Romans 13:10-11

 

 

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Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law  (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: e agape to plesion kakon ouk ergazetai; (3SPMI) pleroma oun nomou e agape.
Amplified: Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.
(Amplified Bible - Lockman)
NLT: Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God's requirements. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: Love hurts nobody: therefore love is the answer to the Law's commands (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: The aforementioned love does not work evil to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of law. (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

ROMANS ROAD
to RIGHTEOUSNESS
Romans
1
:18-3:20
Romans
3:21-5:21
Romans
6:1-8:39
Romans
9:1-11:36
Romans
12:1-16:27
SIN SALVATION SANCTIFICATION SOVEREIGNTY SERVICE
NEED
FOR
SALVATION
WAY
OF
SALVATION
LIFE
OF
SALVATION
SCOPE
OF
SALVATION
SERVICE
OF
SALVATION
God's Holiness
In
Condemning
Sin
God's Grace
In
Justifying
Sinners
God's Power
In
Sanctifying
Believers
God's Sovereignty
In
Saving
Jew and Gentile
Gods Glory
The
Object of
Service
Deadliness
of Sin
Design
of Grace
Demonstration of Salvation
Power Given Promises Fulfilled Paths Pursued
Righteousness
Needed
Righteousness
Credited
Righteousness
Demonstrated
Righteousness
Restored to Israel
Righteousness
Applied
God's Righteousness
IN LAW
God's Righteousness
IMPUTED
God's Righteousness
OBEYED
God's Righteousness
IN ELECTION
God's Righteousness
DISPLAYED
Slaves to Sin Slaves to God Slaves Serving God
Doctrine Duty
Life by Faith Service by Faith

Modified from Irving L. Jensen's excellent work "Jensen's Survey of the NT"

LOVE DOES (absolutely) NO WRONG TO A NEIGHBOR (literally "one who is near"): e agape to plesion kakon ouk ergazetai (3SPMI): (evil Mic 2:1) (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Love (26) (agape from agapáo =  love) (Click for in depth study on agape) means unconditional, sacrificial love. Agape is the love that God is and in that sense is divine love. It is the quality of love that is commanded by God, empowered by His Spirit, activated by personal choice of our will, not based on our feelings toward the object of our love and manifested by specific actions (see esp 1Cor 13 - see notes 1Cor 13:4; 13:5; 13:6; 13:7; 13:8)

William Barclay writes that agape is...

 

Unconquerable benevolence = nothing the other person can do will make us seek anything but their highest good. Though he injure us and insult us, we will never feel anything but kindness towards him. That quite clearly means that this Christian love is not an emotional thing. Agape is not only not of the emotions, but it is of the will. It is the ability to retain unconquerable goodwill to the unlovely and the unlovable, towards those who do not love us, and even towards those whom we do not like. Agape is that quality of mind and heart which compels a Christian never to feel any bitterness, never to feel any desire for revenge, but always to seek the highest good of every man no matter what he may be. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos)

Agape love is not sentimental or emotional but is obedient, being an manifestation of the act of one's will that desires another's highest good.

Agape is unconditional so that if given and not returned then you don't stop giving it.

Agape gives and gives and gives.

Agape takes slaps in the face and still gives even as Jesus did saying Father forgive them.

Agape is not withheld.

Agape is the badge of discipleship, the landmark of heaven, for Jesus clearly declared that "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love (agape) one for another." (Jn 13:35)

Tertullian described the love of the early church writing that...

 

"It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. 'Look!' they say, 'How they love one another!' Look how they are prepared to die for one another."

The old adage really is true...

People do not care how much we know
Until they know how much we care.

Here Paul "personifies" love as that which does no harm to its neighbor. An understatement! But this in a sense restates the prohibitive commands  ("shall not's") in Ro 13:9. It is a sin not only to devise evil against your neighbor, but also to withhold good from those to whom it is due [cp Pr 3:27] Who is our "neighbor"? According to Christ, any other man irrespective of race or religion with whom we live or we chance to meet & especially anyone in need (Lu 10:36-37)

Does (2038) (ergazomai from érgon = work) means to engage in an activity involving considerable expenditure of effort

No (3756) (ou) signifies no, and expresses full, absolute and objective negation.

