Romans 13:8-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
8Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Loving Our Neighbors
When this speaks here of us loving our neighbors, i.e. all
people, this is not speaking of romantic love, or the emotional feeling of
love, but it is speaking of giving preference to God’s will, for He is love! It
means to prefer what God prefers which is all that is holy, righteous, godly,
upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to His
commands in daily practice. And it means to not make a practice of doing what
is evil, to not lie, cheat, steal, be sexually immoral, commit adultery, and
the like, by habit.
And we are to love even those who hate us, and who do evil
against us, and who despitefully use us (see Matthew 5:44). We are to love
those who lie about us to others, and who give others a false impression of who
we really are because they want others to hate us. We are to love those who
choose to believe the lies about us and not the truth, too, no matter how badly
they might treat us in return. For we are to love as Jesus loves us, and He
loved us enough to die on a cross so that we could be free from slavery to sin.
So, if others treat us with contempt, we treat them with
kindness. If they sin against us, we do good to them. If they speak evil of us,
we speak kindly of them, not in the sense of making up lies about them ever to
make them sound good, but we are not to be mean to others just because they
were mean to us. If they steal from us, we give to them. We do not trade “tit
for tat,” i.e. we do not do to others as they did to us, if what they did to us
was evil. It is not ours to repay evil with evil. But we are to repay evil with
good.
Romans 13:11-14 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“11And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”
Wake Up From Your Slumber
When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our
lives, it does not end there. For the faith to believe in Christ is not of our
own doing, not something we can drum up from our own flesh. The faith necessary
for salvation from sin and eternal life with God comes from God. It is gifted
to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to Christ’s righteousness and
holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of God’s requirement that we deny self,
die to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to His commands.
So, when this says that our salvation is nearer than when we
first believed, it is speaking of our salvation not as a one-time event which
takes place in our lives, and then we live, and then we die, and then we go to
heaven. It is speaking of our salvation as something that is ongoing and
continuous and that which will not be consummated (completed) until Jesus returns
and He takes His faithful bride to be with Him for eternity. So we must
continue in obedience to our Lord and no longer as slaves to sin until He
returns.
The encouragement here for all who profess faith in Jesus
Christ is that we are to be those who are continuing to surrender our lives to
Christ, and to obey His commands, and to forsake our sins in life practice. As
followers of Christ we must put sin to death and we must put on (in sincerity
and in truth) all that is of God and is holy and righteous in His sight. And we
are to behave decently, not in drunkenness or in sexual immorality or in any
other sinful practices. We are to make no provision for the desires of the
flesh.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
An Original Work / September 6, 2026
Christ’s
Free Servant, Sue J Love
Love Must Be Genuine
Based off Romans 12:9-21
An Original Work /
October 22, 2013
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
Love must be
genuine.
Hate what’s evil;
cling to good.
Love each other with
affection.
Show respect for
ev’ryone.
Never lack in your
zeal.
Serve the Lord with
diligence.
Rejoice in steadfast
hope.
In affliction,
patient be.
Keep on praying;
share with others.
Practice
hospitality.
Bless those who
persecute.
Feel with others
sympathy.
Be not filled with
conceit.
Daily sit at Jesus’
feet.
Live in harmony with
others.
Live at peace with
ev’ryone.
Repay not to someone
With the evil he
begot.
Do not take your
revenge;
Leave it to the
wrath of God.
If your enemy is
thirsty,
Give to him
something to drink.
Do what’s right for
mankind.
Evil: overcome with
good.
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