HoHum:
A man called the police and reported that all of his wife’s credit cards had been stolen. Then he added, "But don’t look too hard for the thief. He’s charging less than my wife ever did."
A man was once boasting to an acquaintance, "We have a whole room full of furniture from France that goes back to Louis the 14th." "That’s nothing," replied the other man. "We’ve got a whole house full of furniture from Sears that all goes back on the first."
WBTU:
Today we are talking about debt. What does it mean to be in debt? It is the state of owing something, esp. money, or of being under an obligation.
Earl Wilson: “Today, there are three kinds of people: the have’s, the have-not’s, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have’s.”
Thesis: From Romans 13:8-10 let’s talk about 3 kinds of debt
For instances:
Financial debt
From Romans 13:7 Paul has been talking about paying taxes and revenue to the government. This naturally goes into how a Christian needs to pay what he owes to creditors. It is a poor witness when a Christian does not take care of his financial obligations, pay his debts.
Vs. 8- “Owe nothing to anyone” NASB. Does this verse forbid going into debt? Does it rule out car loans, house mortgages, and credit cards? No, other Scriptures show that borrowing and lending on reasonable terms is not prohibited. The point is that when we enter into a loan agreement, the payments must be given promptly and honestly and in accordance with the terms of the contract. NIV says it best- “Let no debt remain outstanding”
Debt is a big problem in America both in the government, in families and with individuals. Harold and Mary Hunt were over $100,000 in debt. They paid it off in 13 years. First 5 pieces of advice Mary Hunt gives:
Wait. See something we have to own? Wait- we might realize we don’t need it after all.
Track spending. Know where the money is going. Make a budget and stick to it.
Pay cash. For day to day needs use cash only. Keep the plastic for emergencies and the checkbook for bills. Dave Ramsey “Debt is dumb. Cash is king.”
Never keep it all. Giving is the best antidote for greed. It will change how we think about- and spend- money. Aim to give away 10%, always, and more if we can.
Never spend it all. Afraid of running out of money? Save 10% of income. The fears will fade
Mary Hunt says this, “With no debt, I feel like there’s a lot more room for love.” How can we live out this instruction if we are so worried about our debts? Romans 12:13- Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Spencer W. Kimball: “Love people, not things; use things, not people. ”
Fellowship Debt
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another- Vs. 8
By saying we should have no unpaid debts except to love one another, Paul says that love itself is a debt, in the sense of an obligation; he is also saying that this debt can never be completely paid off. Even though we can never completely pay it off, we should be making every effort to be faithful to this obligation.
for he who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law- Vs. 8. How can this be? The one who loves (sacrificial love, agape) will do the things required by the law regarding relationships with his fellow man. The law is simply the expression of true, godly love. This applies even to negative commandments such as those in vs. 9.
If we love our neighbor, we will not commit adultery with his wife. If we love our neighbor, we will not murder him. If we love our neighbor we will not covet his possessions or anything he has to the point of stealing from him. The last 6 commandments in the 10 commandments deal with relationships with our neighbors.
Vs. 10- Loving actions to others and law keeping are the same thing; they are but two sides of the same coin. Love your neighbor as yourself- vs. 9- is a general commandment; all these other commandments are just the specific ways in which this is expressed.
Love our neighbor as ourselves comes from Leviticus 19:18 and this probably meant one’s fellow Israelite; but Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan definitely gives it a more universal scope. Our love should include all human beings like personal enemies (Romans 12) and government officials (Romans 13) but Jesus said this to his disciples. ““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” John 13:34, 35
We should especially be faithful to our obligation to those who were instrumental in bringing us to Christ. “I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back--not to mention that you owe me your very self.” Philemon 1:19, NIV. There was a sense in which Philemon owed Paul his salvation.
“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” Hebrews 13:7, NIV. Faithful obligation to these as well
Why should I love these people, brothers and sisters in Christ? If nothing else because we love Jesus Christ. “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:19-21, NIV.
Freedom debt
Think about what we owe the Lord.
First, we owe a debt to God that we cannot pay. We are born into this world owing God our love and our service. After all, he is our creator, and by virtue of being our creator, we owe him service and gratitude. But instead of being faithful, we sin. Since God is our creator, we owe him a debt of gratitude and obedience, but we fail miserably to pay that debt we owe.
We are all in debt, and to make matters worse, we are bankrupt. Bankruptcy is another condition which we fear, but all of us are spiritually bankrupt before God. Now, the sad, tragic plight of many people is what they try to do when they realize that they are in debt to God. What do people try to do when they realize that they are in such debt?
Ignore that they have a debt by denying the existence of God
Try to invent a God who is not holy and righteous. We don’t owe God anything. When we sin, he just overlooks it. If we live selfishly and for ourselves, commit all kinds of cruelty, that is all right. It will all work out, and we will all have eternal life in Heaven eventually.
Start trying to pay back the debt that we owe. To this day, people think that we can get out of debt by doing good works. We think to ourselves, “Here, I have ‘X’ amount of bad works, but if I do so many good works, it will cancel out the debt I have incurred because of my bad works.” It’s like they are saying, “If I do all these good deeds, I will get out of debt to God.”
Scripture tells us that there is no way to pay the debt. We can devote our lives to good deeds, but we won’t pay back one cent, for God accepts none of your good works as payment, atonement for sin. We could even spend all of the rest of our lives in prayer and worship, weeping because of past sins, and it would not cancel our debt. “Rock of Ages,” Could my tears forever flow, Could my zeal no languor know, These for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone.
Jesus went to the cross to pay our debt. When he went to the cross he took all the punishment that our sins deserved, and received that punishment in our place, and when he did so, the debt was cancelled. Christ suffered the equivalent of the eternal punishment we deserved. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5, 6, NIV. God doesn’t forgive simply because he has chosen to overlook our sins. He is a kind, merciful, and loving God, but he is also a holy God of justice. But when Jesus went to the cross, God’s mercy and his justice were satisfied. Because Christ died on the cross, he can be merciful, because his only Son took on himself the penalty for our sins. God loved us so much that he was willing to send his only Son into the world to die on a cross for us that we might be reconciled to him.
Plan of salvation
““Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents (The Talent is a Greek coin worth 6000 Drachmas. A drachma is a days wage. 10,000 times 6,000= 60,000,000, not possible to pay back) was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’” Matthew 18:23-26, NIV.
“The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.” Matthew 18:27. This is what Christ and the cross does. God wants to give us freedom. Must accept this. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Galatians 5:1, NIV.
Like the slave who was bought by a man. The slave said, “What are you going to do with me?” The owner said, “I’m going to set you free.” “What does that mean?” the slave asked. “It means you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want.” The slave said, “Then I will go with YOU.”
