Romans 13 by Andrew Pike

Romans 13:8-‐14: Loving and living: Introduction: First published in 1972, Nanette Newman compiled a unique book called ‘God bless love’ which is a collection of children’s sayings about the subject of love: She says this in her introduction: “Children have a habit of getting to the heart of the matter without fear or favour.” Read a selection from the book: So what is love? It’s a question that has kept poets and philosopher’s busy for centuries. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. Elizabeth Browning Barrett

Is love simply a feeling or a sense? Is it just sentimentality? In its abstraction, is it possible to get a handle on ‘love’? Today’s passage will greatly help us to put those pieces together. We are looking at the main bloc of teaching in NT about what worship is. We have seen that true worship doesn’t only happen for an hour on Sunday mornings. True worship isn’t primarily an upward arrow: It begins with God being merciful to us, and then has to do with our relationships. True worship starts with the mind – renewing our thinking. The apostle Paul has been leading us on a journey to renew our thinking about a host of subjects. Last week we had to change the way we thought about the government [13:1-7]. Today it’s about loving our neighbour, and living as children of the day, and not as children of the night. 1. Loving with the past in mind v8-10: 1.1 Love is an unpaid debt: Love your neighbour – v8a:

Great dream – to be debt free. While that may make financial sense, when it comes to love Christians need to give that dream up! I am obligated to pay my debt of taxes and revenue to the government [v7]; and I am obligated to pay my debt of love to my neighbour [v8]. You may be asking, ‘who is my neighbour’? In verse 8 it is ‘fellowman’. In v9 it’s ‘neighbour’. Jesus once told a story to show that anyone you come across in life should be considered your neighbour. That person should be acted toward in love – whether it’s a Christian or not. That would include the petrol attendant, the car guard, the waitress and the boss. It would include the members of your family – even the ones you’re grateful you only see once a year at Christmas. Your neighbour is anyone God brings across your path. But there is also a limitation: God doesn’t bring the whole world across you path. We start with those that we rub shoulders with on a daily basis – whether they are Christians or not. We are to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Last week God taught me to take the bit about trusting the governing authorities to be his agent of wrath and to bring justice. At about mid-night, the Lord had to teach me about loving our neighbours! I’ve heard lots of teaching that says that what this passage is teaching is that we should love ourselves. Because, ‘how can you love your neighbour if you don’t love yourself?’ We need to see that that can’t be right. It’s not true here. The word that is used for love is the word ‘agape’. It’s a unique word for ‘love’ that has to do with a love that is other-person-centred. It can’t be turned in towards myself. The fact of the matter is that most of the time, we do love ourselves – too much! I am very good at doing what is best for me! And I am to treat my neighbour in the same way. Why? Because love fulfils the law. . .

1.2 Love fulfils the law: [Bookends v8a + v10b] – v8b-10: READ Love sums up what God wants us to do: He quotes the last 4 of the Ten Commandments: adultery, murder, stealing, coveting: We need to be very careful at this point and keep our heads! There is lots of confusion about what the relationship is between the Christian and the law of God. I am as a Christian still required to obey the 10 commandments? In Romans, Paul has shown that the Law is not what justifies us: grace [Jesus’ death] does. Romans 3:20 (NIV) 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

We don’t obey the 10 commandments, and then we are acceptable to God. We are acceptable to God because Jesus obeyed the 10 commandments, and we can be forgiven by his death. Our obedience doesn’t lead to acceptance – because at best it’s imperfect. Only Jesus perfect obedience to God was good enough to be accepted. We piggy back on Jesus. The law is not what justifies us. In Romans, Paul has shown that the Law is not what sanctifies us/makes me godly: The Spirit does. Romans 8:5 (NIV) 5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Once we’re justified, then, does our godliness come by obeying the 10 commandments? No! Our godliness comes from the Holy Spirit’s work in us, changing us and shaping us to be who we should be.

Well then, what use is the law? Should we cut the 10 commandments out of our bibles? What then are our obligations to the law? Can it disappear off the scene? Certainly not! Some Christians have pushed that idea – but it’s wrong. Romans 7:12 (NIV) 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

In God’s thinking, the law is fulfilled in us when we love our neighbour. We keep the law by loving our neighbour in obedience to the will of God. To put that differently, the law teaches us how to love in practice. It informs us about what love is – what it looks like. Otherwise our love will be without content. It’s just sentimental and subjective. The law gives content to love; it informs us what love is. The law teaches us in practice what it means to love by giving content to the word ‘love’. If God hated adultery, killing and stealing once upon a time, he still hates it. I need to know that and be taught the law. God’s forgiveness is not dependant on us obeying the law. Our godliness once we’ve been forgiven doesn’t come from obeying the law. But the law is useful when it comes to the obligation of love, because it informs us as to what love is. ‘Love your neighbour’ is one of the most well known statements in our world today. Of all the objections our society has with Christianity, ‘love your neighbour’ is one they accept. It falls into those comfortable categories: the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you; turn the other cheek; etc. I suspect our society has no problem with the Christian ethic to ‘love you neighbour’ as long as it can decide what ‘love’ means. As long as we can decide what love is, then we’re happy with God saying ‘love your neighbour’. But in this passage, God defines love

