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There are three good lessons taught us in this chapter, where the apostle enlarges more upon his precepts than he had done in the foregoing chapter, finding them more needful to be fully pressed. I. A lesson of subjection to lawful authority (Rom 13:1-6). II. A lesson of justice and love to our brethren (Rom 13:7-10). III. A lesson of sobriety and godliness in ourselves (Rom 13:11 to the end).

INTRODUCTION TO ROMANS 13 The principal things contained in this chapter, enjoined the saints, are the duties of subjection to magistrates, love to one another, and to all men, and temperance and chastity in themselves: it begins with duties relating to the civil magistrates, requiring obedience of everyone unto them, Rom 13:1, and that for these reasons, because the civil magistracy, or government, is by divine appointment; wherefore to obey them in things of a civil nature, is to obey God; and to resist them is to resist God; and also because of the pernicious consequence of such resistance, damnation to themselves, Rom 13:2, for the magistrate not only causes terror by penal laws, but he inflicts punishment on delinquents, and is the executioner of God's wrath and vengeance on such, Rom 13:3, and likewise because of the profit and advantage to obedient subjects; such not only have the good will and esteem of their rulers, and are commended by them, but are defended and protected in their persons and properties, Rom 13:3, moreover, the apostle enforces the necessity of subjection to them, not only in order to avoid punishment, but to answer a good conscience; this duty being according to the light of nature, and the dictates of a natural conscience; which if awake, must be uneasy with a contrary behaviour, Rom 13:5, and for the same reason he urges the payment of tribute to them, as well as on account of the reasonableness of it, taken from magistrates spending their time, and using their talents, in an attendance on the service of the public, Rom 13:6, and which is further confirmed by the general rule of justice and equity, or of doing that which is just and right to everyone, of which particulars are given, Rom 13:7, and then after a general exhortation to pay all sorts of debts owing to superiors, inferiors, or equals, the apostle passes to the debt of love owing to one another, and to all mankind; which is exhorted to on this consideration, that the performance of it is a fulfilling the law, Rom 13:8, which is proved, by showing that the several precepts of the law, of which an enumeration is given, are reducible to, and are included in love to our neighbours as ourselves, Rom 13:9, and since it is the nature of love not to work ill, but to do good to the neighbour, the conclusion follows, that it must be as asserted, that love is the fulfilment of the law, and ought by all means to be attended to, as a principal duty of religion, Rom 13:10, next the apostle proceeds to exhort the saints to a watchful, chaste, sober, and temperate course of life; as being perfectly agreeable to the privileges they enjoyed, to the present condition they were in, and to that future state of happiness they were in expectation of: he exhorts to be watchful and sober, and not indulge sleep and slothfulness, in consideration of the time in which they were, and with which they were acquainted, it being not night, but day; at least the one was wearing off, and the other coming on; the time of life being short, and the day of salvation approaching nearer and nearer, Rom 13:11, wherefore such actions should be done, as are agreeable to the day, and not the night, to light, and not darkness; and particularly such works of darkness are dissuaded from, which are contrary to temperance and sobriety, as rioting, and drunkenness; and to chastity, as chambering: and wantonness; and to peace and concord, as strife and envying, which frequently follow upon the former: and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to faith in Christ, and an imitation of him, expressed in a figurative way by a metaphor, taken from the putting on of garments; and with a dehortation from an immoderate provision for the flesh, so as to promote, excite, and cherish, the lusts of it, Rom 13:13.

