ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest” (v. 27).

Many businesses could not operate without borrowing money to invest in such things as buildings, equipment, and raw materials. Many farmers could not plant new crops without borrowing money for seed and fertilizer. Most families could never afford to buy a home without taking out a mortgage.

When borrowing is truly necessary, the money should be repaid as agreed upon with the lender, promptly and fully. But Scripture nowhere justifies borrowing for the purpose of buying unnecessary things, especially luxuries, that cannot be afforded. And whatever is owed must be paid on time and in full. Those financial principles are the essence of Paul’s admonition to owe nothing to anyone.

The apostle then makes what appears at first glance to be a radical transition, declaring that all Christians have a type of perpetual indebtedness. Completely apart from financial considerations or situations, all believers have the constant obligation to love one another. It is a debt we are constantly to pay against but can never pay off. The early church Father, Origen said, “The debt of love remains with us permanently and never leaves us. This is a debt which we pay every day and forever owe.” And by our Lord’s gracious provision, it is a debt we will always have the resources to pay and which, the more we pay toward it, the more willing and joyous the payment will be.

Our love toward one another applies first of all to fellow believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ. “A new commandment I give to you,” Jesus said, “that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35). To serve other Christians is to serve Christ. “I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat,” He said; “I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.… Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me” (Matt. 25:35–36, 40). “Ministering to the saints” not only demonstrates our love for them but also our love for God (Heb. 6:10).

Love is the theme of John’s first letter. He tells us that “the one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him” (1 John 2:10). He reminds us that God commands “that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us” (3:23). He admonishes us, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (4:7), and that “this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also” (4:21).

Paul also has much to say about loving fellow Christians. In his letter to Colossae, he wrote, “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Col. 3:12–14). He counseled the often factious and worldly Corinthian believers to “pursue love” (1 Cor. 14:1), and he advised Timothy to encourage the godly women to “continue in faith and love and sanctity” (1 Tim. 2:15). He prayed that the love of believers in Philippi might “abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment” (Phil. 1:9).

The apostle Peter, who had found it so difficult to love in the way his Lord desired (see, e.g., John 21:15–22; Acts 10), wrote, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Pet. 1:22).

But one another also applies to unbelievers—all unbelievers, not just those who are likeable and friendly. Our Lord tells us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). As we have seen in the previous chapter of Romans, Paul commands: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not” (12:14), and, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink” (v. 20). In his letter to the Galatian churches he admonishes, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10, emphasis added).

Righteous love is so immeasurably important that he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law, a truth that Paul reiterates in verse 10 and that will be discussed in detail in the study of that verse.

It is clear that righteous, godly love is much more than emotion or feeling. As seen in the Galatians passage just quoted, love begins with “a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” But it also and always finds ways to “do good” to those whom we love, whether they seem to deserve it or not. Because of distance or other circumstances beyond our control, sometimes the only good we can do is to pray for them or forgive them. There are, of course, no greater things to do for anyone than to pray for them and forgive them, especially if we are praying for their salvation and if our forgiveness of them might lead them to seek God’s. But, as noted above, “while we have opportunity,” we are also commanded to demonstrate our love in direct and practical ways. Godly love includes ministering to the physical and financial needs of others, unbelievers as well as believers. That truth is the central point of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37).

There are many other ways to demonstrate godly love. Of supreme importance is to teach and to live God’s truth. For unbelievers, by far the most important truth to convey is the gospel of salvation. Believers teach God’s truth by living faithfully “in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God” (2 Cor. 6:6–7). Even when we find it necessary to warn or rebuke others, we are to speak “the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).

Godly love never turns its “freedom into an opportunity for the flesh” (Gal. 5:13) and never rejoices in anything that is false or unrighteous (1 Cor. 13:6). Love refuses to do anything, even things that are not sinful in themselves, that might offend a brother’s conscience and cause him to stumble morally or spiritually (Rom. 14:21). “Above all,” Peter reminds us, “keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

Godly love is forgiving. We are to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven [us]” (Eph. 4:32). The Lord’s promise that “if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,” is followed by the sober warning, “But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matt. 6:14–15; cf. Luke 6:36–37).

