“The Immediate Urgency of Love”
(Romans 13:8-14)
Series: Not Guilty!
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Henderson, KY
(11-15-09) (AM)
- Take your Bibles and join me in Romans, chapter 13.
We have been preaching our way, verse-by-verse, through the Book of Romans. That’s what we do at First Baptist, expository preaching, usually through books of the Bible, and Romans has been a delightful study. In the first 11 chapters the Apostle Paul gives us all of this rich doctrine about what it means to be forgiven before God. He tells us all about the riches of Christ and how we can be delivered from our guilt and condemnation. Then, beginning in chapter 12, Paul tells Christians how they ought to live in light of our being forgiven. So chapters 12 and 13 unfold how Christians ought to live in this world.
That is what we have studied in the previous two weeks as Brother Matt and Brother Rich preached the Word to us. I am so grateful for these two men, who can preach through texts as they both did in the previous weeks. Brother Matt taught through Chapter 12 and talked about how Christians are to love one another, focusing primarily upon loving those within the church and then Brother Rich talked about how Christians are to submit to authorities in Chapter 13:1-7. Paul now returns to the theme of love, but this time his focus is primarily upon our loving those outside the church.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
- Pray.
Introduction:
It’s probably my dad’s fault that I am influenced so much by music of the past. When I was studying this text this week there was a song that kept running through my head. My early childhood in northern California included the blessing of a backyard swimming pool and a jukebox that played a variety of music. Every once in awhile I hear a song today and it takes me back to those early years. So when I was studying this text, a text about love, a passage that basically reminds Christians that “What the world needs now is love, sweet love,” I was reminded of the song written by the king of easy listening music, Burt Bacharach. I just couldn’t get it out of my head! And now, thanks to me, several of you will have this song running through your heads today. I know you want to hear it so I’m going to play a short clip and I don’t know who’s singing, but there’s a video here that accompanies the song.
What you’re going to see is a couple of girls in Denver, Colorado who decided to live out their love for the world by offering free hugs. So they took a sign, “Free Hugs,” and held it out in a busy Denver street, hugging whoever came forward for a hug. We’ve edited out the beginning which showed a lot of people just sort of walking by trying to figure out what was going on, but then people slowly warmed up to the idea of getting a free hug. Check it out.
[Video Clip: What the World Needs Now (about 2 min.)]
I love that! Wouldn’t it be great if we could solve the world’s problems by standing on the street and just giving free hugs to everyone?! Of course our world is more complicated than that, but doesn’t it strike you that total strangers will come forward to get a hug from someone they don’t even know? There’s a yearning there for love. The same thing is seen when we travel by air. Isn’t it amazing how we can get on an airplane and sit next to a total stranger for hours and share with them stories about our personal lives, our interests, our hobbies, our family, our job? There’s a yearning there for love.
Now, I’m not suggesting that the Apostle Paul had Burt Bacharach on his mind and was humming, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love,” but Paul is teaching that Christians are to love not just one another, but everyone, including those outside the church. For Christians, love is not an option. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples:” how? Tell me church, “that you have love one for another.” The Cliff’s Notes summary phrase of this passage is, “We Must Love Others!” But let’s study this a little more closely and see how we are to love others. First:
I. We Must Love others Incessantly (8-10)
That is, continually. We must continually, repeatedly, never-endingly, love others. We must love them without ceasing, incessantly. That’s what verse 8 teaches. Look at it in your Bible:
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Now I believe in debt-free living. I mean, if it’s possible to live without being in debt, we find it is one of the most freeing and liberating ways to live, but what Paul stresses here is one area where we must continually be in debt. I mean, there is an area in our lives where we are never to be debt-free. And that is in love. He says in verse 8, “Owe no one anything except to love one another.” Love is a debt that is never paid off. Never!
When I was much younger I made a foolish purchase. This was back before I was so spiritual! I had just graduated from high school and the year was 1983 and I was enrolling at Georgia State University to study journalism. I was sort of into video and thought about a possible career making movies or something. And I went to JC Penny and I bought a video tape recorder and camera. This was back when you had a camera and a video recorder, they were two separate pieces and they had this one on sale. I forget how much it cost. But the saleslady there told me I could purchase it on credit. Well, I bought that thing on credit. I couldn’t afford it, but the sweet saleslady assured me I could. Every month the bill would come in and I could only afford to pay the interest on it each month so it took forever to pay it off! I shudder to think how much money I paid on that stupid thing before it was all over.
Now I mention that only because in a positive sense, Paul is saying that loving others is like a good debt that is never entirely paid off. Think of loving others as our paying interest regularly while the debt remains outstanding. That’s what he’s teaching here. And that means, then, that we are to love others incessantly. We never stop loving others. The debt of loving others is never paid off.
