Love Is the Fulfilling of the Law; the Night Is Far Spent (Romans 13:9–12)

Rom. 13:9. For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

He shows how love fulfills the law. He enumerates deeds that are pursued also by civil law, and teaches that love will not permit any of these or similar deeds. He who loves his friend—can he allow himself to seduce his wife? Can he raise his hand against him or stretch it toward his possessions? Will his tongue turn to utter lies against him? Will his heart be moved with desire for anything belonging to his friend, or to envy him? And he will not permit himself any other unpleasantness or harm to his friend. Thus, where love is, there are only lawful deeds—and deeds not only of righteousness but of mutual cooperation, helping, and support. The blessed Photius at Oecumenius writes: “How he who loves his neighbor fulfills the law is evident from the following. He who loves will not attempt to dissolve the marriage bond of the beloved, counsel against what is most important in life, and thereby harm him in this chief thing. But he will not arm himself with murderous hands against him, nor will he permit himself to steal anything from him, nor will he dare by any other violent means to take anything from him, because he cannot indulge the desire against what is his neighbor’s. Nothing of this sort is fitting for the lover. Nor will he give false testimony against his neighbor, nor will he swear a perjured oath to his harm. And having guarded himself by such dispositions, what other virtue will he not add to these? So he who loves his neighbor truly shows himself a faithful fulfiller of all the law.”

“and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, You shall love.”—“briefly comprehended,” ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται—is recapitulated, is subsumed under this heading: “You shall love”—and is contained in it, and in the fulfillment of it is fulfilled. Saint Chrysostom says: “The Apostle did not simply say: is fulfilled—but: ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται—that is, in this commandment all the system of commandments is briefly contained. For the beginning and end of virtue is love. It is both the root and the necessary condition; it is also the summit of virtue. And if love is the beginning and fullness, then what equals it? Nevertheless, the Apostle requires not merely love but love in the highest degree, for he did not simply say: ‘You shall love’—but he added: ‘as yourself.’”

Rom. 13:10. Love works no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The essence of love is to sacrifice oneself and everything one has for the beloved and to do for him all possible good. If such is its nature, how is it possible for it to do any evil? The Apostle brings forward this second aspect of love—that it does no ill—having in mind civil life. Civil law pursues those who violate good mutual relations, but the doing of good it leaves to each man’s conscience. Therefore, if you wish to be a correct citizen, do no evil. But to be strong enough not to do evil and to be upright before civil law, love. If you love, all civil laws will easily be fulfilled by you, and you will have nothing to fear or worry about in this respect.

Such is the thought flowing from the discourse. But if we take these words in the abstract, they express the general characteristics of love. Saint Chrysostom says: “Do you see that love has both kinds of perfection—both refraining from evil, for it is said that it ‘works no ill’—and doing good, for it is said that it is the fulfillment of the law? Love not only teaches us a summarized doctrine of what we ought to do, but also greatly facilitates the fulfillment of moral laws. It not only takes care that we know our duties (the law does this too), but also greatly helps us to fulfill these duties and accomplishes in us not just some one part of the commandments but whole virtue in all its fullness. In it is our Kingdom of Heaven, in it is the enjoyment of blessings, in it is every consolation, in it is joy, in it is gladness, in it is blessedness, and whatever I say of this good, nothing will fully express it: it is known only by experience.”

Having shown how one ought to be an upright citizen in the Christian spirit, the Apostle now protects the Romans from shameful customs that have gained currency in pagan societies. As the incentive for this, he sets forth the coming of Christ. The coming of Christ is day, while those customs are dark as night; therefore, we Christians should not follow them or take part in them. Which coming of Christ does the Apostle mean? Some suppose the second, which is to come, and others the first, which has already come. Let us accept both.

Rom. 13:11. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

“And that.” The word “that”—can be referred both to what precedes and to what follows. In the first case it will mean: and this all the more. He said: owe no one anything except love, and pointed out the reason in the fact that love itself will fulfill all that is due. Now he applies a new incentive: and this “especially because now is not the time to sleep but to be awake” (the blessed Theodoret). That is, Christ the Lord has come and enlightened us—or that He is about to come, and the day of future glorious resurrection will arrive. And in the second case it will mean: besides that, moreover even this. He said: love, and through this easily fulfill all that is lawful. Now he adds: besides that, moreover even this you must do. What is it? Knowing the time, that Christ the Lord has come and enlightened us or—that He is about to come and the eternal day will arrive—let us put aside the deeds of darkness—carousing, drunkenness, and the like. The latter better fits the flow of the discourse.

