Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

Romans 13:8-14

One hears a lot about love in this world.  Most songs in the last 60-70 years have been about love in some way.  Hundreds of books and movies have a love theme. There is even a whole holiday dedicated to love.  God speaks a lot about love in the Scriptures, as well. God is love (I John 4:8; I John 4:16), so it is no wonder that it is very important to Him.  As we look into our passage today from Paul’s letter to the Romans, we will study how God wants us to treat each other and show love one for another, and see that it is not just a word in a song or a genre of books or movies.

Many people do their best to get out and stay out of debt, making sure all bills are paid on time.  As Paul begins our Scripture passage, he tells us that there is one debt that we always owe, and that is to love one another (vs. 8).   If we show honest, true love, caring, and concern for one another, there would be little, if any, breaking of the commandments (vs. 9). Paul repeats God’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18).  Just about everyone will do what they can to be sure they are well-fed, have decent clothes, and a reasonable home. They avoid being cheated or injured. This is the kind of love we need to show our neighbors. Do we see that they are fed, clothed, and housed?  Loving others as ourselves means to be actively working to see that their needs are met.

God is love, and all of His laws reflect His character.  To genuinely love others will lead us to fulfill the law (vs. 10).  If we truly love our neighbor, we will only do what is in their best interest.

Paul continues on in his letter to give instructions on how we, as Christians and believers, should be living.  Were you ever in class and a classmate, or maybe yourself, were dozing off? Then the teacher shouts out, “Wake up!”  Paul tells his readers here that it’s time to wake up! Pay attention! (vs. 11) A Christian who is asleep is in spiritual apathy.  They are unresponsive to the things of God. “Salvation” here is not referring to our justification, when we were saved. Here it refers to the final feature of our redemption and glorification, when Jesus returns, which draws closer with each passing day.  When Jesus returns, He wants to find His children awake and clean, both on the inside and on the outside (vs. 12-14).

As our passage continues, Paul contrasts night and darkness with day and light (vs. 12).  Night is equated with man’s depravity and Satan’s dominion. The day is equated with when Jesus returns and reigns.  Believers should be living lives that have cast off the things of darkness and evil, and putting on the armor of light, repenting and forsaking our sin.  We should be living a life pleasing to God. Show by our outward behavior the inner reality of a redeemed life. To do that we don’t live the type of lifestyle of those who are still in the kingdom of darkness (vs. 13).

Paul concludes our passage by using a metaphor or figure of speech, the act of changing clothes, taking old clothes off and putting on new clothes.  Few people would willingly go out , especially to an important meeting, in dirty, filthy, torn-up old clothes. Instead they would look for something nice, clean, and well-pressed, putting that on instead.  Paul tells us to take off the old lifestyle of sin, and put on the new life in Jesus Christ (vs. 14). Putting on Jesus is a phrase meaning the continual spiritual process where those who have been saved by faith are transformed into Jesus’ image and likeness.

When we put on Jesus, we are to pursue God’s will in our lives, which leaves us no room for the sinful habits that once held us in bondage.  Are we truly committed, wholeheartedly to the Lord, or are we still preoccupied with our sins? We cannot have both, because they are absolutely incompatible with each other.  We should avoid all places and temptations which will draw us away from the Lord.

How do we clothe ourselves with Jesus?  We publicly identify with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  We show in our lives the qualities He showed while here on earth - love, humility, truth, service.  In every situation that we are in, we should ask “What would Jesus do?”, and then do it.