Godly love is characterized by humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance (Eph. 4:2). In his beautiful entreaty to the Corinthian church, which was not characterized by love, Paul said, “Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4–8).

The greatest test of godly love is its willingness to sacrifice its own needs and welfare for the needs and welfare of others, even to the point of forfeiting life if necessary. “Greater love has no one than this,” Jesus said, “that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The supreme example of such love was the Lord Jesus Himself, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6–8). We are to be “imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved [us], and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph. 5:1–2). As John reminds us, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

But how, we ask, can we love in such a righteous and selfless way? First, we must keep in mind that our gracious heavenly Father provides His children every resource they need to obey His commands and to follow His example. We are divinely enabled to pay our great debt of love “because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). God’s own love is the inexhaustible well from which, as it were, we can draw the supernatural love He commands us to live by. Paul prayed for the Ephesians that, “being rooted and grounded in love, [you] may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:17–19).

In order to love as God commands, Christians must submit to the Holy Spirit. In doing so, we must surrender all hatred, animosity, bitterness, revenge, or pride that stands between us and those we are called to love. “Now as to the love of the brethren,” Paul says, “you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9). Through His own Holy Spirit, God Himself teaches us to love! And because God Himself is love (1 John 4:16), it is hardly surprising that the first “fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22).

The love that God commands must be pure and genuine, because love cannot coexist with hypocrisy. Peter therefore admonishes, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Pet. 1:22). Later in that same letter the apostle pleads for love with a sense of urgency: “The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (4:7–8).

Godly love is a matter of choice, and nothing less than willing, voluntary love is pleasing to God or can energize and unify His people. “Beyond all these things put on love,” Paul says, “which is the perfect bond of unity” (Col. 3:14). Our own godly love encourages other believers to love, and for that reason the writer of Hebrews calls us to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24). The best opportunity we have for inspiring love in others, the writer goes on to say, is by “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near” (v. 25). “If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ,” Paul entreated the Philippians, “if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (Phil. 2:1–2).

And amazingly, in our Lord’s infinite grace, righteous love is reciprocal love. We know that we are able to love God only “because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). And yet our Lord promises that “he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.… And We will come to him, and make Our abode with him” (John 14:21, 23).

The Discharge of Love

For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; (13:9–10a)

After declaring that love fulfills the law (v. 8b), the apostle illustrates his point by quoting five specific Old Testament laws. The first four are from the Ten Commandments, although they are not in the ex- act order found in Exodus 20:13–17 and Deuteronomy 5:17–21. The fifth law is from Leviticus 19:18.

Godly love does not commit adultery, because such sinful defilement of a person shows disregard for another’s purity. Love highly values the virtue of others and will do nothing that is morally defiling. Like every other form of sexual immorality, adultery comes from impure, sinful lust, never from pure love.

The same principle applies just as obviously to the person who would commit murder or who would steal. Love does not rob others of their lives or their property.

Because it does not always have an outward manifestation, when we covet, the Lord may be the only one, besides ourselves, who is aware of that sin. But again, if we are loving, we will not covet, because love has no part in any unrighteousness (1 Cor. 13:6).

Jesus made clear that all sin originates in the heart and in the will, whether or not it is expressed outwardly: “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders” (Matt. 15:19). In the Sermon on the Mount He warned, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court” (Matt. 5:21–22), and “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (vv. 27–28).

The Christian who loves with God’s love does not need to be concerned about breaking those or any other commandment, including the other two of the Ten Commandments that pertain to our relationship to other people, namely, honoring father and mother and not bearing false witness (Ex. 20:12, 16). All laws of God that concern human relationships are summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

If we truly love others as ourselves, we will not want to do them any harm. This law that Paul quotes is taken from Leviticus 19:18, and Jesus declared it to be second only to the supreme commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37–39), which is taken from Deuteronomy 6:5.

The apostle does not mention the first and greatest commandment, or any other commandment relating directly to God, because he is here focusing on our relationships to other human beings, to whom he refers three times, once in each verse, as our neighbor. And, as noted above, Jesus made clear that a neighbor is anyone with whom we have contact, especially if he is in need (Luke 10:25–37).

