For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
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Romans 13:9-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
Parallel Translations
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For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
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Thou shalt not commit advoutry: Thou shalt not kyll: Thou shalt not steale: Thou shalt not beare false witnes: Thou shalt not desyre and so forth (yf there be eny other commaundement) they are all comprehended in this sayinge: Love thyne neghbour as thy selfe.
Love hurteth not his neghbour. Therfore is love the fulfillynge of the lawe.
Show all 3 translations
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For this, Thou shalt not commit adulterie, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steale, Thou shalt not beare false witnes, Thou shalt not couet: and if there be any other commandement, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, euen in this, Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe.
Loue doeth not euill to his neighbour: therefore is loue the fulfilling of the Lawe.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (16)
- Romans 13:8 (v10) Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Matthew 22:39-40 (v10) A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (v10) Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its…
- Exodus 20:12-17 (v9) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. “You shall not murder. “You…
- Matthew 22:39 (v9) A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Show all 16 cross-references
- Mark 12:31 (v9) The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
- Luke 10:27 (v9) He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and…
- Deuteronomy 5:16-21 (v9) “Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the…
- Leviticus 19:18 (v9) “ ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I…
- Matthew 19:18-19 (v9) He said to him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not…
- Romans 7:7-8 (v9) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have…
- Leviticus 19:34 (v9) The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you…
- Galatians 5:13 (v9) For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
- Luke 18:20 (v9) You know the commandments: ‘Don’t commit adultery,’ ‘Don’t murder,’ ‘Don’t steal,’ ‘Don’t give false testimony,’ ‘Honor your father and…
- Mark 10:19 (v9) You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’…
- James 2:8-10 (v9) However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. But if you show…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, etc.…
9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, etc. It cannot be from this passage concluded what precepts are contained in the second table, for he subjoins at the end, and if there be any other precept He indeed omits the command respecting the honoring of parents; and it may seem strange, that what especially belonged to his subject should have been passed by. But what if he had left it out, lest he should obscure his argument? Though I dare not to affirm this, yet I see here nothing wanting to answer the purpose he had in view, which was to show, — that since God intended nothing else by all his commandments than to teach us the duty of love, we ought by all means to strive to perform it. And yet the uncontentious reader will readily acknowledge, that Paul intended to prove, by things of a like nature, that the import of the whole law is, that love towards one another ought to be exercised by us, and that what he left to be implied is to be understood, and that is, — that obedience to magistrates is not the least thing which tends to nourish peace, to preserve brotherly love.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v9 For the whole Law commandeth nothing else, but that…
For the whole Law commandeth nothing else, but that we love God and our neighbor. But seeing Paul speaketh here of the duties we owe one to another, we must restrain this word, Law to the second Table.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou…
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Ver. 9. Briefly comprehended] Capitulated, fulfilled, saith the Syriac, summed up, ανακεφαλαιουται. St Bartholomew is quoted by Dionysius to have said of divinity, Και πολλην και ελαχιστην, Et magnum esse et minimam, that it was large and yet little, as containing much matter in few words.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–10 This verse proves that love is the fulfilling of…
This verse proves that love is the fulfilling of the law. It is done by an induction or enumeration of the particular precepts of the second table. The fifth is not mentioned, because the Jews made that commandment a part of the first table; so some: or because he had treated before of duty to the higher powers and superiors, under which parents are comprehended; so others. It may be, he would only mention the negative precepts, as being most contrary to love. But, why doth he mention the seventh commandment before the sixth? Because of the commonness of adultery amongst the Romans; so some: because of the odiousness of it; so others. Hence
adultery is first named amongst the works of the flesh, Gal 5:19. Possibly it is, because the Seventy, in Exodus, rehearse the commandments in this very order. The tenth commandment is summed up in one word:
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Thou shalt not covet; it seems, then, it is but one commandment, and their opinion is ridiculous who divide it into two. When he says, if there be any
other commandment? He means a commandment of the same nature, requiring us to pay what we owe one to another; ergo, to honour our parents; or he means, any other in the Scripture, though not expressed in the decalogue. All commandments respecting our neighbour are summed up in this one:
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: see Mat 22:39; Gal 5:14; 1Ti 1:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v9 Two particulars are here observable, namely, a proposition asserted,…
Two particulars are here observable, namely, a proposition asserted, that love is the fulfilling of the law. "And this proposition proved by an induction and enumeration of particular duties belonging to the second table.