Wrong (2556) (kakos) means evil, bad, destructive, damaging, unjust. It is basically, a lack of something. It describes something as it ought to be. Morally kakos describes a person characterized by godlessness or evil,

Neighbor (4139) (plesion from pélas = near, near to) literally means near, quite near, nearby = position quite close to another position. Figuratively, plesion means to be near someone and thus be a neighbor.

LOVE THEREFORE IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW: pleroma oun nomou e agape: (8; Matthew 22:40)

Therefore (3767) (oun) introduces a logical result or inference from what precedes. In the present context it introduces a consequence of loving one's neighbor.

Fulfillment (4138) (pleroma from pleroo = make full, fill, fill up) means fullness, full measure, abundance, completion or what fills. It describes a full measure with emphasis upon completeness.

Loving your neighbor is the fullness of the Law. This love is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) Love for God and for your neighbor is the highest motive for obedience. Love does what is right and just and seeks the best for others. By nature, we do not have this kind of love (see note Titus 3:3); the Lord gives it to us (see note Romans 5:5) (Paul prayed for this righteous "seed" of "love" which all believer's possess positionally to bear fruit experientially when he prayed for the Philippians in (see note Philippians 1:9; 1:10; 1:11). To love others with the love that Christ exhibited (Jn 3:16) is His new commandment (Jn 13:34). And when His love in us in present and dynamic, we are enabled to keep all of the other commandments (Jn 14:15). Love promotes obedience from the heart (see note Romans 6:17).

G Campbell Morgan writes that...

Here again is a simple statement of a most profound truth, and its apprehension will correct many mistakes. Man is at least inclined to think of law and love as being antagonistic. We have heard John's Words, "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ," so recited as to give the impression that there was radical difference between them. Indeed, over and over again a "but" is introduced between the two parts of the one declaration. There is no differ­ence. The only distinction is that law tells us what to do, and grace enables us to do it. Thus not only is there no antagonism between love and law, there is no separation between them. Law is an expression of love. To understand that, is to realize that love is also the fulfilling of law. Paul's method of showing this is most simple and most conclusive. It is impossi­ble to sin against our fellowmen if we love them; or we may say that every sin we commit against them is due to some cooling or failure of love. Love is the most vigilant and severe sentinel of all our actions. It is the only motive strong enough to make us true under all circum­stances and at all times. Fear will carry us far, but under stress of fierce temptation it will break down. Love will carry us all the way, and leave us still desiring better things than we have ever attained. (Morgan, G. C. Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible).

 

Romans 13:11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed(NASB: Lockman)

Greek: Kai touto eidotes (RAPMPN) ton kairon, hoti ora ede humas ex hupnou egerthenai, (APN) nun gar egguteron hemon e soteria e hote episteusamen. (1PAAI)
Amplified: Besides this you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time now for you to wake up out of your sleep (rouse to reality). For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ, the Messiah).
(Amplified Bible - Lockman)
GWT: "You know the times <in which we are living>. It's time for you to wake up. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first became believers."
NLT: "Another reason for right living (Ed: "and radical loving") is that you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: "Why all this stress on behaviour? Because, as I think you have realised, the present time is of the highest importance - it is time to wake up to reality. Every day brings God's salvation nearer." (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: And this, knowing the strategic season, that it is an hour now for you to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

AND THIS DO: Kai touto:


Do what? In context Paul is referring to what he has just emphasized - LOVE.

 

We are never to stop offering our bodies as a living & holy sacrifice acceptable to God (see note Romans 12:1).

 

Loving and living wholeheartedly for Christ should be our primary objectives in view of the brevity of time.

 

Did you notice all of the time phrases that Paul compacts into just a few verses?

"the time...already the hour… now salvation is nearer… night is almost gone… day is at hand" 

 

Clearly Paul is expressing an urgency. Time is limited, opportunity is brief. The time to heed and to obey is now. There is no time for apathy, complacency, or indifference. I have a plaque my wife had made for me several years ago which says:
 

 Tempus fugit
Carpe diem
Coram Deo

Time flies.
Seize the day.
Before the face of God


Calvin comments that Paul...

