Romans 13:8– No one owing anything except to be loving each other.

To no one owe anything except to be loving one another, for he who is loving another has fulfilled the law.

Literally translated we read in verse 8: Do not owe anyone anything. In Greek, such a double negation means to reinforce the negation. Even though debt is sometimes unavoidable, it does not alter the fact that it is a negative concept. Debt relationships are therefore never glorified in Scripture, but rather discouraged. For he who is in debt is by definition not free and “the man who borrows is a servant of the lender” (Prov.22:7).

The only debt we would have to another is to love one another. Here too, “to love” is the verb form of the Greek word for “love”: agape. That is not love that is evoked by qualities of the other (attractive, sympathetic, meritorious, etc.) but it is a love ‘free of charge’. It is the love that God has for every creature, unconditionally. That is why God’s love goes out to his enemies (5:10). This love is not based on feeling but on knowing: the other is loved by God!

Whoever loves the other in this way (so as God!) has fulfilled the law. There is nothing more. This love gives meaning to everything.

Delen: