Commengtary on Romans 13:8-14

THE NECESSITY OF CHARITY AND VIGILANCE
A Summary of Romans 13:8-14

 That which is fundamental to all our duties to all men, whether superiors or equals, is charity, the distinctive mark of the Christian. In it are summed up all the precepts of the Decalogue. There is special need for us to practice this virtue, since our lives are drawing to a close. 
 

Rom 13:8. Owe no man anything, but to love one another. For he that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law. 

 

Owe no man anything, etc., i.e., have no debt to any man, except the debt of love or charity. All other debts besides this latter can be paid finally and completely, so as no longer to exist; but the debt of charity, however constantly paid, is ever due, because it rests on God’s abiding precept and upon the relations of nature and of grace that we have in common with our neighbor. Semper autem debeo caritatem quae sola etiam reddita definet redditorem (St. Aug.). St. Thomas gives the reasons why we can never pay our debt of charity to our neighbor: “First, because we owe our neighbor love for the sake of God, whom we can never sufficiently recompense (1 John 4:21); secondly, because the motive of love always remains, being likeness in nature and grace (Ecclus 13:19) ; thirdly, because charity does not diminish, but increases by love (Phil 1:9).” 

 

He that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law, because the love of one’s neighbor is founded on the love of God (John 15:17), and the love of God implies the fulfillment of all the precepts of “the law” of Moses. Cf. Matt 22:35 ff.; Gal 5:14; 1 John 4:20, 21. 

 

Rom 13:9. For 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 comprised in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 

This verse proves that “law” of the preceding verse meant the Law of Moses, of which only certain precepts are here cited. St. Paul does not recite the whole Decalogue, but only those precepts of it regarding the neighbor which one might fail to see were involved in the general precept of charity. That he did not wish the other Commandments regarding God and the neighbor to be omitted is evident from the words, “and if there be any other commandment,” etc. The order here differs from the Hebrew text in Exod 20:13 ff.; Deut 5:17 ff.; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20. 

 

Thou shalt not bear false witness. These words are omitted in the best Greek copies, but they are included in the statement, and if there be any other commandment, etc.

 

Thou shalt love thy neighbour, etc. These words are taken from Lev 19:18, and signify that we should love all men with the same kind of love with which we love ourselves.

 

The instauratur of the Vulgate would better be recapitulatur (St. Jer., St. Aug.). 

 

Rom 13:10. The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law.

 

Summing up what he has said about charity the Apostle observes that love of our neighbour worketh no evil to the neighbour, as it is in the Greek. That over and above this negative good it works positive good to the neighbor is clear from what follows in the verse, which is a repetition of the end of verse 8. To love perfectly is to fulfil the law, because, as said above, the love of the neighbor is based on the love of God, and this, when perfect, means the fulfilling of all the precepts of the law.

 

In the Vulgate dilectio proximi should be dilectio proximo, according to the Greek.

 

Rom 13:11. And that knowing the season; that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.

 

Another reason for practicing charity is drawn from the special circumstances of time in which the Romans found themselves. The Apostle admonishes them that it is now needful that they should rise from sleep, i.e., from the state of tepidity and negligence into which some may have fallen since their conversion. The reason is because time is growing shorter for them. 

 

Our salvation, i.e., our final deliverance from earth is nearer than when we believed, i.e., than when we were converted to the faith, consequently we should lose no time, but should stimulate all our energies and increase our fervor. Every day that passes brings us nearer to death and to our eternal reward. This was certainly true of individuals, and of the whole generation whom St. Paul was addressing, but we must not thence gather that the Apostle meant to teach anything about the nearness of the Second Coming of Christ for all; he had not forgotten his teaching (11:25) regarding the conversions of the nations and of Israel, which were surely far off”. The “salvation” of the Christians began with their conversion, and its final glorious consummation is drawing nearer every day. This fact the Apostle makes use of here to rouse the faithful from tepidity and negligence, and to stimulate them to vigorous and spiritual effort. Beyond this his argument at present does not go. 

 

Rom 13:12. The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. 

 

The night is passed, i.e., our course in this world of darkness and sin is far advanced (προεκοψεν). The night began with the sin of Adam, but the day of salvation dawned with the death of Christ. This day, already shedding its light over the world, and cheering the Christians in particular, will reach its meridian later on in the final glorification of our souls and bodies (5:9; 2 Tim 4:18). Since, therefore, we are living in the daylight of redemption, we should conduct ourselves as children of light and put aside all sins, because these are works of darkness (5:13; John 3:20; Eph 6:12) and lead to eternal night; we should put on the armour of light, i.e., the armor of Christian virtues, and war against evil (1 Thess 5:8; Eph 6:11 ff.; 2 Cor 10:4 ff.). 

 

Rom 13:13. Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy:

 

In this verse the Apostle is showing how different should be the conduct of Christians from the practices of pagans. The vices he enumerates were those commonly practiced by the pagan Romans during the night at their feasts and banquets. The Christians, then, who are living in the bright day of redemption, should be adorned with all virtues and should live and act as becomes children of light, and not according to the immoral standards of paganism.

 

The first two vices here mentioned pertain to gluttony and debauchery (Gal 5:21); the second two refer to sins of luxury (Gal 5:19); and the remaining were sins against charity and one’s neighbor (1 Cor 3:3; 2 Cor 12:20; Gal 5:20). 

 

Chambering means all kinds of acts of impurity. 

 

Rom 13:14. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences.

 

Not only should the Christian put away and shun the works of darkness, but he must go further and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, i.e., he must clothe himself with the virtues, the spirit, and the grace of Christ. Already in Baptism Christians are clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27), but it is their duty thereafter to cooperate with grace and thus increase their likeness to our Lord by constantly imitating the virtues which shone in Him. 

 

Make not provision, etc., i.e., cease to provide for the flesh in the way of exciting and satisfying its unclean and perverse desires and tendencies; all necessary provision and care for the body is not here in question, except in so far as the needs of the body must not be the dominant motives in the Christian’s life.

 

It is well known that St. Augustine was converted by the reading of the last two verses of this chapter {Confess., viii. 12, 22).