"...enters now on another subject of exhortation, that as the rays of celestial life had begun to shine on us as it were at the dawn, we ought to do what they are wont to do who are in public life and in the sight of men, who take diligent care lest they should commit anything that is base or unbecoming; for if they do anything amiss, they see that they are exposed to the view of many witnesses. But we, who always stand in the sight of God and of angels, and whom Christ, the true sun of righteousness, invites to his presence, we indeed ought to be much more careful to beware of every kind of pollution.

Ray Stedman adds

"A Christian faith that doesn't change your life isn't worth a 'snap of the finger,' but when Christ changes a heart and a life, the change that he makes is going to affect everyone around you! This is really the theme of what we have in Ch12-16 of Romans. It is a picture of a Christian 'up to his ears' in life. The result of a truly Christ-like life, lived out in the world, is going to be that some around you will be upset by the way you act. You will be upsetting some and comforting others. As someone has said, "The ministry of a Christian is to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable."

KNOWING THE TIME: eidotes (RAPMPN) ton kairon: (Isaiah 21:11,12; Matthew 16:3; 24:42-44; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3)

Knowing (1492) (eido) literally means perception by sight (perceive, see) as in Mt 2:2 where the wise men "saw His star". The meaning of eido is somewhat difficult to convey but in general this type of "knowing" is distinguished from ginosko (and epiginosko, epignosis), the other major NT word for knowing, because ginosko refers to knowledge obtained by experience or "experiential knowledge" whereas eido often refers to more intuitive knowledge, although the distinction is not always crystal clear.

Eido is not so much by experience as an intuitive insight that is "drilled into your heart" so to speak. Eido is that perception, that being aware of, that understanding, that intuitive knowledge that only the Holy Spirit of God can give. It is an absolute knowledge, a knowledge that is without a doubt.

The time -

Time (2540) (kairos) means a point of time or period of time, time, period, frequently with the implication of being especially fit for something and without emphasis on precise chronology. It means a moment or period as especially appropriate the right, proper, favorable time (at the right time).

Kairos can refer to a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for or a strategic point in time.

Kairos speaks of a limited period of time, with the added notion of suitableness ("the suitable time", "the right moment", "the convenient time"). Kairos refers to a distinct, fixed time period, rather than occasional moments.

Kairos is not so much a succession of minutes (Greek chronos 5550), but a period of opportunity. Chronos refers to chronological time, to clock time or calendar time, to a general space or succession of time. Kairos, on the other hand, refers to a specific and often predetermined period or moment of time and so views time in terms of events, eras, or seasons, such as the times of the Gentiles (see below) In other words, kairos defines the best time to do something, the moment when circumstances are most suitable, the psychologically "ripe" moment.

In rhetoric kairos is "a passing instant when an opening appears which must be driven through with force if success is to be achieved." (E. C. White, Kaironomia p. 13)

Kairos is used 86 times in the NT in the NASB (Mt 10x; Mk 5x; Lu 12x; Jn 3x;Acts 9x; Ro 6x; 1Co 3x; 2Co 2x;Gal 3x; Ep 4x; Col 1Th 2x;2Th; 1Ti 3x; 2Ti 3x; Titus; Heb 4x; 1P 4x; Rev 5x) (If you have the time and the inclination, a study of these uses - remembering to read them in context -  will give the reader a blessed insight into the nuances of meaning of kairos) and is translated as: age, 1; epochs, 2; occasion, 1; opportune time, 1; opportunity, 3; proper time, 5; right time, 1; season, 1; seasons, 4; short, 1; time, 54; times, 11; while, 1.

