Romans 13:8

Romans 13:8. Owe no man anything. On the connection of thought, see above. The clause is undoubtedly imperative, and the meaning is very wide, including all possible obligations to every human being, and not to be limited to a caution against pecuniary indebtedness.

Save to love one another. This is an exception which is not an exception. ‘Owe' in the first clause refers to external obligations, but from the nature of the case the obligation referred to in the second clause is a moral one, the apprehension of which will grow with exercise. The more we love, the more we will feel the claims of love. This obligation can never be paid; hence here we must ‘owe,' but we must here most faithfully attempt to discharge our obligations.

For he that loveth. This clause shows that the previous one was a command to love, irrespective of our inability to discharge the growing sense of obligation.

Another, lit, ‘the other,' the other one who is loved, in the given case.

Hath fulfilled the law. ‘In and with the loving there has taken place what the Mosaic law prescribes, namely, in respect of duties towards one's neighbor' (Meyer). Love is more than a performance of the single precepts of the law, it is the essence of the law itself. ‘It reaches those lesser courtesies and sympathies which cannot be digested into a code and reduced to rule, it adds the flesh which fills it, and the life which actuates it' (Webster and Wilkinson). The context (Romans 13:9-10) plainly shows that the Mosaic law is meant, while the whole Epistle excludes any idea of justification as based on this fulfilment. The Apostle is writing to those who love because they are justified.