What does Romans 13:8 Mean?
‘Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one
another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.’ NIV
Saint Paul has been talking to the Christians of Rome about their
social obligations to the Roman authorities. He does not try to incite
rebellion but counsels obedience to the rule of Rome. Paying one’s
debt is part of that social obligation, but he then deftly turns it all
around to talk about our debt of love to one another, a debt that we
can never repay. There is the law of man and there is the law of God.
The law of God requires us to love one another. It’s such a simple
instruction. Were we all to follow this commandment we would be
living in paradise, and yet still our divisions, our conflicts, seem to
grow by the day. What do you think?
What does Romans 13: 8 mean to you?