The command to love your neighbor as yourself is not, as some interpreters today insist, a defense of the popular but totally unbiblical idea that we are to have a high psychological self-image. It rather assumes that, as fallen human beings, we already have a high view of ourselves and that we should, by God’s grace, have the same affection for others. Elsewhere Paul admonishes that we are to care for others more than for ourselves. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,” he says, “but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3–4, emphasis added).

If believers have such selfless concern for the welfare of others, it clearly follows that genuine, godly love does no wrong to a neighbor, meaning it does no wrong to anyone.

Paul’s point is that a Christian who allows God’s love to rule his life is divinely protected from sin and inclined to righteousness. The loving Christian does not obey God’s law because he fears the consequences of disobedience but because He loves God and seeks to please Him by loving others.

Fear is a legitimate reason for not sinning, as the Bible’s countless warnings about sin and its consequences testify. It is always better not to sin than to sin, whatever the motive. But fear is not the noblest motive for not sinning, especially not for a Christian. Even unbelievers abstain from many visible vices because they are afraid of being caught and punished.

Many nominal Christians lead outwardly moral lives in the hope of pleasing God and making themselves acceptable to Him by their good behavior. But, as the Lord said of ancient Israel during the time of Isaiah, they “draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote” (Isa. 29:13).

God’s Word is replete with promises of blessing and reward for His faithful children, although they are not always fulfilled in a way we would prefer or that is pleasing to the flesh. But even the gracious and marvelous prospect of His heavenly blessings is not the believer’s highest and purest motive for obeying the Lord. Godly Christians reject evil and do good because those are the only things the indwelling love of their indwelling Lord will lead them to do. What God wants will be what we want. As someone has said, if we love God with all our heart and other people with all our heart, we can do as we please, because we will only want to do that which pleases God and benefits others.

The Discharge of Love

love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. (13:10b)

Contrary to what many people think, living by love and living by the law are not mutually exclusive. They are, in fact, inseparably related. God’s law cannot be truly obeyed apart from love, because love, and only love, as Paul has already explained (v. 8b), is the fulfillment of the law.

Early in His ministry, Jesus declared, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17–19, emphasis added).

Later in the Sermon of the Mount, in what is commonly called the golden rule, He said, “Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12). James refers to loving our neighbors as ourselves as “fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture” (James 2:8). Love fulfills the Lord’s golden rule and the Lord’s royal law.

I have heard a beautiful analogy from the field of music that helps understand the greatness and completeness of love. The musical scale has only seven basic notes, which many children can learn in an hour or less. Yet great composers, such as Handel and Beethoven, could not exhaust those notes and their variations in an entire lifetime. Godly love is like that. It uses the basic, and sometimes seemingly insignificant, things in life to produce the greatest. Love controls temper and guides reason. It seeks to overcome the worst qualities and develop the best. Under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit, it transforms redeemed men and women more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. There is no greatness of character to which love cannot elevate a person. In fact, no greatness of character is possible without it, because love is great character.

Some years ago the following paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 appeared:

If I [know] the language perfectly and speak like a native, and have not [God’s] love for them, I am nothing. If I have diplomas and degrees and know all the up-to-date methods, and have not His touch of understanding love, I am nothing. If I am able to argue successfully against the religions of the people and make fools of them, and have not His wooing note, I am nothing. If I have all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans, and not His love that sweats and bleeds and weeps and prays and pleads, I am nothing. If I give my clothes and money to them, and have not His love for them, I am nothing.

If I surrender all prospects, leave home and friends, make the sacrifices of a missionary career, and turn sour and selfish amid the daily annoyances and slights of a missionary life, and have not the love that yields its rights, its leisures, its pet plans, I am nothing. Virtue has ceased to go out of me. If I can heal all manner of sickness and disease, but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of His love that is kind, I am nothing. If I can write articles or publish books that win applause, but fail to transcribe the Word of the Cross into the language of His love, I am nothing. (Source unknown)