That thing called love
Feb 25
Romans 13:8 he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The whole of Romans is about the law and faith, the old and the new, and Paul shows the struggle of having to live in a world where one cannot escape the bad, the evil and the sin. And here Paul reminds us that it is all about love. Love which must be sincere (we saw that in ch 12) transcends the law. In fact we meet the full requirements of the law in Christ (ch 7), but that is a positional / relational thing. The way we fulfill the law in practice is by showing love, sincere love. In truth, love which is not sincere is not love at all.
Paul sums it all up by saying: Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.