Observe, 1. The proposition asserted and maintained by the apostle, ver 8 and 10 namely, that love is the fulfulling of the law.
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"But can the law be said to be fulfilled by us? If so, in what sense?
Answer By the law here we are certainly to understand that branch of the moral law which respects our duty to our neighbour. All our duty to men is virtually comprehended in loving them as ourselves; as no man will hurt himself, so neither will he hurt his neighbour, if he loveth him as himself: thus love is the complement or fulfilling of the law relating to our neighbour.
The church of Rome would infer from hence, That a person may keep the law of God perfectly, and without the least deficiency.
But observe, He that loveth keepeth the law. How keepeth? Even as he loveth; if he loveth perfectly, he keepeth the law perfectly; but if his love be imperfect, (as is the best on this side heaven,) then is his fulfilling of the law imperfect also. Perfect fulfilling of the law is what we should labour after, but whilst in an imperfect state we cannot attain unto; yet such is the grace of God in the gospel, as to account sincerity instead of perfection, and to esteem unfeigned love to our neighbour the fulfilling of the law, or all the duties of the second table.
Observe, 2. This proposition is proved by an induction and enumeration of particular duties belonging to the second table: Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, nor bear false witness, nor covet. Where all injury is forbidden to be done to our neighbour, in his name, in his estate, marriage right, &c. and this is called the fulfilling of the law.
"But how can that be? Is the law fulfilled by mere negatives, by doing no hurt to our neighbours? Is not doing them all the good we can, required also?
Answer Yes, no doubt: Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, it is implied, that love doth all possible good to his neighbour, as well as worketh no evil; though the negatives only are mentioned, yet the affirmatives also are included.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–10 For this, thou shalt not commit adultery,.... The apostle…
For this, thou shalt not commit adultery,.... The apostle here reckons up the several laws of the second table, with this view, that it might appear that so far as a man loves his neighbour, whether more near or distantly related, he fulfils the law, or acts according to it. He omits the first of these, the fifth commandment, either because he had urged this before, so far as it may be thought to regard magistrates; or because, according to the division of the Jews, who reckon five commands to each table, this belonged to the first: and he puts the seventh before the sixth, which is of no great moment; the order of things being frequently changed in the Scripture, and which is often done by Jewish writers, in alleging and citing passages of Scripture; and with whom this is a maxim, , "that there is no first nor last in the law" (c); that is, it is of no importance which stands first or last in it: it follows,
thou shall not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet; which are the sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth commands of the decalogue, Exo 20:13,
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and if there be any other commandment; of God, respecting the neighbour, either in the decalogue, as there was the fifth, Exo 20:12, or elsewhere, the apostle repeating this by memory:
it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself; see Lev 19:18; this is the summary and epitome of them; so Christ reduces the laws of the first table to the head of love to God, and those of the second to the head of love to the neighbour, Mat 22:37, as the apostle does here, and in Gal 5:14, and the Apostle James, in Jam 2:8.
(c) T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 6. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9–10 If there be any other - More particular. Commandment…
If there be any other - More particular. Commandment - Toward our neighbour; as there are many in the law. It is summed up in this - So that if you was not thinking of it, yet if your heart was full of love, you would fulfil it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Verse 9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery]…
Verse 9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery] He that loves another will not deprive him of his wife, of his life, of his property, of his good name; and will not even permit a desire to enter into his heart which would lead him to wish to possess any thing that is the property of another: for the law-the sacred Scripture, has said: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
It is remarkable that ου ψευδομαρτυρησεις, thou shalt not bear false witness, is wanting here in ABDEFG, and several other MSS. Griesbach has left it out of the text. It is wanting also in the Syriac, and in several of the primitive fathers. The generality of the best critics think it a spurious reading.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–10 For this - “This” which follows is the sum…
For this - “This” which follows is the sum of the laws. “This” is to regulate us in our conduct toward our neighbor. The word “this” here stands opposed to “that” in Rom 13:11. This law of love would prompt us to seek our neighbor’s good; “that” fact, that our salvation is near, would prompt us to be active and faithful in the discharge of all the duties we owe to him.
Thou shalt not commit adultery - All the commands which follow are designed as an illustration of the duty of loving our neighbor; see these commands considered in the notes at Mat 19:18-19. The apostle has not enumerated “all” the commands of the second table. He has shown generally what they required. The command to honor our parents he has omitted. The reason might have been that it was not so immediately to his purpose when discoursing of love to a “neighbor” - a word which does not immediately suggest the idea of near relatives. The expression, “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” is rejected by the best critics as of doubtful authority, but it does not materially affect the spirit of the passage. It is missing in many manuscripts and in the Syriac version.
