Owe no one anything except to love another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. (9) For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “ You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (10) Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today the apostle is dealing mainly with our relationships to other Christians and then dealing with relationships to people who are outside of the church. Paul had just written of our obligations within the state progressing to the responsibilities to God which supersedes all other responsibilities. There is ordinarily no conflict but when there is we must obey God – and suffer the consequences. The obligation of love we always owe – it fulfills the law of Moses, the essentially legal character of it. The new law, the law of Christ, commands we love our neighbors as ourselves.
A biblical emphasis on love is the distinguishing mark of the Christian. One debt we will always have is the debt of love which includes ALL people and even to strangers in need. There are two great commandments; love God and love your neighbor. We all love ourselves quite well and Paul is saying we are to extend the same love to other faulty sinners that extended to ourselves as a faulty sinner. This debt of love requires self sacrifice and self denial – thought and effort. It involves not just our feelings but also our actions; a commitment, a sacrifice of ourselves to seek the higher good of the one loved. Paul cites 4 of 10 commandments to show what love does NOT do – they are all based on self love, not love of God or others.
We are responsible for the life we have lived – no one will stand for us, we stand alone. The responsibilities to God supersede all other responsibilities. There is ordinarily no conflict but when there is we must obey God. The Spirit rules in the church and the moral law rules in the world. Kingdoms come and kingdoms go but the kingdom of God will come and it is permanent. Today is the only day in which we have the opportunity to serve the Lord.