Life’s Great IOU - Love

Posted on February 11, 2007

 

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Romans 13:8-10

Imagine a guy who owes $100,000 to a particular creditor. He is dragged into court for refusal to pay. The plaintiff threatens to have him thrown in jail along with his entire family. The debtor gets on his knees and genuinely pleads for his freedom and for his family, so the creditor decides to forgive him all of his debts. He leaves the courtroom debt free. On his way home, he encounters a guy who owes him $10, and demands to be repaid. When his debtor can’t pay, he beats him to a pulp and has him arrested. What do you think the original creditor would do? According to Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18:21-35, the original creditor would probably revive the debt of his debtor and prosecute.

I was saved early in life. The book of Romans has taught us that Jesus came to cancel our sin-debt, to forgive us in our spiritual bankruptcy. He paid a debt He did not owe to free us from a debt we could not pay. I am forgiven, debt free! But I’m also obligated. You see, I used to owe a debt I couldn’t pay, so Jesus paid it for me. Because of that, I owe Him everything that I am. He gets to choose what I do with my life. Paul illustrates for us that Jesus designates other people as my new creditors. Though I can never pay God back for the price He paid for me, I’m to begin anyway by loving other people.

You are in debt today as well, up to your eyeballs in fact. You’re either lost and in spiritual and eternal debt to God for your sins against Him, or you’re a new creature in Christ with a new debt to pay by loving other people.

Some people quote this verse as justification for why nobody should ever borrow money. That’s not what this verse teaches, nor is that idea taught elsewhere. The Bible does teach that we should never borrow more than we can repay, we should never cheat people or charge exorbitant interest, and we should never leave a debt outstanding when it’s in our power to pay it. Further, the New Testament really teaches us that we should never get ourselves into a position where we cannot put the Kingdom first in our finances or where our testimony could be harmed.

We will have ample opportunity to talk about some of the Bible’s principles about finances, but today, I want to focus on the really big idea in Paul’s words…

ONE GREAT TRUTH:

When we were saved, our sin-debt toward God was totally cancelled, but God has assigned the human race as our new creditors. Loving others is our one eternal obligation.

Paul, under divine inspiration, is telling us that our sin-debt toward God has been cancelled

You won’t commit sins that hurt other people when you are truly loving them. Paul quotes five of the Ten Commandments and each of the five is from the second section of the Commandments that deal with our relationship to other people. He gives us five examples of how love prevents us from breaking the commandments…

• Adultery (any sexual immorality) will be out of the question. Why? Because when we commit adultery we hurt our spouse, we hurt the other person, we hurt their spouse, we hurt any children involved, and we may even hurt others involved as well. If we really love the person, we will do what is best for them and refuse to be immoral with them.

• Murder (defined by Jesus as hating people) will be out of the question. Why? It’s kind of obvious. We don’t murder or hate those whom we love. We talk about “crimes of passion” but those are really crimes of hatred, misinterpreted by a world where the definition of love is rather twisted.

• Theft will be out of the question because we will not want the owner of (whatever) to come up short. We won’t steal from individuals or stores or the government, etc.

• Lying will be out of the question because we will understand that what’s best for a person is the truth, spoken in love. Deception is never justified. People like to quibble over whether it’s okay to tell “a little white lie.” I think it’s a rather silly argument. There are times when we are tactful to protect someone’s feelings, but that’s not purposeful and self-centered deception—it’s just common courtesy.

• Coveting will be out of the question because love will dictate that we are glad that other people have things, even if we don’t. We’ll be content to have nothing, so long as others are provided for.

You cannot damage people when you are truly loving them. You might hurt them temporarily—they might feel the sting of conviction because of your words—but you cannot hurt them in the long run if you love them.

HOW COULD LOVE BE LIVED OUT PRACTICALLY?

By always having the best interests of others at heart.

God had our best interests on His mind when He originally planned to send His Son into this world to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus had our best interests in mind when He marched Himself toward the cross. When we are in Christ, we are to continue to be His hands and feet in this world. We are to carry on the legacy of loving others, keeping their best interests at heart all the time.

I want to issue a challenge today. I want you to begin writing checks to other people this week. Not literal checks from your bank account, but spiritual checks on heaven’s bank account. Every time you commit a random act of kindness toward someone, you’re loving them. Think creatively about how you can love someone this week. Make them the object of your prayers and your encouraging words. Send them a note, help them out, love them.

We owe so much to God (not judicially, but practically)! Let us never stop loving others. The most important question I could ask you is this: Have your sins been forgiven? Has your sin debt been cancelled by placing your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior? If not, you are spiritually bankrupt and will face your Creditor someday. He is holy and just and does not forgive unless you accept the one payment He has made on your behalf, the death of His very own Son. Further, He’s alive from the dead and once you are forgiven, He wants to fill your life. Won’t you ask God to forgive your sins and save you today?