All and Nothing

Render to all what is due them... Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.... (Romans 13:7-8)

Very clearly these two verses are meant to be in stark contrast with each other. But what is the even deeper message than what I see on the surface of these verses? Let me again look more at the context.

In the very next verses Paul refers directly to the Law of God given on Mount Sinai and explains that loving your neighbor is the fulfillment of this Law. It seems that this is somehow tied back into the concept of explaining what is due to those around me. Just as all real authority is from God, so all fulfillment of our requirements to those authorities must be bound up in the commandments of God.

John explained this very same relationship when he wrote, By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:2-3) There are many people who become very defensive and resistant whenever the commandments of God are mentioned. They want to rationalize that somehow God's commandments are no longer in effect for our lives, that they are superseded by a new age of love, a new dispensation as they call it. But the word fulfillment is not synonymous with eradication, because God's commandments are only descriptions of principles of reality. To eradicate God's Law would be an attempt to eliminate reality itself.

Far from insinuating that the Law of God has been set aside by love, Paul and John are both saying that the essence of the Law is loving others, both God and fellow men. In this sense only is the Law superseded in that when we finally learn to fully love without resistance both our Creator and those He created with us then we will be found to be in perfect harmony with the natural Law describing God's character Himself and that defines the image that we are modeled upon.

But I want to go back and explore this issue of debt a little more. Paul is strongly implying that I owe a debt to others, and in this context particularly authorities. He lists a few things that he believes are owed: taxes, custom, fear and honor. Then he immediately goes on to say that we should be so thorough in paying what is due that we will owe nothing to anyone (except to love).

My mind always keeps going back to the real meaning of the word due. It is clear that I am to pay what is due, but how do I deal with the question of knowing what is due and what is not due? I don't think it is necessarily safe to simply trust public opinion or coercive threats trying to convince me that someone's demands upon me are just dues. But on the other hand I also do not want the resistance inherent in my sinful flesh to blind me to the truth about who is legitimately due these things from me. I want to know God's perspective on this issue. And I will continue to look for it and seek to come into harmony with His Word, especially in the condition of my spirit.

And I believe that the rest of this chapter specifically addresses that very issue. Paul's discussion of love as the fulfillment of the law is targeting the nature of my spirit far more than the compliance of my political choices. There are many that pay great attention to conformity to every requirement imposed upon them but have no real love for those they are complying with. According to this passage that person is not really fulfilling the law, they are just conforming to this world (12:2).

I also see links in this passage between love and subjection which is the opposite of resistance and opposition. So if I try to subject myself to authority without love I am still not fulfilling the law. Wow! This is a lot to contemplate on for awhile.

Father, only Your miracle of grace and transformation can produce this kind of life and behavior in me. I give You permission and ask You to continue to transform me from the inside. Keep Your promise from Eze. 36 to put in me a new heart and a right spirit. Shower me with Your water and make me clean inside of all resistance so that I can be safe in Your intense presence. Glorify Your name in my life today.

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