And Paul says that if we love others as we should we will, by virtue of our loving others, fulfill the law, the moral commands of Scripture, such as the 10 Commandments.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Paul’s not saying we can earn our salvation by keeping the Law. He has made that crystal clear in chapters 1-11. Remember back in Romans 3:20, “By the deeds of the law shall no man be justified.” We cannot keep the Old Testament Law perfectly. This is why we need Christ. Jesus fulfilled the Law for us. We live out by grace what Jesus did for us perfectly. We live out the law for the glory of God, not to “get saved,” but because we “are saved.” So Paul is saying that living out our love is a fulfillment of the law.
Our youth have been studying this in D-Now this weekend. The theme of D-Now this weekend is “Live Love” and that’s really what Paul is talking about here. We need to live-out our love. And Paul says here that if we live out our love as we should, we fulfill the law. Another way of looking at that is like this: If everyone of us lived out our love, there would be no need for any laws. Again, if everyone of us lived out our love, there would be no need for laws. That’s what Paul is saying here in verses 9-10. See if we really love others, we’ll not commit adultery, we’ll not murder, we’ll not steal, we’ll not lie, and so forth.
I hesitate to mix metaphors and bring up another song, but in one sense the Beatles would agree here with the Apostle Paul: “All You Need is Love.” That’s what he’s saying here. If you and I love as we’re supposed to, then we’ll not need any laws.
And he says all of this is summed up in love for neighbor. Paul cites Leviticus 19:18 as the summation of his teaching, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
How do you love yourself? Well, you take care of yourself, don’t you? You feed yourself, clothe yourself, pamper yourself. Paul agrees with the teaching of our Lord Jesus. He says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Who is our neighbor? Remember that was the same question the lawyer asked Jesus in Luke 10. Jesus had just told him that the whole law was summed up in two commandments: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. The guy asks, “And who is my neighbor?” And Jesus answers by telling him the story of—what, church?—the Good Samaritan. So the point is, love like the Samaritan did, love whomever God places in your path whom you can help. Who is my neighbor? Whoever God brings to my attention that I can help. Keep your eyes open this week and you will see people all around you whom you can love. It may be an actual neighbor who lives right beside you. It may be a person at school, or at your workplace, or in your community. Reach out in love. Show kindness to whomever God brings to your attention and places in your way.
The people of Thailand are so gracious and respectful. Everyone greets one another with the phrase, “Sa-wat dee kup” and they put their hands like this and bow slightly. It is like hello and goodbye. And everywhere our mission team went people greeted one another this way. It was such a delightful greeting. Children and adults would do this before receiving a gift. Such respect! It didn’t matter that we were bumbling foreigners who didn’t speak the language. There was a genuine love there. Contrast that with our first day back in America. I stood in the line for international travelers at the Detroit airport. I watched as an Asian woman was simply trying to understand where she needed to go and watched a gruff, loud, obnoxious American security worker yell at her in a demeaning way as though she were the dumbest person on the planet. I thought, “Welcome, home!” And I also thought, “God, keep me from ever becoming like that.” We must love others incessantly. Secondly:
II. We Must Love others Immediately (11-12a)
11 And do this (Do what? LOVE!), knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Paul is using language here that stresses the urgency and immediacy of the moment. A paraphrase of verses 11 and 12 might be something like, “Don’t just meander through this life, Christian. You’ve got people to love. Wake up and get busy loving!”
Paul says to love “knowing the time.” The word for time there is the Greek word “kairos” rather than “chromos.” Chronos time is the word from which we get our English chronology. Chronos time is sequential time. Kairos time refers to a period, or season. Paul is saying, we’re living in a period or season in which it is critical that we should be loving others. There is no time to waste.
Paul says in verse 11 that we need to awake out of sleep “for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”
When Paul speaks of our salvation here he is talking about our final salvation, what we usually refer to as glorification. He is talking about the future. Christians are already saved, enjoying a present salvation, but we look forward to a future salvation. Our future salvation will come when Christ returns—or, some of us will enter into the beginning of a future salvation should we die before Christ’s return. In either case, the day is at hand.
And Paul’s point here in all of this is that Christians must get busy now with the business of loving people. Our lives are short. Some of us may live to be 95 or a 105 or 55 or 15. We just don’t know, but in any case, our lives are short. So Paul says, “get busy!” The way he puts it here in verse 11 is, “Wake up! Awake out of sleep!” Don’t go through the Christian life like you’re sleepwalking. Wake up. Live out your love while there is time.
