YouTube: https://youtu.be/R2amMs4J3l8

Download Audio: https://od.lk/f/MV8yOTU1MjA5OTNf
Download Video: https://od.lk/f/MV8yOTU1MjEwNTRf
Download PDF: https://od.lk/f/MV8yOTU1MjEwMzNf

Timothy: Romans 13:8-14
Fulfilling the Law Through Love

8 Do not continue to owe no one, nothing, except to love one another. For the one loving the other has fulfilled the Law.

9 For, “Do not commit adultery,” “do not murder,” “do not steal,” do not bear false witness, “do not lust,” Ex. 20:13-15, 17 and if there is any other commandment, in this word it is summed up, in the words, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Lev. 19:18

10 Love does not work evil to the neighbor. Then love is the fulfillment of Law.

11 Also this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour for you to be aroused from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.

12 The night is far gone, and the day has drawn near; then let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the weapons of the light.

13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day, not in carousings and drunkennesses, not in co-habitation and lustful acts, not in fighting and envy.

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make forethought of the flesh, for its lusts.

[Literal Translation of the Holy Bible]

Dear God, my Beloved Father, I thank You for the blessed Sabbath day You have given us, Your people. I thank You for the peace You have bestowed upon Your children, including my family. I am grateful for the Eternal Living Word of God, which provides for those who belong to You. I pray that Christ would give me new strength for my aging body every day. I pray that the Holy Spirit would lead me into all the truth of the Word of God. I am thankful for Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Dear Father, I would like to present my understanding of Romans 13:8-14.

I understand verses 8 and 9 as follows: Debt is something we owe to someone because we have taken something from them, received something from them, or harmed them in some way. We may owe each other money, possessions, or goodwill. We may owe each other duties that God has placed upon us, such as parents owing their children the duty to nurture and care for them, and children owing their parents the duty to honor and respect them.

In reality, as we live in this world, we owe many debts concerning money, possessions, goodwill, and duties. We must pay back our debts, but there is one debt that we can never fully repay: the debt to love others as ourselves. It is a debt that we must always pay, forever loving others as ourselves, as if paying an endless debt. One can only love others as oneself when they love God, for when someone loves God, His love flows through them, allowing them to love others as He loves everyone. God’s Word teaches us clearly: “The one who does not love has not known God, because God is love” (I John 4:8).

Dear Father, I understand verse 10 as follows: It is a truth that does not need proof that love does no harm to a neighbor. It is already engraved in the minds of humanity. The law of God requires us to love God above all things and love our neighbors as ourselves. For Your people in the Church, they must love their brothers and sisters in faith more than themselves, being ready to sacrifice their lives for them, just as Christ sacrificed Himself for the Church. Therefore, when someone loves You and loves others, they obey Your commandments. Obeying Your commandments is fulfilling the law.

Dear Father, I understand verse 11 as follows: The present time is the time when the Gospel is preached, the time when God the Word brings light into the world, shining on the world, helping the world to know God and the salvation of God. Through this, the world is awakened from its slumber in sin. Whoever believes and accepts the Gospel is immediately saved from the punishment of sin and the power of sin. Their soul and spirit are immediately regenerated and made anew. However, their physical body is still moving towards death before being resurrected in glory and immortality. Therefore, the salvation mentioned in verse 11 is the salvation of the physical body from the power of death. Every passing day brings Your people closer to that day of glory and happiness.

Dear Father, I understand verse 12 as follows: “Night is far gone” means that the darkness brought by sin in the world is about to end and pass away. “Day is near” means that the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven is about to appear on Earth, through the return of Christ to Earth, to destroy the sin of the world and establish the Kingdom of a Thousand Years.

Dear Father, I understand verse 13 as follows: “Walking” is the way of life for everyone. To walk becomingly means to live according to God’s Word. During the day, this means understanding God’s Word in one’s mind. To walk in carousings and drunkenness is to live a life of addiction to worldly pleasures, such as alcohol and drugs. To walk in co-habitation and lustful acts is to live a life of sexual depravity, degrading one’s body without shame. To walk in fighting and envy is to live a life that does not obey and respect one another, desiring what belongs to others.

Dear Father, I understand verse 14 as follows: Putting on Christ means leaving behind the old self and taking on the nature of Christ because one has been made a new person and has been incorporated into Him. It means living like Christ, obeying the commandments, and fulfilling the law. “Making forethought” means providing fully and in a timely manner. Lust is wanting what does not belong to oneself or what is not in accordance with God’s Word. God’s people do not obey the lusts of the flesh; instead, they discipline the flesh, forcing it to obey the spirit, as the Holy Spirit teaches in I Corinthians 9:27 and II Timothy 1:7.

Dear Father, please help me to always repay the debt of love to You and to everyone. I look forward to the day of salvation for this fleshly body so that I can enter the eternal Sabbath that You have prepared for me. I am grateful to You. Amen!

In the grace of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Timothy Christian Huynh
04/08/2023