“knowing the time.” It is evident that the Apostle sets forth knowledge of the time as an incentive to conduct befitting it. And the Saviour said in rebuke to the Jews: “You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not discern this time?” (Lk. 12:56), implying that if they had understood, they would not have persisted in unbelief and opposition to Him: this understanding would have made them act quite differently. The same He said to Jerusalem at His triumphant entry into it: “If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong to your peace!”—that is, to peace, good order, salvation. But you did not know, and not knowing, you acted as you should not and thereby brought heavenly punishments upon yourself: “because you knew not the time of your visitation” (Lk. 19:42, 44)—of visitation by the Lord, not in this time alone, but in general of His coming to earth. The same the Apostle now says: “knowing the time”—being clearly conscious of what it obligates us to—and it obligates us to not sleep but to be awake—to put aside the deeds of darkness, of night.

“The time is understood as the coming of Christ. Which one? The first or the second? Understand the first, understand the second too. Both is day. In the first the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God, shone forth, and the day of the knowledge of God dawned; and in the second the bright resurrection will shine forth and the restoration of all things, and the unfailing day of blessed and eternal life will come. When you compare the first with the time that preceded it, it is day; but when you compare it with the second, it is only the dawn of day. Whichever time you understand, both thunder forth loudly to each of us: wake up, cease to sleep—like a good master crying to his sons and servants: wake up, it is time to work. Reflection and remembrance of the coming of Christ, both first and second, has always been and is the strongest incentive to turn away from evil deeds and to advance in good, to ‘awake out of sleep’ and begin to be vigilant, cast off negligence, and take up zeal for salvation and for deeds that lead to it. Saint Chrysostom, turning his thought to the second coming, says at this point: “The Apostle, having prescribed all that is needful, urges the Romans to good deeds also by the very shortness of time. The time of judgment, he says, stands already at the door. Thus he wrote to the Corinthians: “the time is short” (1 Cor. 7:29)—and also to the Hebrews: “Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37). But there he spoke in approval of the toiling and in comfort for those who had come to exhaustion from frequent trials; but here he wishes to awaken the sleeping. And indeed, this Apostolic word is useful for us in both cases. What then does this mean: “it is high time to awake out of sleep”? That the day of resurrection is near, the dreadful judgment is near, the day burned like a furnace is near; and we must now put aside negligence.” Ambrosiaster, keeping attention on the first coming, writes: ‘awake out of sleep’—means: to do good as by day, openly; for by night in secrecy are forbidden deeds usually done. We, being in the state of the enlightened, that is, in the knowledge of God, and knowing what we ought to follow, should strive in all ways to live purely and holily, having cast off the sleep of ignorance and negligence.”

“for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Keeping attention on the first coming of Christ, let us refer the words “when we believed”—to the Old Testament time, when they only hoped and awaited Christ the Saviour with full faith that He would come, but now we have already seen Him, heard Him, and touched Him. And then salvation was by faith in Him who was to come, but now it is nearer to us. Now the Saviour Himself is with us, clothes us in Himself, feeds us with Himself, and gives every divine “power that pertains to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). Therefore, it is in no way fitting for us to sleep; we must be awake and work diligently. As in working time, when the weather is good, no one allows himself sleep; all hasten to work lest they miss the favorable time: so we Christians, having such a favorable time for salvation, must strain all efforts toward doing only that which effects salvation, avoiding everything that harms it. This the Apostle teaches also the Corinthians, saying: “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain… Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:1, 2).

But evidently, this thought also leads to reflection on the second coming: if you let the time slip, the day of God’s judgment will come. What will you say then and how will you justify yourself if He finds you asleep or engaged in the dark deeds of night? Therefore Ambrosiaster writes: “It is evident that those who after the bath of the second birth in the font of baptism live well and are zealous for the works of love are not far from the glory of the promised resurrection. For good Christian life is a sign of future salvation.” But Saint Chrysostom says on these words: “Do you see how the Apostle expressed to them the approach of the resurrection? With the passage of time, he says, the present life is exhausted; and the life of the future age becomes nearer to us. If you are ready and have fulfilled all that God has commanded, then this day will be for you a day of salvation. Otherwise do not hope for this. Moreover, the Apostle persuades the Roman Christians not by representing bitter consequences, but by pointing to blessings, and thus striving to draw them away from attachment to the present. Besides, it is not surprising that at first, soon after receiving faith, when zeal was in its full strength, they were distinguished by greater fervor; but with the passage of time their zeal grew weak. Therefore the Apostle teaches that we must act in the opposite way and with the progress of time not weaken but be more inflamed. The nearer the King draws to us, the more ready we must be. The nearer the reward, the more we must stir ourselves to deeds. So those who race in running do; when they approach the finish and the receiving of the reward, then with greater zeal they strain their last strength. Therefore the Apostle said: ‘for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.’” When we believed, that is, accepted the faith of Christ, the salvation, that is, the second coming of Christ, when it will be revealed whether one is saved or not, was farther from us; but the more you live after that, the nearer it becomes, and as much as we have lived after baptism, so much nearer it has become. But until the second coming comes, for each of us the hour of death is the same as that itself. The blessed Photius at Oecumenius writes: “The Apostle calls by salvation the end of life, because then it is revealed whether one is worthy of salvation and blessedness or not.”

Such teachings are given if in the words cited we understand the second coming. But it will be more direct to understand the first coming in them, as the following words also show.

