©2002 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

5/12/02

How To Love

Romans 13:8-10

5/12/02 How To Love

 

Greetings once again, church family.

 

It has been three weeks since I was last with you.

 

A great deal has taken place in our lives since we were last together.

 

A week ago yesterday

      I officiated at our daughter, Joni’s, wedding in Seattle.

 

For those of you who are wondering,

      no, I did not, after walking her down the isle,

            then whip around and say to the congregation, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”,

                  and then whip back around next to Joni and proclaim, “Her Mother and I!”

 

Matt, my son-in-law,

      also has a father who is a pastor,

            and Matt’s dad asked the question for me.

 

Matt is in the Coast Guard,

      stationed in Seattle,

            where they will be living for the foreseeable future.

 

Sandee and I both think the world of him,

      and couldn’t be more pleased with their union.

 

I did something at the end of the wedding service

      that I have never done before -

            after pronouncing them husband and wife,

                  and just before introducing them to the congregation,

                  I added my own personal vision for their future.

 

I said,

“Now, Matt and Joni Sue, go forth

      and claim the kingdom reserved for you

            by your eternal Father.

United in His love,

      by the strength of His Spirit,

            immersing both yourself

                  and your mate in the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ,

build your future upon the rich heritage of your separate pasts,

            with your eyes fixed clearly upon your Lord,

joined now

      by the vision of the one life united

            that you will share together,

unshakeable in your commitment to one another

                  and to your Lord

until the day you stand together in His presence forever.”

 

I was a product of the chaos of th 60's.

      Many of you know those years

            only by their reputation.

 

It was a time of such tremendous turmoil in our nation,

      a time when every authority was questioned and challenged,

            a time when a generation of young people,

                  raised under the materialistic goals of those who had come out of the Second World War

                        suddenly found a very angry voice

                              and demanded something more,

something real.

 

It was a time when adults were scared,

      young people were angry and confused,

            and most of those who spoke for the church

                  had no answers whatsoever.

 

It was a time when those of us who were turning to the Lord at that point in our lives

      honestly wondered

            if we could possibly hope for another ten years.

 

Some students dropped out of school,

      convinced that it was ridiculous

            to spend the final months of their lives prior to the return of Christ

                  chained to a desk and a final exam schedule.

 

And many of us had serious questions

      about the wisdom of marrying and bringing children into a world in such chaos.

 

And now, 35 years later,

      I watch my own daughter marry

            and begin another whole cycle of life,

                  and family,

                        and future.

 

And it really hit me as I was thinking about Matt and Joni

      the endless power of our God

            to recreate redemption again and again for each new generation.

 

By the way,

      since I am wandering all over the place here,

            have you noticed the great silence

                  that now emanates

                        from all of the great prophecy gurus

who were predicting the end of the world

      back in the Y2K days?

 

Sometimes I just really love it when I’m right.

 

Two things I am certain of...

      The first is that Jesus Christ will, indeed, physically return to this world,

            and when He does

“...the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14),

and, “...justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like and ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)

 

And the second thing I know

      is that every day

            between now and when that happens,

                  that same Jesus Christ

will continue to recreate redemption,

      one person,

            one life,

                  one family at a time.

 

Of course I know that our world at present

      is in a chaotic, war-torn mess.

 

But I also know

      there are no redemptive limits

            to the power of my King,

and, just as He allowed me to officiate at my daughter’s wedding,

      He may yet allow me to do the same thing

            at the wedding of my grand-daughter.

 

In other words,

      fear of the future

            is for those who have no God.

 

But, if I remember correctly,

      we are actually suppose to be studying the book of Romans.

 

At least, we were the last time I was with you in this building nearly a month ago.

 

We are studying the final major section of the book,

      a section that begins with Romans chapter 12

            and runs through the end of the book.

 

It is a section of the letter

      used by Paul to present to us

            an overview of the 6 major principles

                  upon which the Family of God is intended to operate.

 

Our study has taken us through 3 of those six principles so far.

 

The first, found in Romans 12:1-2,

      called each of us to accept the daily battle

            of bringing our mistrained physical bodies

                  under the leadership of the new spirits God has created within us

                        by constantly renewing our minds through the truth.

