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The Love Principle - Study 26: Love as Fulfilment

  • May 10
  • 16 min read

Romans 13:8-10 NIVUK 

[8] Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. [9] The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ [10] Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law. 

The iconic Tina Turner song ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ was a huge global hit that she nearly didn’t sing. She had made a career out of belting out R ‘n’ B and rock songs at the top of her voice. This was a pop song. It required a less powerful approach. But she agreed after meeting a music producer and making some changes to the original track. 


The same question, however, is often asked of modern Christianity. Many people look at the church to see the God of Love and they don’t see Him. There are too many people who use the church as a guise to wage their own private battles or to draw attention away from their own private wars. 


There are far too many who have set aside the commandment to love and use the Christian religion as a way of legitimising their violence and hatred. 


But don’t be fooled: 


2 Timothy 2:19 NIVUK 

[19] Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.’ 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/2ti.2.19.NIVUK)


Love for God implies hatred for sin. It is not possible to love God and love the things He hates. We have to choose between them. 


We must understand these verses correctly. Paul is presenting love as the fulfilment of the law because the law was built in love and whoever loves obeys the fundamental principles on which the law is based. He is not saying that love provides us with a ‘Get Out Of Jail’ card that permits us to do whatever we want and excuse it by saying that we did it out of love. 


These are challenging words that examine not just what we do, but why we do it. 


We see here three aspects of love. The first of these is The Debt. 

 

The Debt 

Romans 13:8 NIVUK 

[8] Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.13.8.NIVUK)


When we were preparing to move into our first apartment, we had a mortgage in place and some savings, but we were a little short of the money to pay the deposit. So my mother decided to help us out. We were very grateful, but we repaid it as soon as we could. 


She was stunned when we did it. She wasn’t expecting the money to be repaid so soon. She wondered if we were putting ourselves into hardship for the sake of the debt. But we weren’t. 


The debt had to be paid. Not paying the debt would have put us at greater hardship. Look at the wise words spoken by King Solomon: 


Proverbs 22:7 NIVUK 

[7] The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/pro.22.7.NIVUK)


Now, in case we somehow miss the sharpness of the meaning of this verse, the same word is used here: 


Exodus 13:3 NIVUK 

[3] Then Moses said to the people, ‘Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.  

Solomon was stating to a people who were once slaves in Egypt that being in debt puts them back in that same state. And Solomon didn't differentiate between different types of debt the way would to justify our cultures that are saturated in it. He simply said that if you borrow from someone, you are effectively submitting yourself to slavery beneath them. 


I have no doubt at all, not even for one second, that for many this teaching  will be difficult and distasteful. However, we cannot avoid what the Bible teaches. We cannot sugar-coat it. Our cultures want us in debt because they can control us and make lots of money from the interest. Whole economies are built on it. That is a fact. 


But God disagrees. That is also indisputable. 


Look at what Paul said, in just a few verses prior to ours: 


Romans 13:6-7 NIVUK 

[6] This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. [7] Give to everyone what you owe them: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour. 

Christ-like Christians pay their dues, on time and in full. 


What does this mean? 


We pay off our credit cards always on time, in full. 


We repay our mortgages, on time and in full. 


We repay our loans, on time and in full – and this includes student loans.  


We pay off our business loans, on time and in full. 


We don’t rush to get back into debt. We take it only when strictly necessary and we get out of it as soon as we can. We do not seek loopholes to default. We do not play fast and loose with the terms and conditions. We do not wait for a court order to repay then. 


We pay off all our debts, on time and in full. 


Because that is how we demonstrate love: 


Love for God, by not allowing His Name to be attached to someone who does not keep their promises. 


Love for our neighbour by honouring them with our repayments to them. 


Love for ourselves by getting ourselves out of slavery to debt as son as we can. 


That love extends elsewhere too: 


Romans 13:6-7 NIVUK 

[6] This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. [7] Give to everyone what you owe them: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour. 

Taxes are a debt that we owe the government. Biblical Christians who are seeking to please God by loving Him, their neighbours and themselves will pay these taxes, in full and on time. They will not condition their payment on whether or not the government uses the money ‘wisely’. That is not our responsibility: ours is to pay taxes; theirs is to govern wisely. 


If honour and respect are required due to someone’s position in government, Biblical Christians will give them that respect, regardless of whether or not they agree with them, voted for them or feel that they deserve it. None of these matter as much as loving God, our neighbours and ourselves, and that includes our leaders. 


In fact – and this is something we need to fully realise – Paul saw our love for God, our neighbours and ourselves as a debt that we owe and one we must repay in full and on time. 


This is a totally different outlook to the world around us. One of the most striking examples of this is the USA – the world’s largest economy. Its debts are so large that for every dollar the nation produces, it owes $1.25. Every year, it pays more in debt repayments than it spends in national defence. As a nation, it is functionally insolvent. And that’s just government debt. It doesn’t take into account the frankly obscene amounts of money owed by the general public, for sometimes essentials like healthcare and education. 


