Owe no one anything, unless to love one another for he that loves another has fulfilled the law.
Paul has just told believers to give everyone what is due to them. Verse 8 turns that round: close every account you can, and keep one open for life.
From dues to one open account
Paul gathers every kind of debt under one rule, then sets one debt apart from the rest.
The Christian's FriendPaul sums up every possible kind of obligation and states the principle the believer should act on. He goes on, "Owe no one anything, except to love each other." This takes in every form of debt. Love, then, if we may use the word, is an obligation you never pay off. More than that, it is the "fulness" of the law.
Not a ban on borrowing
At first glance the words sound like a ban on ever taking a loan. Commentators point instead to the moment a payment falls due.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe first sentence does not mean that it is wrong to borrow money. The question is about paying. If a debt is due, you should pay it exactly on time. Borrowing money in a reckless way, with no prospect of paying it back, is sinful. It has often brought great dishonour on the name of our Lord.
It shapes giving too. What you owe comes before what you give.
Jacob on GivingWe are to owe no one anything except to love one another. As the saying goes, "we must be just before we are generous." This matters greatly. We cannot give while we have not settled the just claims others have on us.
The debt you keep paying and never clear
You can settle every other account and be done with it. This debt stands in a class of its own.
William KellyThe debt of love is the only one that is legitimate and honourable. It is good among men and acceptable to the Lord. It is the debt we should always be paying, but can never pay off. Grace alone gives the power, and only that power fulfils the law. Law had constantly claimed love but never found it.
Who is owed it
Commentators differ on the reach of "one another" here. Some read it of fellow believers and see the Lord standing behind the claim.
A. PridhamThere is one load of debt the Christian has neither the power nor the wish to be free from. A firm bond holds him to a never-ending love for fellow believers, for the Lord's sake. His real creditor is the Lord Himself. His sheep are the ones appointed to receive what is due to Him.
Others take it as wide as "all men", believers and unbelievers alike.
Hamilton SmithThese verses urge us to the right conduct of the believer towards all men, whether believers or unbelievers. Because this is our conduct towards all, the law comes in here, rather than the high standard of Christianity. We are to owe no one anything except to love.
Fulfilling the law without being under it
So does love put the Christian back under the law? One writer answers by pointing to who supplies the love.
C. CrainThey should regard themselves as under the obligation of showing love to all. In doing this they are fulfilling what the law required. It demanded love, but man in the flesh has no power to meet the demand. The Spirit dwells in the Christian. With Him there is power to produce what the law required. So the Spirit's power carries out the law's requirement in the Christian. And it does this without putting him under law, either for righteousness or as a rule of life.
So which comes first — the law's demand, or the obedience?
The Christian's FriendAs another has put it in few words, "By the conduct which flows from love, the law is already fulfilled before its requirement is applied."
Where it shows
Love shows up in what we refuse to say about someone.
Hamilton SmithApart from love we may rake up something against a brother that we know has been judged, owned, and finished with, and so destroy his reputation by an idle word. In the Christian circle everyone's reputation should be safe from slander.
Summary
- Pay — the verse is about paying what is due, on time. It does not forbid borrowing. It forbids leaving just claims unmet.
- Owe — one account stays open for life. Love is the debt you always pay and never clear.
- Reach — commentators differ. Some read "one another" of fellow believers, others of all men.
- Power — the law demanded love and never got it; the Spirit produces it in a believer who is not placed under law.
- Proof — the test is ordinary: bills paid on time, and a brother's reputation safe when you speak.