Owe no man anything,.... From the payment of dues to magistrates the apostle proceeds to a general exhortation to discharge all sorts of debts; as not to owe the civil magistrate any thing, but render to him his dues, so to owe nothing to any other man, but make good all obligations whatever, as of a civil, so of a natural kind. There are debts arising from the natural and civil relations subsisting among men, which should be discharged; as of the husband to the wife, the wife to the husband; parents to their children, children to their parents; masters to their servants, servants to their masters; one brother, friend, and neighbour, to another. Moreover, pecuniary debts may be here intended, such as are come into by borrowing, buying, commerce, and contracts; which though they cannot be avoided in carrying on worldly business, yet men ought to make conscience of paying them as soon as they are able: many an honest man may be in debt, and by one providence or another be disabled from payment, which is a grief of mind to him; but for men industriously to run into debt, and take no care to pay, but live upon the property and substance of others, is scandalous to them as men, and greatly unbecoming professors of religion, and brings great reproach upon the Gospel of Christ. But to love one another. This is the only debt never to be wholly discharged; for though it should be always paying, yet ought always to be looked upon as owing. Saints ought to love one another as such; to this they are obliged by the new commandment of Christ, by the love of God, and Christ unto them, by the relations they stand in to one another, as the children of God, brethren, and members of the same body; and which is necessary to keep them and the churches of Christ together, it being the bond of perfectness by which they are knit to one another; and for their comfort and honour, as well as to show the truth and reality of their profession. This debt should be always paying; saints should be continually serving one another in love, praying for each other, bearing one another's burdens, forbearing each other, and doing all good offices in things temporal and spiritual that lie in their power, and yet always owing; the obligation to it always remains. Christ's commandment is a new one, always new, and will never be antiquated; his and his Father's love always continue, and the relations believers stand in to each other are ever the same; and therefore love will be always paying, and always owing in heaven to all eternity. But what the apostle seems chiefly to respect, is love to one another as men, love to one another, to the neighbour, as the following verses show. Love is a debt we owe to every man, as a man, being all made of one blood, and in the image of God; so that not only such as are of the same family, live in the same neighbourhood, and belong to the same nation, but even all the individuals of mankind, yea, our very enemies are to share in our love; and as we have an opportunity and ability, are to show it by doing them good. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law; that is, not who loves some one particular person, but every other person besides himself, even his neighbour, in the largest sense of the word, including all mankind, and that as himself; such an one has fulfilled the law, the law of the decalogue; that part of it particularly which relates to the neighbour; the second table of the law, as the next verse shows: though since there is no true love of our neighbour without the love of God, nor no true love of God without the love of our neighbour; and since these two involve each other, and include the whole law, it may be understood of fulfilling every part of it, that is, of doing it; for fulfilling the law means doing it, or acting according to it; and so far as a man loves, so far he fulfils, that is, does it: but this is not, nor can it be done perfectly, which is evident, partly from the impotency of man, who is weak and without strength, yea, dead in sin, and unable to do any thing of himself; and partly from the extensiveness of the law, which reaches to the thoughts and desires of the heart, as well as to words and actions; as also from the imperfection of love, for neither love to God, nor love to one another, either as men or Christians, is perfect; and consequently the fulfilling of the law by it is not perfect: hence this passage yields nothing in favour of the doctrine of justification by works; since the best works are imperfect, even those that spring from love, for love itself is imperfect; and are not done as they are, in a man's own strength, and without the Spirit and grace of God. Christ only has fulfilled the law perfectly, both as to parts and degrees; and to him only should we look for a justifying righteousness.

The apostle, foreseeing the wicked speeches of unbelievers, has particularized the works which he terms carnal; and he explains himself, lest any room for doubt be left to those who do dishonestly pervert his meaning. Thus does he point out to his hearers in a more explicit manner what it is he means when he declares, "Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God." For they who do these things, since they do indeed walk after the flesh, have not the power of living unto God. And, "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God:" not repudiating the substance of the flesh, but showing that into it the Spirit must be infused.

But the cavillers did not know even this, as the apostle says, "that he who loveth his brother worketh not evil;" for this, "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal; and if there be any other commandment, it is comprehended in the word, Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself." So also is it said, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And "if he that loveth his neighbour worketh no evil," and if "every commandment is comprehended in this, the loving our neighbour," the commandments, by menacing with fear, work love, not hatred. Wherefore the law is productive of the emotion of fear. "So that the law is holy," and in truth "spiritual," according to the apostle.

Such shall he be "who cleaves to that which is good," according to the apostle, "who hates evil, having love unfeigned; for he that loveth another fulfilleth the law." If, then, this God, to whom we bear witness, be as He is, the God of hope, we acknowledge our hope, speeding on to hope, "saturated with goodness, filled with all knowledge."

For how much more easily does he who delineates a statue overlay a sideboard! How much sooner does he who carves a Mars out of a lime-tree, fasten together a chest! No art but is either mother or kinswoman of some neighbour art: nothing is independent of its neighbour.

In many cases debt is equivalent to sin. Paul therefore wants us to owe nothing on account of sin and to steer clear of debts of this kind, retaining only the debt which springs from love, which we ought to be repaying every day.

"Owe no man anything, but to love one another." Again he has recourse to the mother of good deeds, and the instructress of the things spoken of, who is also productive of every virtue, and says that this is a debt also, not however such as the tribute or the custom, but a continuous one. For he does not wish it ever to be paid off, or rather he would have it always rendered, yet never fully so, but to be always owing. For this is the character of the debt, that one keeps giving and owing always. Having said then how he ought to love, he also shows the gain of it, saying, "For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law." And do not, pray, consider even this a favor; for this too is a debt. For thou owest love to thy brother, through thy spiritual relationship. And not for this only, but also because "we are members one of another." And if love leave us, the whole body is rent in pieces. Love therefore thy brother. For if from his friendship thou gainest so much as to fulfil the whole Law, thou owest him love as being benefited by him.

Paul shows that the fulfillment of the law is found in love, i.e., in charity. Thus also the Lord says that the whole law and prophets depend on these two precepts, the love of God and neighbor. So he who came to fulfill the law gave love through the Holy Spirit, so that charity might accomplish what fear could not.

The only way of cleaving to that pattern is by love. If we love another whom we believe to be righteous, we cannot but love the pattern itself, which shows us what the righteous soul is, in order that we too may become righteous. Indeed, if we did not love the image of God in him, we would have no love for the person, since our love for him is based on the pattern. Yet so long as we ourselves are not righteous, our love of the pattern is not enough to make us righteous.

Paul wants us to have peace with everyone and love the brethren. Then we shall not owe anybody anything.He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law of Moses. The commandment of the new law is that we should love our enemies also.

For this is God's command, that l you owe nothing to any one but the pledge of love, which God has commanded by Christ.