And America is not the only country with a burgeoning national debt. Borrowing is encouraged because it’s good business for the lender. But for the borrower, it’s not. It’s bad business. It reduces then to servitude and removes their freedom. Money that could be spent on developing their nations or their families is handed to foreign bankers for little more than interest repayments. 


We need to see the truth about debt. As Christians, we should flee from it. But when it comes to the debt to love, we should pay in full and on time. 


Always. 


Apart from the debt, we also see the Law. 

 

The Law 

Romans 13:9 NIVUK 

[9] The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.13.9.NIVUK)


When someone puts a restriction on our choices or activities, our natural instinct is to push against it. This should not be surprising to us – the first temptation in Genesis 3:1-6 was exactly that. 


Allow me to give you an example. When my daughter was very young and could walk, we set her restrictions when we were in church. She could play with her friends anywhere she liked, but she couldn’t go to the back of the church, where there were dangers and she was out of sight, or out of the front gate of the church into the street. Most of the time she accepted these restrictions. She realised that these restrictions were for her own safety and her own good. 


But we don’t always realise this. 


There are small communities – usually in deprived areas – that set themselves up as ‘anarchic’. That is, they are free of state rule and control.  


Of course, they aren’t truly anarchic. They have their own internal rules and controls and discipline. It’s just that they have rejected state control.  


These anarchist communities can last for a long time.  


However, one such community, Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, Denmark, had to call in state help because their community had been beset by drug dealers and they did not have the wherewithal to rid themselves of this evil without state help. 


Because that is the problem when we set aside the law and break off into anarchy: the strong will always out-muscle the weak and impose their rule. 


As Christians, we should never think of the law – and God’s law in particular – as a imposition or an unwanted intrusion into our private lives. It is not. 


It is actually a declaration of love. God loves us, so He sets the boundaries to keep us safe and away from harm. 


What Paul taught here is that obeying the law is also an expression of love on our part: for God, our neighbours and ourselves. We ought to want to be obedient to God because we love. 


And John, who was dubbed ‘the Apostle of Love’, agreed: 


1 John 2:3-6 NIVUK 

[3] We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. [4] Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. [5] But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: [6] whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 

Love is not in the big, grand gestures of ‘sacrificial obedience’ or generosity. 


No, love is in the silent gestures of obedience and self-sacrifice away from public view, in the shadows where no-one sees and no-one commends us (Matthew 6:1-4). 


Love obeys and seeks the approval of no-one but the Lord. 


Quiet, determined obedience of God is how true love is shown. 


Love, then, receives God’s overtures of love in His commandments and obeys them gladly and unquestioningly, without counting the cost. 


That is why love sums up the entire law. 


However, Old Testament law can be a little obscure and obtuse for our modern world. For example, I live in a town far enough away from sheep fields to worry about how I would react if one got lost (Deuteronomy 22:1-3). On the mean streets of Scotland, we don’t see too many oxen or donkeys, so I’m not overly concerned about what I would do if I saw either fallen in the street (Deuteronomy 22:4). Most of my clothes are either made of cotton or synthetic fabrics. I'm not the biggest fan of linen. It’s hard to iron. So the idea of wearing clothes of mixed fabrics isn’t something I concern myself with (Deuteronomy 22:11). 


These laws were of their time and given for a reason. But the principle behind them still stands, and that is that God commands us to love Him, our neighbours and ourselves. That is the commandment we must obey and the law we must respect. 


But apart from the debt and the law, the third aspect of love we see here is The Principle. 

 

The Principle  

Romans 13:10 NIVUK 

[10] Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law. 

When I was a child, the cartoon ‘Wacky Races’ was always a fun watch. There you saw exaggerated cartoon characters driving some pretty strange vehicles who always sought to outdo each other in a race. It was a pretty moral cartoon: the baddies, Dastardly and Muttley, who always tried to cheat and do harm to others, never one a single race. 


If only life was like that. 


We all know of times when people have sought an unfair advantage over others, and in some cases have actually gained it. There are fewer incidents more galling than when someone uses their wiles or their cunning to get ahead because they simply have no skill. 


It gets even worse when people turn nasty out of jealousy or spite. It happens when children are small. We do not expect it from others. 


We knew of someone we met while on holiday in Vienna, Austria. He was a Filipino with a massive ego problem: his wife was a cleaner for some highly-paid individuals in London. His social media feed was full of him in their properties and posing with their cars as if they were his own. 


Behind the veneer of riches or respectability, we found out that he was a deeply spiteful man who hit out online against anyone he thought was setting themselves up to be better than him. He had taken on several rich Filipinas before he took a pot shot at my wife.  


He was very swiftly reported to the social media site and blocked. 