 

The second principle,

      found in 12:3-21,

            talked with us about the way in which

                  God has equipped each one of us

                        with our own unique contribution to the Body of Christ.

And then, the last time we were in this study,

      we looked at the third principle,

            found in Romans 13:1-7,

                  in which Paul told us that we are called to live our Christian lives

                        in subjection to the governing authorities He has placed us under.

 

In fact, Paul went so far as to tell us

      that human governmental structures

            are “a minister of God” to us.

 

Now, this morning we move on

      to the 4th principle,

            found in Romans 13:8-10.

 

It takes Paul only 3 verses to say what he wants to say here,

      but they are three verses that,

            if we truly hear what is being said,

                  have the power to transform our relationship to ourselves,

      to one another,

            to the moral law of God,

                  and to God Himself.

 

Let me start by reading the verses,

      and then I’ll show you what I mean.

 

In Romans 13:8-10 Paul says,

ROM 13:8 ¶ Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

ROM 13:9 For this, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

ROM 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

 

OK, that first phrase, “owe nothing to anyone”

      is not talking about money.

 

Paul is not telling us it is a sin for a Christian to be in debt.

 

There are other passages in Scripture

      that tell us it is generally unwise to be in debt.

 

There are passages that tell us

      that to borrow money

            is to volunteer for slavery

                  and slavery is a really lousy way to live your life.

 

But that is not what Paul is talking about here.

 

He is talking about our relationships with the people around us.

 

And that “owe nothing to anyone” phrase

      is actually keying off of his last statement

            in his comments about our relationship to human governmental authorities.

 

In the preceding verse

      he has just said,

ROM 13:7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

 

Not only do we not have a Biblical right

      to resist those whom God places in authority over us,

            but we actually owe them a debt of honor and respect,

                  because they are the ministers of God for good in our lives.

 

But then, as Paul moves onto his 4th principle,

      he picks up this same concept

            and tells us that in reality

                  we have a debt we owe to every human being we meet -

      it is the debt of love.

 

I have heard the first phrase of this 8th verse translated, “Owe nothing to anyone, except for the debt of love which you owe to all men.”

 

That captures the heart of what Paul is saying.

 

It also provides us with an interesting mirror for ourselves, doesn’t it?

 

In ourselves,

      we are sometimes so selective in those we choose to love,

            almost as though it is an honor we reserve only for the select few

                  that we consider worthy.

 

Paul wants us to know

      how distorted our natural flesh tendencies are.

 

Because every one of us bears within us

      the imprint of God Himself,

because every one of us

      is a unique creative work of God,

and because each one of us is the beloved of God Himself,

      we owe to each person we meet

            a debt of love and respect.

 

But it is the second phrase in that 8th verse

      that contains such revolutionary power.

 

“...for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”

 

And then,

      just so that there can be no misunderstanding about what he’s just said,

            Paul goes right back into it

                  and begins listing the moral commandments of God.

 

You shall not commit adultery,

You shall not murder,

You shall not steal,

You shall not covet,...

 

Do you know what those are?

      Those are part of the 10 Commandments

            given by God to Moses

                  for the nation of Israel.

 

Now look at this.

 

Since the beginning of creation

      we human beings have viewed the commandments of God

            as being simply a list of nonnegotiable requirements

                  given to us by our Creator

                        that we must fulfill

                              in order to keep on good terms with Him.

 

Here is God...

      here is the list of commandments He has given us,

            and here we are,

                  being measured by Him

                        on the basis of how well we do in keeping that list.

 

This perspective is so much a part

      of the way we think as human beings,

            that even after we come to Christ,

and even after we are told by Him

      that all of our sin is gone forever,

            nailed to the cross of Christ,

and even after we are told

      that we “... have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter...”

            still we instinctively begin every interaction with our King

                  from the “list mentality”.

 

But then, when Paul reveals to us

      the true nature of our walk with God through Christ,

            at the very heart of that presentation

                  he reveals to us

                        what we could never see before.

 

He tells us

      that, from the very beginning,

            all of those commandments

                  were given to us by God

to describe to us how healthy human relationships are built and maintained.

 

Not only was this not

      just some arbitrary list of things God wanted us to do,

            but in reality

                  those commandments were actually

the perfect description

      of what it means to love another human being.

 

To love another human being,

      to truly love them

            is to act toward them in a way that is exactly consistent with the moral commandments of God.