Do not fail to repay debts. Only the debt of love should remain, because it can never be paid in full. According to the parable of the Lord, who bids us show mercy to everyone without distinction, we must think of every person as our neighbor. Paul mentioned love first because he was writing to the faithful and dealing with behavior proper to righteousness.

Pay your other debts, he says. But love—never wish to pay it off; rather, always keep it as a permanent debt. If you always show your neighbor the disposition of one who loves, do not imagine that therefore tomorrow you may neglect him; on the contrary, always consider that the debt of loving your neighbor rests upon you. He who loves his neighbor fulfills the law. Therefore everyone should love his neighbor, because he receives from him and from love toward him so many benefits that he fulfills the whole law.

Having shown how believers should observe justice toward superiors, the Apostle now shows how they should behave toward everyone generally. In regard to this he does two things: first, he states his intention; second, he gives a reason, at for he that loves. First, therefore, he says: it has been stated that you must pay your debts to all, not in part but entirely. And that is what he says: owe no one anything. As if to say: you should pay all you owe to everyone so completely that nothing still owing remains. And this for two reasons: first, because sin is committed in delaying to pay, as long as a person unjustly holds back what belongs to another. Hence it says in Leviticus: the wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning (Lev 19:13). And the same is true of other debts. Second, because as long as a person owes, he is in a certain sense a slave and is obligated to the one to whom he owes: the borrower is the slave of the lender (Prov 22:7). But there are some debts from which a man can never absolve himself. This happens in two ways: in one way on account of the excellence of the benefit for which equal payment cannot be made, as the Philosopher says of honor owed to God or parents, as it says in a psalm: what shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me? (Ps 116:12). In another way on account of the debt's cause, which always remains; or even because what is paid is never terminated but always increases as one pays. For these reasons the debt of fraternal love is paid in such a way that it is always owing. First, because we owe love to our neighbor on account of God, whom we can never recompense sufficiently. For it is said: this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also (1 John 4:2). Second, because the cause of love always remains, namely, being alike in nature and in grace: every animal loves its like, and every person his neighbor (Sir 13:15). Third, because love does not diminish but grows by loving: it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more (Phil 1:9). Therefore, he says: except to love one another, because the debt of love is paid once in such a way that it always remains under the debt of a precept: this is my commandment, that you love one another (John 15:12). Then when he says, he who loves his neighbor, he assigns the reason for the statement that we are never released from the debt of love, namely, because the whole fulfillment of the law consists in love. Hence he does three things in regard to this: first, he states his proposition; second, he clarifies it, at for you shall not commit adultery; third, he draws the conclusion intended, at love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. First, therefore, he says: the reason why we cannot expect to free ourselves from the debt of love, as we do from other debts, is that for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law, i.e., the whole fulfillment of the law depends on love of neighbor. But this does not seem to be true. For it says in 1 Timothy: the end of the precept is love (1 Tim 1:5). For a thing is made perfect when it attains its end; therefore, the whole perfection of the law consists in love. But love has two acts, namely, the love of God and the love of neighbor; hence the Lord says in Matthew that the whole law and the prophets depend on the two precepts of love: one of which is concerned with the love of God and the other with the love of neighbor (Matt 22:40). Therefore, it does not seem that one who loves his neighbor fulfills the whole law. The answer is that love of neighbor pertains to love and fulfills the law, when it is a love by which the neighbor is loved for God. So the love of God is included in the love of neighbor, just as the cause is included in its effect. For it says in 1 John: this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also (1 John 4:21). Conversely, love of neighbor is included in love of God, as the effect in its cause; hence it says in the same place: if anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar. That is why in Sacred Scripture sometimes mention is made only of the love of God, as though it is enough for salvation, as in Deuteronomy: and now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him (Deut 10:12); and sometimes mention is made of love of neighbor: this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (John 15:12).

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another - In the preceding verses the apostle has been showing the duty, reverence, and obedience, which all Christians, from the highest to the lowest, owe to the civil magistrate; whether he be emperor, king, proconsul, or other state officer; here he shows them their duty to each other: but this is widely different from that which they owe to the civil government: to the first they owe subjection, reverence, obedience, and tribute; to the latter they owe nothing but mutual love, and those offices which necessarily spring from it. Therefore, the apostle says, Owe no man; as if he had said: Ye owe to your fellow brethren nothing but mutual love, and this is what the law of God requires, and in this the law is fulfilled. Ye are not bound in obedience to them as to the civil magistrate; for to him ye must needs be subject, not merely for fear of punishment, but for conscience sake: but to these ye are bound by love; and by that love especially which utterly prevents you from doing any thing by which a brother may sustain any kind of injury.

SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED--POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS--MOTIVES. (Rom 13:1-14) Let every soul--every man of you be subject unto the higher powers--or, "submit himself to the authorities that are above him." For there is no power--"no authority" but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God--"have been ordained of God."

Owe no man anything, but to love one another--"Acquit yourselves of all obligations except love, which is a debt that must remain ever due" [HODGE]. for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law--for the law itself is but love in manifold action, regarded as matter of duty.