I wish I could say that I had never seen such awful behaviour in Christian circles, but unfortunately I have: rumours, gossip, innuendo, slander, all based against people we believe are getting ‘too big for their britches’.  


Not one bit of it is right: 


Galatians 5:13-21 NIVUK 

[13] You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. [14] For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ [15] If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. [16] So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. [18] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. [19] The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; [20] idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions [21] and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Look at these verses. Look very carefully. Paul placed the ‘minor’ crimes like ‘discord, jealousy, fits of rage...envy’ beside the ‘major’ violent crimes like sexual immorality, debauchery and the like. For Paul, there is no difference. 


Looks again in Romans 1: 


Romans 1:28-32 NIVUK 

[28] Furthermore, just as they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. [29] They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; [31] they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. [32] Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them. 

And again, in Ephesians: 


Ephesians 4:29-32 NIVUK 

[29] Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31] Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. [32] Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 

It’s all the same thing. 


Now, while most of us would have no trouble saying that a Christian should never seek to physically harm their neighbour (at least, I would hope not), how many would have agree that psychological and spiritual harm are just as serious? 


Jesus taught a truth during the Sermon on the Mount that many nowadays wish He had not: 


Matthew 5:17-20 NIV 

[17]  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18] For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. [19] Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [20] For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

This would have stunned the disciples: how could they, as simple fishermen and tax collectors, possibly exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees? It would have seemed utterly impossible. 


Yet it was very possible. The principle behind the law is love: for God, your neighbour and yourself. In fact, obedience to the law, and therefore our righteousness in legal terms, depends on love. Even if it were possible to obey every last jot and tittle of the law, which it isn’t, if it was done out of a sense of duty or obligation and not love, it would still be disobedience. 


True obedience takes place when a loving heart drives loving actions, not when we have to drag ourselves to obedience because we feel we have to, or to keep a culture or tradition alive. 


This was the point the Pharisees and teachers of the law all missed: 


Luke 11:42, 45-46 NIV 

[42]  “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. 
[45] One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.” [46] Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. 

Love is the principle behind the law. It is the principle behind all obedience. It is the line between righteousness and sin. When we truly love, and we work that love out in ways that are appropriate to our community, then we bring glory to God.  


When we don’t, then we don’t. We only bring shame and encourage blasphemous thoughts in the minds of those who do not know our Lord. 


Love does no harm to a neighbour. It seeks to harm no-one. It raises up. It does not tear down. Love seeks the best for our neighbour, not the worst. 


Love, therefore fulfils the law. 


We are all aware that Jesus fulfilled the requirements of Old Testament sacrificial law by dying on the cross. Hebrews 9:11-28 taught us this. John the Baptist taught us this (John 1:29-36). John the Apostle’s vision of Jesus confirmed it (Relevation 5:6).  


But there is another way in which Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law, to an extent that no-one else has done so and no-one ever will: 


He loved. He loved all the way to the cross. 


And He is our example. 


He is the One we say we follow.

 

Conclusion  

Romans 13:8-10 NIV 

[8] Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. [9] The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [10] Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 

My boss has many interesting turns of phrase. When we are given a long list of what someone wants that we have to provide, he talks about cutting through the noise that so often exists in a business request to find what he calls ‘the exam question’: the key requirement that must be met for then to be satisfied. 


Over the centuries, Christians have drawn up many traditions and customs and structures and ways of doing things, bells and smells, light and sound. But we have often forgotten ‘the exam question’. We have forgotten the key requirement. We have forgotten the principle behind all obedience and service to God. 


We have forgotten to love. 


That’s why we often see apparently sincere 'Christians' becoming involved in racist, sectarian and downright poisonous movements. That’s why apparently sincere believers have treated those who disagree with them on incredibly minor points so absolutely terribly. 


It is because, in those critical moments, they have prioritised power over love.  


And that’s why things have gone so very badly wrong. 


At the heart of everything we are supposed to do and everyone we are supposed to be is love. It’s love. If we take that our of our worship and our work and our religious practice, then every bit of it is empty and useless. 


Love is a debt we owe each other, and because we owe love, we pay our debts. Love is the law, and so we seek to please God in obedience because we love. Love also fulfils the law because love is the very foundation of the law. 


If you suck all the air out of a sealed building, everyone inside it dies. If you suck all the love out of Christianity, our faith dies and everything we do is hollow and empty. 


Love is the principle behind it all. To follow Christ, we must love. 


If we do not love, we are not following Christ. 


It really is that simple. 

 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, I realise that the sum total of everything You have called me to do is love, and everything else is secondary. Help me to show it. Help me to love, I pray. Amen. 

 

Questions for Contemplation  

  • ‘Love is a debt we owe each other, and because we love we pay our debts.’ What does this mean for you? How will you put it into practice? 

  • How does love fulfil the law? 

  • What changes will need to take place in your life to show this principle? 

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