Kairos is found some 252 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Gen. 1:14; 6:13; 17:21, 23, 26; 18:10, 14; 21:2, 22; 29:34; 30:20, 41; 38:1; Exod. 8:32; 9:4, 14; 13:10; 23:14f, 17; 34:18, 23f; Lev. 15:25; 23:4; 26:4; Num. 9:3, 7, 13; 14:9; 22:4; 23:23; Deut. 1:9, 16, 18; 2:34; 3:4, 8, 12, 18, 21, 23; 4:14; 5:5; 9:19f; 10:1, 8, 10; 16:6, 16; 28:12; 31:10; 32:35; Jos. 5:2; 11:10, 21; Jdg. 4:4; 10:8, 14; 11:26; 12:6; 13:23; 14:4; 21:14, 22, 24; 1 Sam. 1:20; 4:20; 9:16; 20:12; 2 Sam. 11:1; 20:5; 23:5; 1 Ki. 11:4, 29; 15:23; 16:22; 18:29; 2 Ki. 4:16f; 8:22; 16:6; 18:16; 20:12; 24:10; 1 Chr. 9:25; 11:11, 20; 12:32; 21:28f; 29:30; 2 Chr. 7:2, 8; 8:13; 15:5; 16:7, 10; 21:10, 19; 25:27; 28:16; 30:3; 35:17; Ezra 5:3; 8:34; 10:13f; Neh. 4:22; 6:1; 9:27; 10:34; 12:17; 13:21, 31; Est. 2:12; 4:14, 17; 8:12; 10:3; Job 5:26; 19:4; 38:32; 39:1, 18; Ps. 1:3; 4:7; 10:5; 21:9; 31:15; 32:6; 34:1; 37:19, 39; 69:13; 71:9; 75:1; 81:15; 102:13; 104:19; 106:3; 119:20, 126; Prov. 5:3, 19; 6:14; 8:30; 17:17; 18:1; Eccl. 3:1ff, 11, 17; 7:17; 8:5f; 9:8, 11f; 10:17; Song 2:12; Isa. 9:1; 18:7; 30:8; 33:2; 38:1; 39:1; 49:8; 50:4; 60:22; 64:9; Jer. 2:27f; 3:17; 4:11; 5:24; 6:15; 8:1, 7, 15; 10:15; 11:12, 14; 14:8, 19; 15:11; 16:21; 18:23; 46:21; 50:4, 16, 20, 26f, 31; 51:6, 18; Lam. 1:15, 21; 4:18; Ezek. 4:10f; 7:7, 12; 12:27; 16:8; 21:25, 29; 22:3f, 30; 35:5; Dan. 2:8f, 21; 3:7f; 4:1, 16, 23, 25f, 32, 36; 6:10, 13; 7:12, 22, 25; 8:17, 19; 9:25ff; 11:6, 13f, 24, 27, 29, 35, 40; 12:1, 4, 7ff, 11; Hos. 2:9; Joel 3:1; Amos 5:13; Mic. 2:3; 3:4; 5:3; Hab. 2:3; 3:2; Zeph. 3:16, 19f; Hag. 1:2, 4) and the first use in the OT gives good sense of the meaning of kairos...

Genesis 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons (kairos), and for days and years. (Comment: Even our English dictionary definitions give us the sense of kairos in definitions of season as  period of the year characterized by or associated with a particular activity or phenomenon or a a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature. When the season is past, it is over. Yes it returns the next year but for that year it is past. That is the idea of kairos - when the time has passed, one cannot go back and retrieve that time.)

Genesis 17:21 "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season (kairos) next year."

Genesis 21:2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time (kairos) of which God had spoken to him.

Psalm 1:3 And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season (kairos), And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. (Comment: The soil of this man's heart is prepared by his godly conduct and his continual delight in and meditation upon the Law of the Lord, so that he is ready to bear fruit when the opportunity presents itself).

Psalm 31:15 My times (kairos) are in Thy hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

Psalm 34:1  I Will bless the LORD at all times (kairos - every opportunity!); His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 37:39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time (kairos) of trouble.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is an appointed time (chronos) for everything. And there is a time (kairos) for every event under heaven-- 3:2 A time (kairos) to give birth, and a time (kairos) to die; A time (kairos) to plant, time (kairos) a time to uproot what is planted. (In verses 4-8 there are 19 more uses of kairos all for the word "time"!)

Vincent writes that kairos

"implies a particular time; as related to some event, a convenient, appropriate time; absolutely, a particular point of time, or a particular season, like spring or winter." (Vincent, M. R Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol. 1, Page 3-70)

