Rom. 13:8. For he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Rom. 13:9. For the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet what belongs to another, and all the others are summed up in this word: love your neighbor as yourself.
He who loves his neighbor fulfills the law. Therefore everyone should love his neighbor, because he receives from him and from love toward him so many benefits that he fulfills the whole law. He did not say "is completed," but "is summed up," that is, in this commandment the entire body of commandments is contained in summary. For the beginning and the end of virtue is love. Furthermore, the law requires love in the highest degree. "Love," it says, "your neighbor as yourself," but our Lord requires more, having taught that we should love our neighbor more than ourselves; for He teaches us to lay down our life for a friend (John 15:13).
Rom. 13:10. Love does no evil to one's neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
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.
Rom. 13:11. Do this, knowing the time, that the hour has already come for us to awake from sleep.
You must, he says, value love very highly, and through it — all the other virtues. Such is the time. The day of resurrection is near, the judgment is near, and we must awaken from the sleep of negligence and be ready for deeds worthy of the resurrection.
Rom. 13:11. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Probably they at the beginning, upon their conversion, were most zealous, but then, with the passage of time, grew cold. Therefore he says: now we are closer to the future age; for this is what he means by "salvation," having called it so from its better side, because for sinners it is not salvation, but perdition. And as we draw near to the future life, we must intensify our attention. This is what he shows further.
Rom. 13:12. Night has passed (προέκοψεν), and the day has drawn near.
That is, the night will soon end. For example: let us suppose that the night consists of twelve hours. When ten hours have passed, we say that the night is far spent (προέκοψεν), meaning: it has passed, it is near its end. He calls the present age night, because in it many are in darkness and the life of each person is covered in darkness; and he calls the future age day, both because of the brightness of the righteous, and because then the secrets of all will be revealed. In the Gospel, however, the present age is called day because during it one must work, and the future age is called night because then no one can work (Jn. 9:4).
Rom. 13:12. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
He called sinful actions "works," as something laborious, accompanied by great difficulties, subject to a thousand dangers even in the present age; and he called virtuous actions "armor of light," for they place the one who possesses them in safety, as armor does, and make him radiant, as armor of light. By the words "let us cast off" and "let us put on," he showed the ease of both—that is, both of departing from evil works and of turning to virtue. Just as it is not difficult to take off one garment and put on another, so it is possible to depart from vice and embrace virtue.
Rom. 13:13. Let us walk properly, as in the day,
Above he said: "the day has drawn near," but now he shows that it is already arriving, and teaches to conduct oneself in it with decorum. With decorum he attracts those who greatly respected public opinion; and he did not say: conduct yourselves, — but "let us conduct ourselves," making his exhortation bearable. For nothing is so unseemly as sin, and nothing so imparts comeliness as virtue.
Rom. 13:13. Not giving yourselves over to carousing and drunkenness,
He does not prohibit drinking, but drinking without measure; not the use of wine, but drunkenness. "Reveling" is called the state of being drunk combined with insults, which is also called disorderly conduct in a drunken state.
Rom. 13:13. Not to sensuality and debauchery,
Having spoken before about drunkenness, he now speaks of the evil that comes from it; for debauchery comes from drunkenness, and here he cuts off not association with women, but fornication.
Rom. 13:13. nor to quarrels and envy.
Having extinguished the evil born from lust, he now suppresses also that evil which comes from anger. For nothing so kindles lust and inflames anger as drunkenness and disorderly conduct in a drunken state. From envy comes strife or quarreling, because the one who envies another goes so far as quarrels. Therefore, having removed quarreling, he ascends also to its origin — envy. He mentions strife and envy together with debauchery because from the latter come conflicts and the ruin of households.
Rom. 13:14. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
Having stripped from us the garment of sin, He finally adorns us, clothing us no longer in the armor of light, but, what is even more awe-inspiring, making the Master Himself our garment. Whoever is clothed in this garment possesses every virtue.
Rom. 13:14. And do not turn the care of the flesh into lusts.
He does not forbid care for the body, but "lusts." Take care, he says, of the body for health, not for licentiousness. For it would not be care if you were to kindle a flame and heat the furnace to your own harm. Strive only to have a healthy body, and beyond that, do not be concerned, and do not kindle the lusts of the body, but direct all your diligence toward the spiritual.