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If there be any other commandment - The law respecting parents; or if there be any duty which does not seem to be “specified” by these laws, it is implied in the command to love our neighbor as ourselves.
It is briefly comprehended - Greek, It may be reduced to “this head;” or it is summed up in this.
In this saying - This word, or command,
Thou shalt love ... - This is found in Lev 19:18. See it considered in the notes at Mat 19:19. If this command were fulfilled, it would prevent all fraud, injustice, oppression, falsehood, adultery, murder, theft, and covetousness. It is the same as our Saviour’s golden rule. And if every man would do to others as he would wish them to do to him, all the design of the Law would be at once fulfilled.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v10 Love of the neighbour worketh no evil.[2] This, by…
Love of the neighbour worketh no evil.[2] This, by the Latin, is the true construction; and not, love worketh no evil to the neighbour, as it might be translated from the Greek. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Dilectio proximi malum non operatur, i.e. dilectio non operatur malum proximi, vel proximo, Greek: e agape to plesion kakon ouk ergazetai.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–10 For this, &c.--better thus: "For the [commandments], Thou shalt…
For this, &c.--better thus: "For the [commandments], Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and whatever other commandment [there may be], it is summed up," &c. (The clause, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," is wanting in all the most ancient manuscripts). The apostle refers here only to the second table of the law, as love to our neighbor is what he is treating of.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9. For—Implying that the term law finds its standard…
9. For—Implying that the term law finds its standard expression in the decalogue, as the due performance of the decalogue requires, as its source and spring, love in the heart. Right doing, as a permanent life, can only flow from right feeling.
Thou shalt not—The negative form forbids every possible course but the right one, and so hems us in to the right. It is implied by this negative form that the directions toward wrong are innumerable, and man’s impulses toward them as countless.
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Thou shalt love—This form of the decalogue locates the obedience in the heart, and not in the outward limb, and substitutes the positive for the negative form, and concentrates it into the briefest, most portable, and most practical form.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9. For this] Lit. For the; each precept being…
9. For this] Lit. For the; each precept being a quasi-substantive with the definite article.
Thou shalt not bear false witness] Perhaps to be omitted, on documentary evidence.
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and if there be any other commandment, &c.] The Gr. phrase nearly = and whatever other commandments there are, all are summed up, &c.
Thou shalt love, &c.] Lev_19:18. See the Lord’s own quotation of the words, Mat_22:39. Cp. Jas_2:8.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–10 (9) Thou shalt not commit adultery.—It will be seen…
(9) Thou shalt not commit adultery.—It will be seen that in this arrangement the seventh commandment precedes the sixth. The same arrangement is found in Mar_10:19, Luk_18:20, and Jas_2:11. On the other hand, the ordinary arrangement appears in Mat_19:18. There can be no doubt that St. Paul followed an order that was found in the copies of the LXX. that he was in the habit of using. The famous Codex Vaticanus still presents the same order in Deu_5:17. In Exo_20:13-15 it places the seventh commandment, first, then the eighth, then the sixth.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v9 Thou shalt not commit adultery … and if there…
Rom_13:9-10
Thou shalt not commit adultery … and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this … Thou shalt love thy neighbout as thyself.
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The comprehensiveness of love
It comprehends--
I. The whole law.
II. The letter and the spirit.
III. Our neighbour as ourselves. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The love of our neighbour
I. The object of the affection. Love of our neighbour, or benevolence, seeks the good of others, and in its noblest form is the perfection of God.
II. Its proper extent. As ourselves. This implies--
1. That it is to be of the same kind. We have a common interest in others and in ourselves.
2. That it is to bear a certain proportion to our love for ourselves. What this proportion is to be is not easily decided, for affection is not easily measured; but as to actions, the expression of affection, the more others occupy our thoughts the better, provided we neglect not ourselves.
3. That it is to equal our love for ourselves, No ill consequences can ensue from this, for--
(1) Men have other affections for themselves not felt for others.
(2) They are specially interested in themselves.
(3) They have a particular perception of their own interest, so that there is no fear of self neglect.