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

The words: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand”—the blessed Theodoret interprets thus: “The Apostle calls the time of ignorance ‘night,’ and the time after the coming of the Master ‘day;’ because the Sun of righteousness, having shone forth, illuminated the universe with the light of the knowledge of God.” And Ambrosiaster writes: “The Apostle called ‘night’ the old man, who through baptism becomes new. He has passed, he says, like night, and day has drawn near, in the light of which truth has been revealed to us—so that we might know what we ought to do. Before, not knowing Christ, we were in darkness; but when we came to know Him, light shone in us, because we passed from falsehood to truth.” And our other interpreters, adhering to the same thought that the Apostle here speaks of the second coming of Christ, understand by “night” the present life and the present age, and by “day” the future age; and what the Apostle says: “is far spent and is at hand,”—here is expressed that as it is appointed for one to pass away and for another to draw near, and both will certainly happen, remember that this is already so: the night is past, and day is at hand. The blessed Theophylact writes the same as Oecumenius: “‘The night is far spent,’—that is, the night soon will end. For example: suppose the night consists of twelve hours. When ten hours have passed, we say that the night is already far spent, προέκοψεν—that is, it has passed, is near its end. By night the Apostle calls the present age, because in it many are in darkness and the life of each is covered with darkness; and by day he calls the future age, both because of the brightness of the righteous and because then the secrets of all will be revealed.” And Saint Chrysostom says: “Therefore, if the night is passing away and day is drawing near, let us now occupy ourselves with the deeds of day, not of night. This is observed also in the affairs of life. As soon as we see the approach of dawn and hear the chirping of swallows, we wake each other up, even though the night has not yet passed. And when it has passed, we urge each other on, saying: day has come, it is time to dress, to put aside dreams, to shake off sleep, and to set about the deeds of day. Let day find us ready; for it is too late to rise and make ready when the rays of the sun have shone forth. So we conduct ourselves in the affairs of life; so let us behave in the affairs of the spirit. Let us abandon dreams, put aside the illusions of the present life, cast off deep sleep, and instead of clothing, let us be clothed in virtue.”

“let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Since we are enlightened by holy baptism—justified, sanctified, and clothed with grace—it is not fitting for us to do dark sinful deeds; we must cast them off, throw them away, and remove them, and instead let us put on the armour of light, that is, the virtues. Sins are dark deeds because they are done in darkness and plunge those who commit them into darkness—the darkness of ignorance, blindness, passion, and carnal sensuality. But virtues are armour of light because each virtue, becoming established in the heart, strikes down the opposite sinful passion, which cannot otherwise be struck down save by the opposite virtue corresponding to it. Virtue places a man in a bright state: he then walks before God and boldly looks upon Him, sees himself clearly and does not hide from men, boldly looks everyone in the eye. Such properties of virtue and sinfulness are reflected also in all of human nature; and those in whom the eyes of the spirit are opened see some as dark and others as bright. The angels of God, however, always see us either as bright or as dark, according to what is our inner disposition.

“The blessed Theophylact writes of this thus: “The Apostle called sinful actions the works of darkness, and virtuous actions the armour of light. By the words: “cast off and put on”—he showed the ease of both, that is, of both avoiding evil deeds and turning to virtue. Just as it is not difficult to take off one garment and put on another, so it is possible to turn away from vice and take up virtue.”—But perhaps this is said not because both are easy: for in reality both the removal of sins and passions and the clothing in virtue are accompanied by no small labor; but rather to teach that both must be done completely, in perfection, so that nothing vicious remains and, on the contrary, virtue is visible in everything, from whatever side you look upon a man.”

Ambrosiaster reasons thus: “The works of darkness are carnal life, which is led by the allurements and seductions of this age. Being dark, they are worthy of darkness, as the Lord says: ‘bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness.’ (Matt. 22:13). The armour of light, however, are good deeds. As evil deeds are put off until the darkness of night—because those who do them ordinarily do them in secret; so those who do good act openly; because they are not ashamed of their deeds but boldly and joyfully do them. Good deeds are the armour of light because they drive away the darkness of carnal passions.”

Saint Chrysostom stops attention more on the word ‘armour of light’ and encourages us to warfare for good.—“Day,” he says, “calls us to the ranks of war and to battle. But do not be frightened hearing of military ranks and armour. It is heavy and unbearable to clothe oneself in material armour; but to clothe oneself in spiritual armour is desirable and should be the object of our prayers; because this armour is the armour of light. It will make you brighter than the rays of the sun shining like lightning; it will place you in safety because it is armour; it will make you light-bearing because it is armour of light. What then? Therefore is there no need to fight? There is need to fight; but do not fear at this the trials and exhaustion. For this is not war but jubilation and triumph. Such is the nature of this armour, such is the power of the Commander! He clothed in this armour is as adorned as a bridegroom coming forth from the wedding chamber; for he is at once both a bridegroom and a warrior.”