However, as such prooftexting often does, this claim ignores the context of that verse. Notice the immediately-preceding verse: "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'" (Romans 13:9). Paul actually cites four of the Commandments, then refers to the others, and tells us that they are summarized in the commandment to love. Summarized, not abrogated. Loving others means obeying the Law in regard to our relations to them. It is not a get-out-of-jail-free card that leaves us free to disregard the Law.
It is this same author, the Apostle Paul, who leaves this instruction: "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" (II Timothy 2:19; see John 10:14). In order to depart from iniquity, the Christian must be able to identify it. But how? The antinomian simply claims that it is whatever is contrary to love. But love according to whom? The child molester has a very different understanding of love from that of his victims. How do we determine which one is right? That question takes us right back to Romans 13:9. We determine true love by comparing it to the standards of God, which are found in the biblical Law.
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