III. Its influence on our general temper.
1. To produce all charitableness.
2. To fit men for every relation and duty.
3. To moderate party feeling.
4. To prevent or heal all strife.
IV. What it includes--all virtue. It prompts men--
1. To seek the greatest happiness of all, which is itself a discharge of all our obligations.
2. To the practice of all personal virtues--temperance, etc., and certainly a neglect of these virtues implies a deficiency of love to others. (Bp. Butler.)
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour.
The working of love
I. Love is essentially an active principle.
II. Works no ill.
1. In deed.
2. In word.
3. In thought.
III. Must work good.
1. Wherever it has opportunity.
2. To the extent of its ability.
IV. Is therefore the fulfilling of the law.
1. Negatively.
2. Positively. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The work of low
The Arabian commentators of Mahomet attempted to make a law applicable to every relation in life. They published, it is said, a code containing seventy-five thousand rules; but cases soon arose to which none of these rules would apply. The New Testament adopts another method. It deals in broad and fundamental principles capable of universal application. It gives us in plain words a law of love. This suggests principles which are universal and eternal. It gives a life rather than a rule.
I. love worketh no ill to his neighbour. This is a broad truth. Ones neighbour is primarily the one near--the near dweller, any one with whom we have to do. Christ has for ever answered the question, Who is my neighbour?
1. The spirit of this statement strikes a blow at all kinds of business which injure ones neighbour. It meets the servant and the master, the maid and her mistress; it enters the counting-house and the workshop; it confronts the lawyer and his client, the physician and his patient, the pastor and his people. It enters the social circle and hushes the voice of the slanderer. It stands like an incarnate conscience across the track of the vile wretch who would rob youth of purity and glory. It lifts a voice against the man who destroys his neighbour with strong drink. It thunders its condemnation in the ear of the gambler. It lifts before us the great white throne, and enables us to anticipate its final decisions.
2. This law of love also opposes all forms of bad example. The man who desecrates Gods day, disbelieves Gods book, and disobeys Gods Son, is an enemy to his neighbour. No man has a right to set a bad example before men. The man who misleads the young may blight the lives of coming generations.
3. This law reaches those who are only negatively good. No man has a right to remain in that position. Your good name, while you remain in that attitude to God, makes your influence the greater and your condemnation the heavier. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Saviour? Then come to the Church. For the sake of your neighbour come into the ranks. Confess Christ; march in line with His people. Thus will you work no ill to your neighbour.
II. But it is clearly implied that love works well to ones neighbour. This is a step in advance. It cannot rest in the mere negative condition. Love does not simply do no ill; it does well. It understands that to withhold good when it might be done, is as truly sin as to devise evil. Paul (1Co_13:1-13.) shows that it is the principle without which all other gifts are worthless. The Corinthian chapter is the inspired commentary on the Roman text. What a world this would be if this love dominated all the actions of men! Social life would be regenerated; commercial life be consecrated; heaven would be begun on earth. (R. S. Macarthur, D.D.)
Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.--
Love the fulfilling of the law
Love is--
I. The best expositor of the law. It teaches us to keep it--
1. Conscientiously as in the sight of God.
2. Sincerely with the whole heart.
3. Fully in every point.
4. Perfectly, not merely negatively.
II. The best keeper of the law. It fulfils it with--
1. Delight.
2. All its strength.
3. Constancy. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Love
I. Reaches the full extent of the law.
1. It keeps the whole law; not only its prohibitions, but also its precepts.
2. Keeps it perfectly, not only with the hands, but with the heart.
3. Is never weary.
II. Makes its performance easy.
1. It draws help from a Divine source.
2. Supplies Divine strength.
3. Guarantees the Divinest reward. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Love is the fulfilling of the law
Because it--
I. Teaches everything.
1. It unfolds the spirit of the law.
2. Strengthens the voice of conscience.
3. Resolves all difficult questions.
II. Does everything.
1. Is not contented with the appearance.
2. Does not stop short half-way.
3. Seeks not for reward.
III. Rewards everything.
1. The good intention.
2. The secret act.
3. The greatest sacrifice. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Love is the fulfilling of the law
Because the love of God and man is the soul of every outward duty, and a cause that will produce these as effects. (R. Baxter.)
Love fulfils law
A religion which can announce this as its distinctive principle needs bring no further credentials of its heavenly origin. Michael Angelo need not carve his name on his own statuary, nor Raphael write his on his pictures. The song tells you what is the bird which sings. And so our text is unlike the trees that spring out of merely human soil. Its fragrance and its fruit announce it to be a slip from the tree that grows in the midst of the Paradise of God, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
I. Love is the substance of the demands of the law; it is their very essence and quintessence.
1. A tree may have a thousand branches, and ten thousand leaves, all of them having a different direction and shape; but they all arise out of life. So all the commandments are but the outward forms of an inward spirit, and that spirit is love.