 

To act toward another person

      in a pattern that is consistent with the moral laws of God

            is to love them.

 

And let me see if I can pull together what I see happening here

      by sharing with you

            the three things I see God giving us in this passage.

 

1. First of all, he is giving us

      a totally new way of evaluating

            what’s really going on in our walk with God.

 

Instead of looking at the list,

      any list of any moral or religious duties,

            he calls us to look at the relationships in our lives.

 

And, rather than asking, “Have I kept the list?”,

      he calls us to ask, “Have I chosen to act in love toward those God has placed in my life this day?”

 

Have I paid to them

      the debt of love I owe them?

 

Have I shown them respect?

      Have shown them kindness,

            and patience,

                  and compassion?

Have I protected their dignity

      as a fellow child of God?”

 

One of Paul’s purposes here, of course,

      is to forever shatter the hideous lie of man-made religion to blind us to the truth.

 

Religion forever calls us to look at the list

      and through the list

            blinds us to the truth.

 

Several years ago a got into a conversation

      with a deeply sincere Christian man

            who was watching his family

                  being shredded by his wife’s pursuit of God.

 

I asked him to describe what was happening.

It began with special meetings,

      and then, through those special meetings,

            her involvement in certain “deeper experiences with God”.

And the more she experienced,

      the more time she invested,

            and the more critical and dissatisfied she became with her husband

                  because he wasn’t moving ahead with the great things that were happening.

 

As I listened to him talk,

      I saw the lie once again -

the wife believing there was some external list of duties and experiences

      that could be used to measure spirituality.

 

And it was all a lie.

 

True spirituality,

      true maturity,

            true Godliness can only correctly be measured

by how a person chooses to relate to those God has given him.

 

When I want to know the quality of a man’s walk with God,

      I don’t look to see how many times he made it to church,

            I look at how he treats his wife,

                  and his children,

                        and his fellow workers.

 

And the first thing Paul is offering us here

      is a new question with which to evaluate the true nature of our own personal morality-

            not how have I done on the basis of my list,

            but how am I relating to the people God has given me?

 

2. Second, in this passage

      Paul is giving us the most remarkable insight

            into how the deepest needs in our lives can be met.

 

Every one of us enters this world

      in emotional isolation

            both from God

                  and from those around us.

 

Our own sin

      and the sense of shame it brings

            causes us to respond exactly as Adam and Eve responded when they sinned.

 

They hid.

 

And we hide, too,

      from God,

            and from those around us.

 

And yet, the greatest need we will ever have

      is the need for love -

            first for the love of our God,

                  and then for the love of our fellow human beings.

 

In these verses

      Paul is revealing to us

            tremendous insight into how true, durable love relationships can be built.

 

Do you have someone in your world

      where the relationship really matters?

Someone where,

      if you could,

            you would want to build with them

                  a relationship that would last forever?

 

How do you do that?

      You begin by relating to them

            in a way consistent with the moral commandments of God.

 

No deception,

      no sexual games,

            no dishonesty,

                  no using them for our own pleasure or our own gain...

 

Making our relationship with them

      more important to us

            than our rights,

                  our things,

                        or our ideas.

 

And in the most amazing ways

      as we give them love,

            we find our own deepest needs being met.

 

3. And then, finally, I see Paul offering us in these three verses

      a great weapon against the lies of Satan in our life.

 

He is called the accuser of the brethren,

      a title that captures perfectly

            his primary strategy against the people of God.

 

What he wants most of all

      is to keep us forever in a state

            of self-doubt and anxiety in our relationship with God.

 

The last thing he wants

      is for us to seriously entertain the thought

that now, “...having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand...”

 

He wants us to forever live in fear

      and anxiety,

            wondering if we have done enough,

                  fearing there is still something more our God requires of us.

 

And to those lies

      Paul offers this truth: ...he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

 

There is no hidden list,

      no secret agenda,

            no further religious duty we must fulfill.

 

When we evaluate ourselves,

      all we need do is to look at our actions

            toward those around us.

If those actions are consistent with the moral laws of God,

      then we are not just righteous in spirit,

            but we are truly righteous in deed as well.

 

ROM 13:8 ¶ Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

ROM 13:9 For this, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

ROM 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.