Lesson 30: Fulfilling the Law through Love – 13:8-14
 8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Our last lesson was about giving respect to our government – even when that government is not Godly.

Our verses today tell us that following the law of love will accomplish everything Jesus asks of us. If we follow this law of love, we will not need to ever worry about breaking one of the 10 Commandments – for His love living through us will never allow us to do this.

Verses 11 and 12 remind us again that our life here is not our purpose or goal for living. Nothing here is permanent except what we are able to store in heaven (Luke 12:22-34). Revelation 21:15-21 tells us our greatest treasures here of gold or jewels are nothing more than pavement and wall-blocks in heaven.


We must awaken from the sleep of the routine of life which wants to drive us to seek excitement in things which are not good for us. We must awaken to see Jesus working His plan where we live – in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our churches. We must awaken to work with Him while there is still time.

What does it mean to cast off the works of darkness? The darkness is anything we want for ourselves – our pleasures, our dreams, our habits, our hobbies, our goals. Light is anything that is part of God’s plan – touching others for Him, teaching them about Him, leading them to Him, loving them for Him.

Putting on the Lord Jesus, as we read in Verse 14, means we give ourselves to Him by our choice, so He can work through us to do what He wants. It is letting Jesus talk with others through us, letting Him do our jobs through us, teaching us His things through our studies at school. It means we do nothing without Him guiding us.

*How are you seeing the law of love working through you today?