2. Law does not fall so pleasantly on the ear as love. It is like a spiked wall between us and tempting fruit; or like the warning guide-post, No road this way, precisely at the spot where the path seems to lose itself in the most enchanting scenery. But this is a false view of law. Love could not be the fulfilling of it if it were of this nature, but the abolishing of it. For what is law? A wanton restraint, a needless burden, the arbitrary exaction of a superior authority, and thus superfluous circumscription of our liberty, and wilful limitation of our pleasures? No! It is but such a limitation and restraint as secures for each man the largest sweep of liberty. It is true that if there were no human laws, certain individuals would be able to indulge their wills and passions over a much wider field; but what of the people generally? The man who can go beyond his just bounds of right, can only do so by invading the bounds of another. This is the essence of tyranny. Liberty can only live where law is the supremest thing. No man resents a just law, but he who is at heart an enemy to the righteous claims of his fellow-men. Law is a hedge; but no hedge is thorny and repulsive to a man who does not wish to break through and trample upon the sacred privileges of his neighbour.
3. Can you find a law of God which is in itself, and on all sides of it, a dark and repulsive thing? I know of no law of His which has not in its very heart this command, Be happy. This has ever been the view of good men. Oh! how love! Thy law! it is daily my delight. Great peace have they that love Thy law. Of law, Hooker has said, there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world; all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power; both angels and men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each in differing sort and manner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy.
II. Obedience is to arise from love.
1. There may be what men esteem the fulfilling of a law for which they have no respect. There is the fulfilling--
(1) Which arises from fear, and despots may feel flattered and feel safer as they see a population pale with terror at their power. But that power is always the safest which inspires love. The law of God can never be obeyed through terror. Only think of a man obeying God because he dreads Him. Think of him saying, If God were not as powerful as He is, I would set my heel upon His laws; but I am no match for Him, and therefore I submit and obey. Nay, you neither submit nor obey. You might do this in the case of an earthly king, whose laws are satisfied if they receive an external obedience. But God is a King and a Father, who says, Thou shalt love; not, Thou shalt dread the Lord thy God. He is a Monarch whose laws you cannot obey except by loving Him. He clearly discriminates between what seems obedience and what is. This people draweth nigh unto Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. You fathers know that it is not worth the name of obedience if your child serve you from dread of consequences.
(2) Which is prompted by a mere sense of interest. This is little better than that we have just considered. Of course obedience brings sooner or later its own reward. But there is a great difference between pursuing a course which is profitable, and pursuing it because it is profitable. A faithful servant of a monarch may be paid for his service; but if he serves only for his pay, he is not a faithful servant. Will it be said that this seems to strike against the promises of the joys and glories of Heaven? No, they are far more gracious gifts than wages. When Christ says, I will make thee ruler over many things, it is not because we have deserved it. And hence the saints in heaven cast their crowns at the feet of Him that sits upon the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, etc. And the crowns are not given to those who have served for gain; they are given to those who have served from love. The fulfilling of the law from love creates now its own heaven within the man.
2. The law of service is the law of love. This was so with Christ. I delight to do Thy will, O God. And the service we render to Christ must be like that. Lovest thou Me? etc. And this truth applies equally to our relations to our fellow-men. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is far too much of the spirit, in these times, which regards men as so many competitors on the great arena of life, each one feeling that he loses what another gains, and that he must do the best for himself, leaving the weaker to go unpitied to the wall. But Christ came to teach us a holier and more blessed law, viz., that we are all brethren, brethren in nature, brethren in Him, because He partook our nature, and is not ashamed to call us brethren. (E. Mellor, D.D.)
Love the essence of obedience
I. The nature of true love. It is--
1. Universal, extending to being in general, or to God and all His creatures.
2. Impartial. It regards every proper object of benevolence according to its apparent worth and importance in the scale of being.
3. Disinterested. Mercenary love can never form a virtuous character.
II. True love is the fulfilling of the law.
1. It conforms the heart to God. God is love. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. If the moral perfection of man consists in conformity to the moral perfection of God, and the moral perfection of God consists in love, then love must be the fulfilling of the law.
