Picking back up in our study of the book of Romans, we are going to consider another short but important statement from Paul. Our passage today from Rom. 13:8-14 serves as both a renewal of the challenge from Rom. 12:1-2 to live as sacrifices and as an extension of that principle. So, let’s read our text together and then consider its meaning in two points. The two points are the Law of Love and the Law of Light.
First, in verses 8-10 we find the law of love. Remember, Paul has just told us that we are to live in subjection to ruling authorities because those authorities are ministers of God. That principle extends all the way to paying what we owe. If we owe taxes or respect or honor, then we should pay our dues. But, we find in verse 8 that this principle of paying what is owed extends to everyone. As a general principle for the Christian life, a believer should not have anything unsettled in his or her relationships with other people. This obviously applies to monetary debt, as Paul has just applied it to that. In other words, pay your bills. Don’t let borrowed money linger without paying it back. But, it also applies to unsettled divisions in relationships. As Jesus said, in Matt. 5:23-26, if you have anything between you and a brother, drop what you are doing and go settle with him. Or, as Paul says in Eph. 4:26, “be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Christians should be a forgiving and reconciling people. This isn’t some naive view of a perfect utopia in which there is no strife or disagreement. Christians will argue. We will disagree over what color the sanctuary should be painted. Church members will have sour business dealings with each other. Someone will misspeak and his brother in Christ will take it the wrong way. All of these are just a part of life. But, what makes Christians different is that we let go of our grudges. We forgive our offender. We love our neighbor.
That’s exactly what Paul says in the rest of verse 8. We are not to owe anyone anything except for love. Catch what he means here. For the Christian, love is not a gift you choose to give but a debt you owe. As a believer, you are supposed to love others, because you have the supernatural power of the Spirit who enables you to love as God loves.
This supernatural love is the key to fulfilling the requirements of the law. Paul says, “the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Understand, obedience is always primarily a matter of the heart. Remember, Israel was condemned for heartless obedience. Isaiah 29:13 says “they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” So, true obedience to the law flows out of a heart that is set on love for God and neighbor.
And, this makes total sense, too. As Paul explains in verse 9, if you love your neighbor, then you won’t steal his wife. If you love your neighbor, you won’t murder him. If you love your neighbor, you won’t covet what he has. When our hearts are fixed on God, through the power of his Spirit, we love people as God loves them. And, if we love people as God loves them, then we work for their good, not for their harm.
That leads me to my second point, the Law of Light, in verses 11-14. In these verses, Paul gives us another motivation for seeking the good of others and loving our neighbor. We should pursue right relationships with others because “the day is at hand.” In saying this, Paul means two things. First, anyone who has come to faith in Christ has been brought out of the darkness of sin and has received the light of the Spirit. As he said back in Rom. 6, we’ve died to sin, so we don’t want to go back to it. I have pretty bad eye-sight. If I don’t have my glasses or contacts, I can’t make much out past maybe 10 yards. I remember distinctly when I got glasses around the age of 8. I remember putting them on and walking out of the doctor’s office and suddenly realizing that those large green blobs that I called trees had limbs and individual leaves. I could finally see a squirrel in a tree or a bird flying overhead. From that time, I never wanted to be without my glasses again. In a similar way, now that we’ve come into the light of the Gospel, why would we want to go back to the darkness of our former lives?
Paul also means that the light of Jesus Christ points forward to his second coming. As he says in verse 11, “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” In other words, every day that passes brings us closer to that final day when Christ will return and judge the world and bring about the completion of our salvation in the new heavens and new earth. So, since that day is closer with every hour, we should live as though it could be today. That means that we don’t have time to be fooling around in the darkness of this present age that will be judged and cast into hell. We don’t have time to fumble around in disobedience. We need to live expectantly, waiting on that day.
That expectant living has a certain look to it. Paul tells us in verse 13 that we should walk properly. We should walk in the way of light. And, he contrasts that with specific examples of the way of darkness. We should not be given to the extreme abuses of this world, like in orgies and drunkenness. Just think of the revelry that our society endorses and enjoys. There are terrible things that even upstanding citizens do in secret, things that I cannot describe from this pulpit. And those things are accepted and applauded as an expression of individual freedom and autonomy, but they are the way of darkness.
He also says that we should not be given to our base desires, like sexual immorality and sensuality. Our society believes that sexual desire is the highest good, and to repress one’s inmost desire is evil. Yet Paul says that the way of light resists those desires for the greater good of obedience to God.
Finally, we are to resist “quarreling and jealousy.” Our society is full of relational division and strife. We encourage people to stand up for their rights. We applaud the man who doesn’t back down. We stand behind the woman who lashes out at those who scoff because she’s “living her best life.” Yet, the way of light overcomes quarreling and jealousy. It doesn’t encourage strife and division. It promotes forgiveness and reconciliation.
Paul ends this passage in verse 14 with a guiding practice for those who would walk by the way of love and light. We are to “put on Christ” and “make no provision for the flesh.” Notice that this command deals with something we put on and something we take off or avoid. We are to put on Christ, which is to say that we are to live in light of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. As he put it in chapter 8, we are to live by the Spirit. And, we are to take off or “make no provision” for the flesh. We are to avoid those things that would encourage our fleshly desires. We don’t go where those things are done, we don’t listen to those who do them, we don’t watch that which encourages it. As we leave this place, may we put on Christ and walk in the way of love and light.
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