Paul had previously glorified the importance of love among believers (12:9-10). Now he urged this attitude toward all people though unbelievers are primarily in view in this chapter. The connecting link in the argument is our obligations to government (v. 7) and to our fellow citizens (v. 8; cf. Gal. 5:13-15).
13:8 The NASB translation "Owe nothing to anyone"is misleading because it contradicts Jesus' teaching to loan to those who want to borrow from you (Matt. 5:42). He implied that borrowing is not always wrong. The New Testament does not forbid borrowing, only the practice of charging exorbitant interest on loans and failing to pay debts (Matt. 25:27; Luke 19:23). There are two kinds of debts: those with the lender's consent and those without his consent. It is the second type to which Paul apparently referred here. The NIV's "Let no debt remain outstanding"avoids the problem and gives the correct interpretation. Some Christians who have trouble controlling their indebtedness have found motivation for cutting up their credit cards in this verse, but Paul did not say that all borrowing is wrong.
We do have a debt that continues forever. It is our obligation to seek the welfare of our fellow human beings (cf. 8:4). The Mosaic Law required the same thing (Lev. 19:18, cf. Matt. 22:39), but it provided no internal power to love. In Christ we have the indwelling Holy Spirit who produces love within us as a fruit of His life (Gal. 5:22-23).
13:9-10 Paul again appealed to the Law to show that what he had written in verse 8 was in harmony with what God had commanded earlier. Whereas the Mosaic Law specified numerous situations in which the Israelites were to practice love, the Law of Christ contains very few. The simple principle is enough. This is an excellent example of the essentially legal character of the Mosaic Law and the gracious character of Christ's teachings. Jesus Christ gave us a model to follow in loving (John 13:34). Love promotes obedience.
"The Christian, who belongs to the New Covenant people of God, is no longer under the [Mosaic] law,' the law for the Old Covenant people of God; he is under a new law,' the law of Christ' (see Gal. 6:2 and 1 Cor. 9:19-21). And central to this new law is a command that Christ himself took from the Mosaic law and made central to his new demand: the command to love our neighbors as ourselves (cf. Gal. 6:2 with 5:13-14)."378
"What is commanded is that we are to have the same loving regard for others that we have instinctively for ourselves."379
