Fathers

Romans 13

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Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. Therefore he who resists the authority withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light. Let’s walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

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What the Fathers say

Romans 13:10

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law." Observe how it has both virtues, abstinence from evils (for it "worketh no ill," he says), and the working of good deeds. "For it is," he says, "the fulfilling (or filling up) of the Law;" not bringing before us instruction only on moral duties in a concise form, but making the accomplishment of them easy also. …

Homily on Romans 23 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

He shows that love has both kinds of perfection. When he says that "love does no evil to one's neighbor," he indicates that it is abstention from evil, and with the words "love is the fulfillment of the law" he points out that it is the doing of good. Thus, love accomplishes in us the virtue indicated by the law, in all its fullness.

Commentary on Romans ↗

Clement of Alexandria

"God," then, being good, "is love," it is said. Whose "love worketh no ill to his neighhour," neither injuring nor revenging ever, but, in a word, doing good to all according to the image of God. "Love is," then, "the fulfilling of the law; " like as Christ, that is the presence of the Lord who loves us; and our loving teaching of, and discipline according to Christ. By love, then, the commands not to commit adultery, and not to covet one's neighbour's wife, are fulfilled, [these sins being] formerly prohibited by fear.

The Stromata Book 4 ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, the love of our neighbor works no evil, he clarifies his proposition with the following syllogism: One who loves his neighbor does no evil to him. But the aim of every precept of the law is abstention from evil. Therefore, one who loves his neighbor fulfills the law. That love of neighbor does no evil is gathered from 1 Corinthians: love does not work injury (1 Cor 13:4). No matter how evil is taken here, whether for evil acts or omissions, it could refer not only to negative precepts but also to affirmative. …

Commentary on Romans ↗

Bernard of Clairvaux

No one is saved without knowledge of himself, from which indeed the mother of salvation, humility, arises, and the fear of the Lord, which itself, just as it is the beginning of wisdom, so also is the beginning of salvation. No one, I say, is saved without that knowledge, who yet has the age and faculty of knowing. This I say on account of little children and the mentally deficient, whose case is different. What if you are ignorant of God? Can there be hope of salvation with ignorance of God? Not even this. …

Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37 ↗

Bonaventure

For sacred Scripture is principally concerned with the works of reparation. Whence it treats chiefly of faith, hope, and charity, through which virtues the soul must be reformed, and most especially of charity. Of which the Apostle says that it is the end of the commandment, insofar as it proceeds from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned. It is the fullness of the Law, as the same Apostle says. …

Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4 ↗