Romans 13:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

'Owe no one anything, except to love one another.' The Apostle again turns to the mother of all good things, the teacher of everything said above, the creator of every virtue. He says that love too is our debt, but not like tax or tribute. It is constant. He desires that this debt should never be paid off. Rather, it should always be paid, but not in full, so that we constantly remain in debt. For this is precisely the kind of debt that must always be paid and always remain due. Having said how one must love, the Apostle also points out the benefit of love, saying, 'For he who loves another has fulfilled the law.' Do not count this a favor, since this too is a debt. You are obliged to love your brother because of your spiritual kinship with him.

Other debts, he says, pay back. But do not ever desire to pay off love. Always keep it as a continual debt. If today you show your neighbor the disposition of one who loves, do not imagine that tomorrow you may neglect him. On the contrary, always think that the debt lies upon you to love your neighbor. For he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

When Paul says, 'He who loves another has fulfilled the law,' he shows that the fulfillment of the law is founded on love. So too the Lord says that the whole law and the prophets rest on these two commandments, love for God and for one's neighbor (cf. Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27). Therefore He who came to fulfill the law gave love through the Holy Spirit, so that love could fulfill what fear was unable to do. If we love another whom we regard as righteous, we cannot fail to love his image also, which shows what a righteous soul is, so that we too may become righteous. If we did not love the image of God in him, we would have no love for the man, since love is founded on the image. Yet while we ourselves are unrighteous, our love for the image is not sufficient to make us righteous.

“Owe no one anything except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the whole law.” If you lend something to your brother and he delays in returning it, and you wish to remind him, remind him once, because forgetfulness often overtakes a man. If you have borrowed something from your brother and he, out of fear of God, does not remind you, then you yourself, as one who fears God, must not deprive him of what was borrowed. This is according to what is written: “Owe no one anything except to love one another.” Brethren, one must despise everything corruptible and care for life alone.

Remain indebted to no one for anything except mutual love. Paul wants us, as far as possible, to be at peace with all, loving the brethren and taking the lead in showing honor. He now speaks about debtors. To a person worthy of honor, whether present or future, it is fitting to return what is due. One must return it to the one from whom honor has been received. For this reason he is called a debtor. If you do not do this toward one in authority, you are proud. The same applies to a person of merit or of age. He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law given through Moses, because the new law also obliges us to love our enemies (cf. Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27, 35).

“Owe no one anything except to love one another.” This means not only that we should repay the debt of love, which must be paid before every other debt, but also that by this repayment we should increase love. Repayment increases the debt many times over and makes love more fervent. “For he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Why, and in what way? See Rom 13:9.

'He who loves another has fulfilled the law.' In His teaching, Jesus Christ revealed that the whole Law is summed up in the commandments to love God and one's neighbor (Mt 22:40). The Evangelist John proved that love for God itself finds confirmation and fulfillment in love for one's neighbors (1 Jn 4:10). Here the Apostle Paul directly calls love for one's neighbor the fulfillment of the Law. He naturally presupposes that without love for God there can be no true love for neighbors. Later, in verse 10, the Apostle unfolds this meaning of love still further. He does so from the ground that love does no evil to a neighbor, while all laws are given to restrain man from evil. Precisely in this lies the superiority of the New Testament. It points out the highest principle, that guide by whose help man attains the perfect fulfillment of the Law, the perfect refusal to do evil. This principle is love.

Lest anyone think that only superiors must be respected, the Apostle teaches that one must be attentive to all. One must relate to all with love, expressing this love by fulfilling all the duties of common life and avoiding the vices opposed to them, such as theft, murder, and every evil deed in general. Saint John Chrysostom dwells especially on the Apostle's teaching about love. He praises it in this way, and at the same time shows its relation to all deeds and to virtue in general: 'The Apostle again turns to the mother of good things, the fulfiller of every virtue, to love. He says that it is our debt, not a temporary one, but a perpetual one. The beginning and end of virtue is love. It is the root and the necessary condition, and it is the summit of virtue.

Before this he showed that officials, whatever authority they bear, must be given what is due, each according to his rank. The question arises: what is due in relation to other fellow citizens? 'Owe no one anything, except to love one another.' Here regard love as your unpaid debt. Pay the poll tax or land tax, pay the customs duty, and you are free. But count love as a perpetual debt. Always pay it, yet never consider it fully paid. Chrysostom says: 'The Apostle again turns to the mother of good things, the fulfiller of every virtue, to love. He says that love is our debt, not a temporary one like tax or customs, but a perpetual one. He wants this debt never to be paid off. Though we always pay it, we do not pay it in full, but remain always in debt.