TDNT writes that kairos

"has the sense of a “decisive moment,” again with positive, neutral, or negative implications, though the positive one of fortune is the most common. Fortune in this sense is not fate, but the chance that must be boldly grasped...a cult of the god Kairos is also found...a statue of Kairos by Lysippos, (depicted a naked young man) with winged feet poised (prepared, ready, all set)… His only attribute apart from the winged feet was a striking hair-style, a lock at the front with short hair behind.” The latter characteristic confirms the fact that even religiously Kairos originally had the character of decision, since the lock of hair is a symbol that one must take the favorable opportunity by the forelock, so that even religiously a summons to action is implied." (Ed note: See the epigram below...this annotation is not meant to condone the futility of pagan mythology but I do believe that this pagan epigram conveys a reasonable portrayal of what all Christians should seek to do - Carpe Diem - Seize the day, redeem the time,  take advantage of every kairos opportunity while there is yet time [opportunum tempus - opportunity flees] and the night is coming when no man can work.) (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W.  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans)

Epigram
On the statue of Kairos

Who ...was thy sculptor?  Lysippos.
And who are you? Kairos (opportunity) who subdues all things.
Why do you stand on tip-toe? I am ever running.
And why you have a pair of wings on your feet? I fly on the wings of the wind.
And why does your hair hang over your face? For him who meets me to seize me by the forelock.
And why is the back of your head bald? Because none may clutch me from behind, howsoe’er he desire it, when once my winged feet have darted past him.

Application: As someone has well said “Seize your opportunities as they come.” God presents believers with all kinds of opportunities and one of the tragedies of life is that we so often fail to even see them (unconfessed sin being a great impediment to spiritual vision), much less to grasp them for our good and God's glory.

An old adage says

“There are three things which come not back—the spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity.”

Dearly beloved, making the most of your time is another way of saying you are to make the most of your opportunities—opportunities that can be passed and be your loss or can be grasped and bring God glory. O Lord,

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom." Amen. (Ps 90:12)

Ponder this quote by Horace Mann as you study the meaning of kairos...

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset,
Two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes.
No reward is offered,
For they are gone forever.
 

Charles Hummel wisely warned that...

 

Our greatest danger in life is in permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important.


Modern day believers need the resolve and focus of George Whitfield who when asked what he would do if he knew Christ would return in three days replied

 

"I would do just what I have scheduled to do."

 

Read the following poem by Jarvis Anderson entitled "Unfinished Cathedral"...


The query comes: How long is Life?
Threescore and ten, the Good Book reads,
Is time enough for men to write
The record of his life in deeds.

Threescore and ten—how fast they fly!
Threescore and ten—they're almost gone!
And I, who dreamed of castles high,
Have only laid the cornerstone.

 

William Manning gives us good advice as we study kairos noting that...

 

The chief value of an anniversary is to call us to greater faithfulness in the time that is left.
 

Believers need to be like the converted Hindu who upon being given a Bible and a clock said

 

"The clock will tell me how time goes, and the Bible will tell me how to spend it."

 

Paul J Meyer declared that...

 

Most time is wasted, not in hours, but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately kicked over.

 

A Tiny Little Minute
Just a tiny little minute.
Sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me;
Didn't ask it,. didn't choose it.
Yet, it's up to me to use it;
Must give account if I abuse it.
Just a little minute.
ANONYMOUS


John MacArthur adds that...

 

"Wisdom numbers the days, sees the limited time, and buys the opportunity. Don’t be foolish—shun opportunities for evil, but seize opportunities for good." (MacArthur, J. Strength for Today. Nov 26. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books)

Kairos (according to Bauer and Gingrich) is one of the chief eschatological terms in the Bible - kairos is supremely God’s time. For example, Luke records Jesus' prophecy that the Jews would

"fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times (kairos) of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Lk 21:24)

Here kairos refers to a period (the origin and termination of which are not agreed upon by all scholars) which appears to begin with the time of Nebuchadnezzar's sacking of Jerusalem and will end with the final battle against Jerusalem during Daniel's Seventieth Week (Click timeline and tabular overview of God's Plan for Jerusalem in Scripture. Note especially the chart at the bottom of the page and the section entitled "The Times of the Gentiles" that ends with "Prophetic Peak #3")

As a parenthetical comment it is interesting to note that our Lord's words will be fulfilled literally when this specific kairos time has run its course. Down through the centuries from the time of the Savior’s words, Jerusalem has been largely controlled by Gentile powers. Emperor Julian the Apostate (331–363AD) sought to discredit Christianity by disproving this prophecy of the Lord. He therefore encouraged the Jews to rebuild the temple. They went to the work eagerly, even using silver shovels in their extravagance, and carrying the dirt in purple veils. But while