Romans 13.8-end

Romans 13.8-end (NRSV)

Love for One Another

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

An Urgent Appeal

¹¹ 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; ¹²the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; ¹³let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.¹⁴Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. 

What a wonderful passage ... with the focus on love. Here Paul repeats the essential Gospel message of Jesus, where if our aim is to love God and others with the agape love of God, then everything else will fall into place. If one loves one’s wife, the thought of adultery will not even enter one’s mind; if one loves others, we will not want to steal from them, or hurt them in any way we will honour parents and do everything we can for the best for our children. If we love others, we will be focused on their best interest and so not be too concerned about their position, status, language, race culture – all things the world deems of significance and therefore importance. Just a brief thought on the essence of the 10 Commandments makes one realise that Paul has got it.

There is the sense that the second part of this passage (entitled here as ‘An urgent appeal’) takes this further. When one loves others, it is like being awakened from sleep. To love is to live in the light, happy for all to see because what we are doing and being is something to be proud of and not ashamed of. There is a sense that when one is confronted with choices, we need to ask: ‘Is this honourable?’ and if so – do it.

God has given us a conscience and we know when we have got things wrong; when we feel ashamed. But it does not come easily because we are weak and frail and we so often fail. So we are also given the ability – we can ‘... put on the Lord Jesus Christ ...’ for Jesus gives us his Spirit and his grace so that we can overcome our weakness and temptation and  live in the light that he gives us, and bask in his love.

A few thoughts from Barclay on verses 8-10 ...

If a couple allow their physical passions to sweep them away, the reason is, not that they love each other too much, but that they love each other too little. Real love means that a person has respect and restraint which saves them from sin. If people discharge the debt to love they will also never kill, for love never seeks to destroy its enemies by killing them but always by trying to make them friends. In the same way people will not steal, because real love is more concerned with giving than getting. Real love cannot be associated with being covetous because this is an unhealthy desire for something forbidden – for something that ought not to be desired - real love cleanses the heart until the desire is gone.

There is a famous saying: “Love God and do what you like!” This echoes what Tillich said – for real love makes all other laws unnecessary.

And verses 11-14 ...

Paul was concerned about the shortness of time because he was expecting the Second Coming of Christ to happen soon. While Paul and the Early Church got this wrong, the principle that one should live in expectation of this event is a good one; because it will ensure that we do not waste time, for it could be at any time and so begs the question: ‘Are we ready?’

I always think of it in this way. Death can come at any time to anyone; and when this happens the reality of the Second Coming becomes real for that person. It is a real challenge to always be ready.

Verses 11-13 huge a huge impact on Augustine, and therefore also on the history of the Christian Church. Augustine details its significance to him in his Confessions. He was walking in a garden and was much perplexed because of his failure to live what he thought was the ‘goof life’. In his time, like today, people thought that if you enjoyed all the material comforts and the pleasure that money can buy; this was really living. I attended a funeral a while back where what seemed like a rather selfish man was eulogised because ‘at least he took life by the scruff of the neck and lived it ...’ I do not want to appear judgemental, but I did not get the impression that he was really happy. Augustine realised this truth deep down, and as he walked in the garden, kept crying out: ‘How long, how long? ... Why not this hour and end to my depravity?’ Then he heard the voice of a child saying: ‘Take and read; take and read.’ Augustine tried to remember a child’s game that involved these words, but failed to do so. He hurried back to where his friend Alypius was sitting, because he had left a copy of Paul’s Letter to the Romans there. Augustine writes: ‘I snatched it up and read silently the first passage my eyes fell upon ...’ and it was these verses (11-13).

Barclay reminds us of how Coleridge had a high regard for the Bible because, as Coleridge put it, ‘... it finds me ...’ God’s word speak to each of us individually and personally if we open our lives to receive his message to us.

Barclay comments on Paul’s use of particular words: (i) revelry: The Greek word used is komos and it originally referred to a band of friends accompanying a victorious friend home from the games. It later became a reference to a noisy band of revellers who moved through the streets at night causing a disturbance. (ii) drunkenness: this is more obvious and even in the most ancient times was considered to be a most shameful thing. The same holds true (or should do) today. (iii) immorality: here the Greek word is koite which literally means bed and so is a reference for the desire for a forbidden bed. From the earliest times it referred to more than sexual immorality, but to the idea that it is okay to take any pleasure where and when one wills – a lack of self-control. (iv) shamefulness: Aselgeia according to Barclay is one of the ‘ugliest words in the Greek language’. It does not only describe immorality, it describes a person who no longer has any shame. Most of us try to hide our sin, but there are some who are happy to flaunt their immorality.

There is here, the condemnation of placing oneself at the centre of everything and is wrong because it is the complete opposite of agape love.

We are all prone to these sins, and it is with shame that I acknowledge that I still so often get things wrong. But I rejoice that when I do, I feel a deep shame and so am content that God’s Spirit is alive and working in my life, all by His wonderful grace.