I shared with our young people last night at D-Now how I have been struggling with jet lag. I used to not believe in jet lag. Brother Alan asked me before we left for Thailand how I dealt with jet lag. I said, “I’ve never had that.” I’m not sure I ever believed in it. But I want you to know I am now a believer! I am no longer a “jet lag skeptic.” We left a land that is 13 hours ahead of us so since I’ve been back I’ve been wide awake when I’m supposed to be tired and in a foggy cloud when I’m supposed to be awake.
Paul is saying here that too many of us are going through our Christian lives in something of a foggy cloud. It’s like we’re sleepwalking, just numbly going through the motions. He reminds us here that our lives are short. He says, “Wake up! Live out your love! There are people all around you God wants to bless through you. Don’t sleep through your life, Christian. Don’t be lulled away into entertainment, recreation, and self-gratifying lusts. Wake up! Wake up and love others while there is time.” So love others incessantly, love others immediately, and thirdly:
III. We Must Love others Intentionally (12b-14)
That is, love others purposefully, deliberately, decisively, intentionally. How? Look at the second part of verse 12:
Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Paul is using this imagery of clothing. How many of you put clothes on this morning, can I see your hands? Good! Some of you didn’t raise your hand, I’m not sure what that’s about! You got dressed purposefully and intentionally, you thought about what to wear and you put on your clothes. Paul is teaching here that living out our love requires purpose and intention. We must think about it regularly and do it purposefully.
We “cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light.” This is a bit like what Paul said at the beginning of the application section of Romans. Remember back in Romans 12:2? He said, “No longer be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That’s a bit like what he means here when he says that Christians are to “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Remember that you are different now. Remember that Christians live differently than the world. Verse 13:
13 Let us walk properly (or, honorably), as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
Paul likes to use the word “walk” there to describe Christian living. He uses the word “walk” this way 33 times in the New Testament. We use it that way today. We often say, “If you’re going to “talk the talk,” you’d better, what?—“walk the walk.” Live out your love. How? Verse 13 says, “not in revelry and drunkenness.” That’s how the world lives. You’re a Christian. You don’t live that way. Also, “not in lewdness and lust.” That phrase literally refers to sleeping around, sleeping with someone before marriage, or sleeping with someone other than your spouse. Christians don’t live that way. Don’t be lulled to sleep by popular movies, magazines, and television sit-coms that tempt you to live like the world. Paul says, that is not real love. And it isn’t. It is lewdness and lust. It is not love. There is a difference.
And then he says, “not in strife and envy.” If you are jealous of someone’s position or possessions, then you are guilty of failing to love that person. So Paul says, verse 14:
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
That phrase, “make no provision for the flesh” means to not set yourself up for sin. An alcoholic makes provision for the flesh when he buys beer and hides it in his garage. A man addicted to nicotine says, “I can quit anytime I choose,” but he buys a carton of cigarettes in case he needs them. A man tempted by internet pornography makes provision for his flesh when he surfs the internet without the aid of an internet filter. And all of these sinful habits are cheap and tawdry substitutes for the love of God and treasuring Christ above all things and they keep us from loving others as we should. We gratify our own desires rather than living for others.
Real love is what happens when we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul is simply talking here of our day-to-day Christian living. If we’ve been saved, then on one hand we have already “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” But Paul is talking about daily living, he’s talking about our purposefully and intentionally getting up every day and dressing ourselves for the day. He’s talking about our intentionally thinking each morning, “How can I bless others today by my love?” That’s what he’s talking about here.
So rather than gratifying our own desires, we focus outwardly and we think, “How can I live out my love for others today?” We back out of our driveways and we see around us all kinds of people whom we can bless. We drive to work or school or the store and we run into our “neighbors,” people God has brought to our attention. Smile at people when you pass by them. Say hello. Share the love of Jesus Christ. Reach out to people in need. Bless anyone who God brings your way, blessing them with real, Christ-like practical love.
That’s the sort of love that motivated one of our faithful men here at First Baptist. A man came up to me several weeks ago and said, “I want to give some money anonymously. Don’t tell anybody. My wife doesn’t even know. When you get over there in Thailand and Laos you may see someone who needs this. Give it to them.” It was $2,000. Now many of you don’t even know this guy. He’s a quiet, behind-the-scenes man who has a real love for Jesus Christ. So during our trip we listened to the story of how several Laotians were devastated by Typhoon Ketsana, the same storm system that ravaged the Philippines and Vietnam and Cambodia. Several people were killed in Laos and rice farms were completely obliterated and famine began to set in. But I can go back to this man now and say, “Because of your love, your gift went to feed 83 families in Laos.” See how God uses Christians to love others? He loves us and gives us a love for others so that we look outward and say, “What can I do to share the love with other people? I want to encourage you to do that this week. Love others incessantly, immediately, and intentionally.
- Stand for prayer.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work