THE DEBT OF LOVE (Rom 13:8-14)
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Can a person with venom on their lips and quick feet to shed blood truly love? It is possible if God gives us a new heart. This is the debt of love we owe to Jesus.
During Advent, Jesus, Paul, and the Bible urge us to love. The way to observe Advent is to love.
To love
What kind of being is a human? Paul sees people like this in Romans 3:10 and below. In Paul's view, people are simply fearless sinners.
"As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.'" (Rom 3:10-18).
To the fearless sinner, Paul advises, "Love." The law also says to love. One day, a scribe asked Jesus to summarize the law in one word (Mk 12). Jesus replied that the core of the law is to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.' The law speaks of love, Jesus summarizes it with love, and Paul also says to love. In particular, Paul elaborates on love in 1 Corinthians 13.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered... it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Can a person with "venom on their lips and swift feet to shed blood" truly love? Yet Paul urges us to love. We cannot love our neighbors as ourselves like the Good Samaritan Jesus spoke of. We cannot keep our left hand from knowing what our right hand does. We can do one or two good deeds occasionally. But as soon as we do a good deed, we boast about it. Sometimes, like the rich young man who came to Jesus, we can say that we have lived a pious life seeking 'eternal life.' But just like that young man, we cannot sell all our possessions, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. Indeed, our throats are open graves, and we fearlessly say there is no God in front of God. We have no good will. Everything that comes out of us is false and evil. We cannot love our neighbors, let alone God, and we live without even being able to love ourselves, so selfish.
So why does Paul tell us, who cannot live in love, to love? Why does Jesus say that loving others is the fulfillment of the law and urge us to love our neighbors as ourselves, even though we cannot live in love?
Reasons and Ways to Love
There is a way. There is a way for us to love. It is when Jesus Christ works in us. It is when Jesus acts in our hearts. It is when Jesus captures our souls. That's when we can live in love. One day, Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say I am?" The disciples eagerly tell him the rumors. "Some say you are John the Baptist." "Some say you are Elijah." "No, some say you are Jeremiah." Jesus asks again, "Then who do you think I am?" Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the living Son of God." Peter gave a great answer. But Jesus tells Peter, "You answered well, but it is not because you said so. The Father in heaven made you answer that way." This is it. Peter still does not know Jesus well. Matthew 16:16 is not because he knew Jesus well that he confessed so. It is not because he happened to catch a rat while the cow was backing up. It is because, as Jesus said, God revealed it to Peter. To be more precise, God put the words "You are the Christ, the living Son of God" on Peter's lips. Jesus tells us to love, and Paul also says to love in the main text, because Jesus first loves us, teaches us to love, and helps us to love. Our will to do good and love cannot overcome the dark night. Nevertheless, as the text says, "The night is far gone; the day is at hand."
In fact, there is a reason why Paul encourages love. In the first part of Romans, Paul reveals how evil (sinful) humans are. Then, despite that, Paul reveals that God loved humanity through Jesus Christ.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:35-39).
After writing this, Paul writes a letter saying, "So let us love and live." This means that even though we live in an insufficient and selfish way, because God first loved us, as he made Peter confess, "You are the Christ, the living Son of God," God enables us to love and live. The debt of God's love makes us love. Therefore, Paul also encourages in Eph 5, "Walk in love, as Christ loved you and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (2).
The Debt of Love
Paul vividly reminds us that God has created us to love.
"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us" (Rom 5:5).
So, God's love for us does not end with him loving us, but he leads us through the Holy Spirit to 'love God and our neighbors and live accordingly.' That's why Paul also mentions the love of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit together in Romans 15:30. The Holy Spirit helps us. Because the Holy Spirit helps us, we can love our neighbors, ourselves, and God. The reason we can sometimes love our neighbors, accept our flawed selves, and rise again is not because of our own strength or will, but because the Holy Spirit within us makes it possible. The fact that we can live in love with one another because God first loved us is not only the view of the Apostle Paul, but also the confession of John who wrote the first epistle of John.
"We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen" (1Jn 4:19-20).
The authors of the Bible all realized one fact.
God loved us first.
God works within us so that we can live in love with one another.
That's why Jesus, Paul, and John all encourage us to live in love. I have seen a documentary called "Goodbye Dad." It was a documentary about a father who was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer and the moments leading up to his farewell with his family. The time left for the father was not long. It was about a year. As death approached, the father, his two children, and his wife began to say 'I love you' more often. "I love you." "I love you." "I love you." They loved each other for various reasons, for being there for each other, for getting married, for leaving behind two children, and so on. As the father's breath became more labored and his consciousness faded, he shed a tear at the words of love from his children and wife before drawing his last breath.
When the death prepared by God approaches us, what can we do, and what words will remain on our lips? It seems that God has not allowed any words more valuable than love for humans. Let us live in love. Let's not try to love those who are far away. Let's not try to save the world by loving it. We cannot save the world. Although we want to do something for our country and nation, the reality is not so. Let's just love the person next to us, the person we can love. Let's often say 'I love you' to the people we should love.