7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. 8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:7-10 KJV)
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
We are taught here a lesson of justice and charity.
Justice is addressed first: “Render therefore to all their dues” (Romans 13:7)—especially to magistrates, but also to everyone we deal with. To be just is to give everyone what is rightfully theirs. Whatever we possess, we hold as stewards, and others have a rightful claim to their share. We must render to God what is His, and also to ourselves, our families, the community, the church, the poor, and all with whom we have dealings in buying, selling, and exchanging. We must do this readily and cheerfully, not waiting until the law forces us.
Paul specifies three kinds of dues:
- Taxes: “Tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom” (Romans 13:7). Most of the regions where the gospel was first preached were under Roman rule, and the people were burdened with taxes. The apostle presses them to pay what is legally due. Some distinguish between tribute, meaning fixed or regular taxes, and custom, referring to duties occasionally required. Both should be paid faithfully and conscientiously. Jesus Himself was born during a census and commanded, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21). Yet many who appear upright in other matters make little conscience of paying what they owe to government, holding the false notion that it is no sin to cheat the state—directly contrary to Paul’s rule, “Tribute to whom tribute is due.”
- Respect: “Fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor” (Romans 13:7). This sums up what we owe to magistrates and all superiors—parents, masters, and all who are over us in the Lord. It fulfills the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Leviticus 19:3 adds, “You shall fear every man his mother and his father.” This fear is not terror but loving reverence and respectful obedience. Where there is no inward respect toward superiors, outward duty will not be rightly performed.
- Debt Payment: “Owe no one anything” (Romans 13:8). Do not continue in another’s debt when you are able to pay. Give everyone what is rightfully theirs, and do not spend on yourself what you owe to others. “The wicked borrow and do not repay” (Psalm 37:21). Many feel the burden of debt but not its sin.
Next, we are taught charity: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another” (Romans 13:8). Whatever you owe in any relationship is summed up in this one continuing debt—love. Love is a debt that must always be paid and yet always owed. The law of God and the good of mankind make it so. It is not optional but commanded, for love fulfills the law—not perfectly, but substantially. Love embraces all the duties of the second table of the law (Romans 13:9), which also presuppose love for God (1 John 4:20). If love is sincere, it is accepted as fulfilling the law. God, who is love (1 John 4:16), has summed up all duty in this one short, sweet word—love—the beauty and harmony of the universe. Where love reigns, the soul is rightly shaped and prepared for every good work.
To prove that love fulfills the law, Paul gives two reasons.
First, he cites specific commandments (Romans 13:9): “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These summarize the duties we owe to others. To love our neighbor as ourselves means to seek their well-being with the same sincerity that we seek our own, though not necessarily in the same measure. Whoever loves his neighbor as himself will desire the welfare of his neighbor’s body, possessions, and reputation as his own. Upon this is built the golden rule: “Whatever you want others to do for you, do also for them” (Matthew 7:12). If human nature were not corrupted, the law of love alone would be enough to maintain peace and order without the restraints of civil law.
Paul mentions the seventh commandment before the sixth, saying first, “You shall not commit adultery.” Though adultery often claims the name of love, it is truly a violation of love as serious as murder or theft. True brotherly love seeks the good of the soul; whoever tempts another to sin or corrupts their conscience, though pretending affection (Proverbs 7:15,18), really hates them as the devil does, who wars against the soul.
Second, Paul gives a general rule: “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). Whoever is guided by love neither does evil nor plans evil against others. “Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds” (Micah 2:1). Love not only avoids wrong but seeks every opportunity to do good. It is sinful both to plot evil and to withhold good when it is within our power to give (Proverbs 3:27-29). Love therefore fulfills the law—it restrains us from evil and compels us to do good. When the law of love is written in the heart, the whole moral law is effectively fulfilled there.