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Romans: The Power of the Gospel Message 136 of 150
The Debt You Never Finish Paying
Pastor Anthony King· May 24, 2026
Romans 13:8-10
A sermon on Romans 13:8-10: love is the debt a Christian never finishes paying. Biblical love goes beyond emotion, actively seeking the good of others and fulfilling the heart of God's moral law, and believers who choose to love in word, action and attitude reflect Christ to the world around them.
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
Romans 13:8
The series
Verse by verse through Paul’s letter to the church at Rome: the Gospel of God’s righteousness, from our ruin in sin to life lived as a living sacrifice.
The Christian must keep his moral accounts current by continually choosing to love others.
Love is a standing obligation you never finish paying.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.Matthew 22:37-39
Love is not something we give when we feel like it. It is a debt that we owe to others because we belong to God.
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.1 John 4:7
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Love is a natural overflow of the heart that is connected to Jesus.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.Galatians 5:22-23
The believer who genuinely loves others is fulfilling what God’s law requires.
Love does not replace God’s commandments, it’s the heart behind them.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.Matthew 5:17
While the ceremonial law is complete in Jesus, His moral law still stands.
Obedience to the law is not cold rule-keeping but active, sacrificial care for people.
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.Galatians 5:14
Righteousness is not minimized by love, it’s actually amplified.
Love refuses adultery because it values holiness and purity more than personal pleasure.
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.Hebrews 13:4
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.Matthew 5:27-28
Love does not kill, steal, lie or covet because it seeks another’s good instead of gratifying self.
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.Matthew 7:12
True love refuses to do harm, so it proves itself to be the real fulfillment of God’s law.
Love weighs every word, action, and attitude by asking, “Will this harm my neighbor?” and refuses anything that would.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.Ephesians 4:29
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.James 3:17
Love is active goodness, not a vague feeling. So, love steps in to meet real needs instead of shutting its heart to a brother in need.
But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.1 John 3:17-18
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.Luke 10:33-35
Where do you obey outwardly but refuse to serve, forgive, or be inconvenienced for your neighbor?
Do you have a love for God without holiness and righteousness? Love honors His standards. Love for Him requires obedience.
Take up one specific “debt of love” this week by choosing a neighbor, coworker, or friend. Intentionally do spiritual and practical good to them at personal cost.
Daily ask “Will this harm my neighbor?” before decisions, posts, conversations, or purchases. Choose the path of love.
8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9For 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. 10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10
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