2. It answers the full demand of the law. When a certain man asked our Saviour, Which is the great commandment in the law? He replied, Thou shalt love, etc. So Paul says, The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart. By this he declares that charity or true love fully answers the spirit and design of the law.
3. It makes us feel and act in every respect just as God requires. So far as we possess it, we shall both internally and externally obey every Divine command.
4. It restrains men from everything which God forbids. (N. Emmons, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9. It is briefly comprehended. It is summed up…
9. It is briefly comprehended. It is summed up in the single sentence Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The several laws that flow from love are gathered up in this saying as a fountain head.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v9 9, 10. “For thou shalt not commit adultery, thou…
DIVINE LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW
9, 10. “For thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment it is fulfilled in this word, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor with divine love as thyself. Divine love worketh no evil to his neighbor; therefore, divine love is the fulfilling of the law.” The solution of all this is plain and easy. Christian perfection is not of work, but grace, i. e., perfect love. God rewarded David for building the temple, though he did not build it. Why? Because his will was good to do it, but God kept him in other business, reserving the building of the temple for his son Solomon. Perfect love puts you where you say “yes” to the will of God and “no” to the devil all the time. While we abide in these tenements of clay, we are disqualified by infirmities to render a perfect obedience. Hence, our perfection which God requires is simply that of love, which delights to serve God on earth like the angels in heaven, despite a thousand failures through physical and mental infirmities. God seeing the heart, takes the will for the deed, receiving this heart perfection in lieu of perfect work.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv9–10 For this [Paul here begins the statement of a…
For this [Paul here begins the statement of a first premise, and in the eleventh verse, with the words "and this," he begins the statement of a second premise. The first premise is that the Christian (or faith) life, freed from the complications and onerous burden of the multitudinous laws of the Jewish (or law) life, is governed by the principle underlying all these laws most happily reduced to a simple commandment; viz., "Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Rom 13:9-10). The second premise is that salvation, which is so dimly suggested to the Jewish (or law) life as to be no incentive at all to good deeds, is clearly and distinctly promised to the Christian (or faith) life, and is comprehended by it to be as rapidly and as surely approaching as the dawning day. From these two premises the conclusion is drawn that we should lead the faith-life becomingly, by putting on Christ. If we supply the word "reason" after each "this," the meaning will be clear. Surely the simplicity of the Christian life, and the sureness and exceeding greatness of the salvation which is its reward, are sufficient reasons for our leading it becomingly], Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself . [The Ten Commandments are divided into two divisions of four and six. The first four relate to duties to God, and are taken no notice of here, for they do not pertain to justice to our fellowman, and hence are outside the sphere of Paul's present argument. The second division, or second table of the Ten Commandments, contains six precepts which relate to man's duty to his fellows: four of them are given here, and two relating to honoring parents and bearing false witness are omitted ( Exo_20:12-17 ). Though not named, they are included in the phrase "any other commandment." The order, too, is not that given in the Hebrew Bible, but follows one of the versions of the LXX. The order in which the commands are here given is likewise found at Mar_10:19 ; Luk_18:20 ; Jam_2:11 ; and also in Philo, and Clement of Alexandria. It is surmised that the LXX. changed the order because of some of their traditions. Many commands as to conduct towards neighbors are summed up by Moses in this love commandment in a manner somewhat similar to Paul's (Lev 19:9-18; comp. Mat_19:19 ; Mat_22:39-40 ; Gal_5:14 ; Gal_5:22-23 ). The last of the ten forbids covetousness, a passion which presents almost as broad and powerful an impulse for the breaking of all the commandments as love does for keeping them, for the love of money alone is a root of all evil ( 1Ti_6:10 ), though it is but one phase of covetousness. The truth is that covetousness gives wider scope to self-love than any other passion, and self-love is the motive which leads to all breaches of law. Love of neighbor is the opposite motive, counteracting all lawlessness, and tending to the manifestation of the perfect life. But we have no perfect example of this ideal, altruistic love save in the Christ himself. Plesion means near, close by: with the article it means "neighbor"; i. e., the near by. We readily acknowledge the one who is permanently and literally near by as our neighbor; but Christ taught us that the one who is temporarily near is also a neighbor ( Luk_10:30-37 ), and so likewise are those who are constructively near; that is, those with whom modern means of communication have made us acquainted, so that, knowing their needs, we are thereby prompted to sympathize and impelled to help-- Act_16:9-10 ]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.