for us – and it has moral content: Love does no harm to your neighbour – v10a. Murder robs them of their life, adultery of their home and honour, theft of their property and covetousness robs society of contentment. All these do harm to the neighbour, whereas it is the essence of love to seek and to serve our neighbour’s highest good. Have you noticed that our society only agrees with us on 2 of the above? Murder and theft is still regarded as harmful to society and is therefore outlawed. But what about adultery and coveteousness? The whole world of advertising is based on coveteousness – so that’s not seen as unloving. And adultery is glorified, and often seen as being driven by love – someone you not married to. “I just followed my heart” When God defines love – which he does by his law – then society doesn’t agree. What is the content of your love for your neighbour? Is your love informed by God’s law? Do we need to transform our thinking this morning about what is loving and what is not? It’s not good enough to say ‘they love each other, and therefore their relationship must be legitimate’. If it contravenes God’s law, then whatever else it is, it isn’t loving, and it isn’t loving to sanction or encourage it. Think about how this may transform our thinking about sexual ethics, or what constitutes an appropriate relationship. And your wife or husband is no less your neighbour than your neighbour. Think about the way you have demonstrated love to them this last week – or not. What have our children learnt from us about coveting? Are we loving them by discouraging coveting, or have we been conformed to the pattern of this world and are in fact no different to anyone else when it comes to wanting things.

‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’. Easy to say ‘you don’t know my neighbour!’ Or maybe you don’t even know your neighbour? ‘Love your neighbour’ is not talking about a sentimental feeling. It’s not talking about something subjective – it doesn’t say ‘like your neighbour’. It’s practical and earthy, and it gets it hands dirty. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour, act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.” I have an obligation to my authorities: tax and honour I have an obligation to my neighbour: love But, I have no obligation to the flesh and the world of darkness around me. READ 2. Living with the future in mind v11-14: Here Paul tells us to live in the present with our eye on the future: There are two things we need to know about how to live for the future: Two things we need to keep in mind: 2.1 Remember the time: v11-12: Notice he uses ‘time’ related language in these two verses: READ. Paul reminds us that we are creatures of the twilight. He uses a very familiar metaphor: The night has gone, and the day is upon us: We are very familiar with that feeling – especially on a Monday morning! That unbelievable moment on a Monday when the alarm goes off! You try to orientate yourself, ‘what day is it?, where am I? Who the heck are you!? – oh ja!’

We live in the twilight zone, between night and day. The night represents this world, which is ending, but not yet. The day represents the age to come, which is upon us, but not yet. Christians exist in a strange in-between time while we wait for the final coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are closer than ever before [v11]. Every day brings salvation closer than the day before. Notice that in this passage, salvation is something that lies in the future. This is consistent with Romans: Romans 5:9 (NIV) 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Sometimes Paul says “We have been saved” [Ephesians 2] – and it’s true. Other times Paul says ‘We are being saved’ [Philippians 1] – and that true too. Here he presents salvation as something that lies in the future. We will be saved from this present age – called ‘darkness’ – at some glorious moment in the future. But for now, we’re in the twilight zone. How are we to live while we wait? We are to live in the light: 2.2 Therefore, practice now how you’ll live then – v13-14: Get ready for the day. Get out of bed. Brush your teeth, wash your face, comb your hair and put on the clothes of the light. In the morning you don’t continue with your nightly activities [unless you’re a nocturnal student!]. You have breakfast, not supper, you get dressed, not undressed. You behave decently. READ v13-14. You live a life in that reflects the life you will live when Jesus comes again to usher the day in all its fullness. We still belong to the old age where the natural old appetites are still around, and where social circumstances around us are degrading and polluting us. Our flesh is not dead! It has desires and calls upon me to gratify them. And God tells us not to do so. We belong to the day.

V14 brings us full circle. 12:1-2 says that we have two choices: be conformed to the pattern of this world; or be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That’s another way of saying: clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not a Christian you are a slave. You cannot help yourself. You will live a life to gratify the desires of your sinful nature. Augustine was converted through 13v13-14: A man of the world who was aware of his slavery to the flesh. I heard from a neighbouring house a voice, as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting, and oft repeating, "Take up and read; Take up and read. " Instantly, my countenance altered, I began to think most intently whether children were wont in any kind of play to sing such words: nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So checking the torrent of my tears, I arose; interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book, and read the first chapter I should find. I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, in concupiscence. No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away. The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Book VIII, Paragraphs 28 and 29.

Clothe yourself with Christ.