The Debt that Never Gets Paid
Rom. 13.8-10
FBC Chester, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A After Confederate General Robert E. Lee retired he was named president of Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA.
1 While he was president, a new student came into Lee’s office asked for a copy of the Student handbook of the school’s rules & regulations.
a Lee replied that the school didn’t have any written rules but we do have one rule, “Our only rule is kindness.”
b That’s a good rule!
aa Kindness is a rule that if we all lived by it we would not only live a better town, but we’d live in a better world!
bb Luke 6.31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
2 In Rockville, Maryland, all the tickets issued are imprinted with these words, “Drive towards others as you would have drive towards you.”
a This is a very similar concept to Luke 6.31.
b Drive with courtesy to other drivers with the same courtesy to you want others to show towards you.
B Paul writes in Romans 13.8-10, about how the first century believer was to behave towards one another for their own good. (ETS)
1 Romans 13:8-10 (NASB) 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
a Earlier in Romans Paul put out an urgent call for love
Romans12:9-10 (NASB) “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;”
and in chapter 13 he comes back “love” as a theme.
b He does so, I believe, because love is the secret ingredient of all service we do for Kingdom of God. (ESS)
2 Objective: I want us to know that “love” is what we owe one another as Christians.
a Let’s look at two debts that we assume after we receive God’s gift of salvation.
aa The first debt we assume is to love others.
bb The second debt we assume is to live by the spirit of the law.
b Pray
I The first debt we assume is to love others (v.8.)
A I remember in High School I got my first real job working for Wal-Mart and I thought I just had to have a checking account (against my mom’s advice I did just that.)
1 I bought gas for my 1982 S-10 truck at the Star station in Sandoval and I paid with a check.
a A few days later a got a letter in the mail from my bank saying “There was insufficient funds in my account to cover the check I wrote to ‘Star Station.’”
aa I remember going to my mom, “You were right about the checking account. The bank ran out of money.”
bb Little did I know it wasn’t the bank that ran out of money . . . it was me.
b Verse 8, is the verse many people use to prove that borrowing money is a sin. (Prof. Robertson, “The Bible doesn’t mean what it says, it means what it means.”)
aa Hudson Taylor (Father of the Modern Missionary Movement); Charles H. Spurgeon (Prince of the Pulpit) believed that this verse meant that being in debt was a sin.
bb If this is your belief, conviction, good for you.
2 The Bible does not forbid borrowing or lending. (Cf. Neh. 5.1-11)
a Ex. 22.25-27 (NASB), 25 "If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest. 26 "If you ever take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, 27 for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.
aa It forbids charging a high interest, robbing the brethren, failing to pay an honest debt.
bb Matthew 25:27 (NASB) 27 'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
Luke 19:23 (NASB) 23 ~'Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?'
b Certainly, it’s wrong to take a loan/obligate yourself if you can’t maintain the loan. (Stealing)
c God is fine with borrowing/lending when looking at the whole of Scripture.
aa Ps. 37.21,26 (NASB) 21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives. . .26 All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.
bb Proverbs 19:17 (NASB) 17 One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.
One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.
cc Whether or not a gracious lender is repaid by the borrower, he/she will be repaid by the Lord.
3 Jesus speaks to lending/borrowing in Matt. 5.42 & Luke 6.35
a Matthew 5:42 (NASB) 42 "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
aa Luke 6.35 (NASB) “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
bb Again, the Lord will reward the lender.
b Both testaments command believers who are able to do so to lend to their needy brethren w/o taking advantage.
aa Paul’s saying pay what you owe, on time, & in full.
bb He’s not saying it is a “sin” to be in debt or to take a loan.
B We are “in debt” to each other in the sense that we are to “pay” love to one another (not just Christians or folks we go to church with?)
1 The debt of love remains with us permanently and never leaves us.
a It’s a debt we pay daily & forever owe.
b Thankfully, God’s amazing grace provides us with the provision/resources to pay the debt.
c The more we pay toward it, the more willing (& joyous) we will love one another.
2 The godly love we are to show one for another is more than an emotion/feeling.
a Gal. 6.10 (NASB) “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
aa Love begins with a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, & patience.
bb Some how/way love also finds a way to “do good” to those we love, whether they serve it or not.
b Sometimes due to distance (or circumstances beyond our control) the only good we can do is to pray for them or forgive them.
c IL. John Wesley had this for his rule of life:
Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can.
TS:
II The second debt we assume is to live by the spirit of the law.
A Twice in three verses Paul says a curious statement, “. . . has fulfilled the law.” (V.8b, 10b)
Romans 13:8b,10b (NASB)8 ... for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 10 ... therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
1 In v. 9, Paul gives four of the Ten Commandments that deal with relationships that people have with one another.
a Adultery, murder, stealing, coveting.
b He puts the cherry on top with a law from Leviticus 19.18.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
2 Paul is saying whoever loves has fulfilled the law, which parallels his statement in 8.4 about the righteous requirement of the law being fulfilled by those who live in accordance with the Spirit.
a Romans 8:4 (NASB) In order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
b Gal. 5.22,23 is the Rosetta stone that unlocks the mystery a Christian observing the law.
aa Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
bb When we “love” one another with godly love we have fulfilled the most important of all the Law.
c The Spirit in us produces in the believer a love to which the law can offer no objection, since love fulfills what the law requires, something the law itself cannot do.
B How can we love in such a righteous/selfless way?
1 We must remember the grace our Heavenly Father provides to love everybody.
a We have access to every resource in the Kingdom to pay our love debt.
aa Romans 5:5 (NASB) And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
bb The Spirit has dug a deep well in our souls that we can draw from at anytime.
cc Eph. 3.17-19 (NASB) So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
b Because God first loved us, we are promised to be able to love others!
1 John 4:19 (NASB) 19 We love, because He first loved us.
2 We must submit to the Holy Spirit
a When we do submit to the Holy Spirit we surrender all hatred, animosity, bitterness, revenge, or pride that stands between those we are called to love.
aa 1 Thessalonians 4:9 (NASB)9 Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
1 John 4:16 (NASB) 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
bb The first fruit of the Spirit is love.
b Pure/genuine love cannot exist with hypocrisy.
aa 1 Peter 1:22 (NASB) 22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
bb The love we are called to show comes with a sense of urgency.
1 Peter 4:7-8 (NASB) 7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
3 Godly love is a matter of choice/free will. (You must chose to love folks.)
a When we chose to love people voluntarily, God is pleases/honored.
Colossians 3:14 (NASB) 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
b When we love each other it brings unity to the body of Christ
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NASB) 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Philippians 2:1-2 (NASB) 1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
Conclusion:
A Paul writes in Romans 13.8-10, about how the first century believer was to behave towards one another for their own good. (ETS)
1 He does so, I believe, because love is the secret ingredient of all service we do for Kingdom of God. (ESS)
2 We’ve looked at two debts that we assume after we receive God’s gift of salvation.
a The first debt we assume is to love others.
b The second debt we assume is to live by the spirit of the law.
3 Objective: I want us to know that “love” is what we owe one another as Christians.
B IL.
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
