One way God reveals Himself is through the lives of those who believe in Him.
Are you living a lifestyle that reveals God is living in you?
The long-time belief is that God just loves everybody…that notion is starting to collapse…there is a growing trend among conservative Pastors who rebuke the idea that God loves everybody.
I read more and more about Pastors who are concerned about people in their congregations who are nothing more than hell-bound Christians.
Hell is a place of total…conscious…eternal separation from God…the person who rejects God…never submitting to Him in repentance…never accepting Him as their Savior and dies, will spend eternity without God.
The legitimate concern is for those who believe God loves them and are yet on their way to hell…who have never experienced the transformed life…but believe God loves them.
As we increasingly start to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus our life should begin to reflect the effects of what a transformed life looks like.
There are certain identifying marks of a true born-again Christian…they are living transformed lives…their lives reflect the inner workings of the Holy Spirit.
In Roman 13, Paul reveals what a transformed life looks like…if you were with us the past couple of weeks, I shared what Paul revealed as marks of a transformed life…without going into great detail…
ONE mark of what living a transformed life looks like is the use of the spiritual gift God has given to every member so we can serve others.
I want to reiterate on the importance of spiritual gifts.
FIRST…there are no benchwarmers in the body of Christ.
SECONDLY…Christians will be held accountable how they used their gifts.
God will personally evaluate every Christian’s performance…not based on the importance of the gift…but how effective you were with the gift you were given …what you did with it…and how you used it…for personal gain or God’s glory.
The SECOND mark of living a transformed life is reflected in the traits identified in [13:9-21].
This long list of traits is actually what a transformed life looks like…it’s not a list of do’s and don’ts…it’s not a life lived on sincere intentions….it’s living that results from a conscious decision to be obedient to God’s standards of righteousness.
THIRD mark of living a transformed life is our behavior towards government
We’re told to be in subjection to the governing authorities because they are established by God…those who resist that authority resist the ordinance of God and will receive condemnation upon themselves.
Your objection to how the government is being run is expressed through the ballot box…not the ammo box.
God never condones the use of…violence…looting…rioting…killing…or the destruction of public or private property for any reason or purpose.
Here in Romans 13:8 Paul gives the FOURTH mark of living a transformed life; how we should conduct ourselves towards our neighbors:
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another
On the surface that seems pretty elementary…but this actually may be the key to solving most all of the problems we struggle with in life.
HOLD IT …Owe nothing to anyone…there are a number of ways in which that can be applied…various applications.
ONE…application is…just looking at the first four words…owe nothing to anyone…is Paul mandating that Christians are NOT to borrow money …or if we have…we should be doing the Dave Ramsey 7 Baby Step plan to pay off debt while building wealth?
So what does the Bible say about money and debt…is that statement even referring to money?
It doesn’t say … it’s a sin to borrow.
It never says that you are out of God’s will when you borrow…but the way this is written in the Greek…to no one owe nothing…some argue that we are not allowed to be in debt for any reason.
‘To no one’ (Μηδενὶ)…is one word…and ‘nothing’ (μηδὲν) is one word… combined they are a double negative…like saying ‘no’ ‘not’ …when you combine those with the word ‘owe’…a present imperative…it’s a command.
Together that phrase appears to be suggesting to not continue owing…stop being in debt…that’s a bad translation of that phrase…that’s not what it means.
This goes back to the original statement in Greek ‘to no one owe nothing’ it doesn’t means that we should never be in debt…it doesn’t prohibit the borrowing of money or using charge accounts…that is not Paul’s thought here.
Owe nothing to anyone…is not about borrowing …it’s about paying what you owe…it uses the word “owe” in a positive way.
It’s saying… pay to all what is owed to them…taxes to whom taxes are owed… revenue to whom revenue is owed…respect to whom respect is owed …honor to whom honor is owed.
When he says [8] owe no one anything…he doesn’t mean you should never incur debts…it means…when you do…pay them…Christians have an obligation to pay their bills.
It doesn’t say … God will bail you out of debt.
God has not promised to get us out of debt…Philippians 4:9 tells us that God will meet our needs…but He hasn’t promised to cancel the consequences of unwise decisions.
It doesn’t say … debt is an exercise in faith.
Again…God has not promised to get us out of debt…foolishness says that supernatural debt cancellation happens when you believe in your heart that God will miraculously clear your debts…NO He won’t…God is not in the business of getting you out of your responsibilities to your debtors.
It doesn’t say … it’s a sin to loan money.
Jesus tells us ‘Not to turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you’ [Matt. 5:42] …He even applies this principle to our enemies in their time of need …‘love your enemies and lend to them without expecting to get anything back’ [Luke 6:35].
It doesn’t say … it’s a sin to be rich.
Here comes the largely misquoted statement that ‘money is the root of all evil’. WRONG…it’s not a sin to be rich…but the Bible does give a warning concerning riches:
those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim. 6:9–10).
Ninety percent of the scriptures using the word ‘debt’ are about how we should respond to it, and only ten percent on avoiding it.
What does the Bible say about borrowing?
Exodus 22:14 – If anything is borrowed, it should be paid back.
Ps 37:21 – The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
SECOND…application of…owe nothing to anyone…is focusing on the second part of that phrase…except to love one another.
In the statement…owe nothing to anyone except to love one another…Paul is identifying the one debt most Christians are not even aware of…the only thing we are allowed to owe…our obligation to love one another.
It’s been said:
…Moses gave 613 commands or laws to the Jews
…David reduced them down to ten (Psalm 15)
…Isaiah further reduced them to five [33:14]
…Micah bound them into just three [6:8]
…Jesus condensed the entire 613 Mosaic Laws into just two commandments
[Matt. 22:37-38] …then reduced it even further:
that you love one another as I have loved you [John 15:12].
Here’s the difficulty…Paul’s statement ‘owe nothing to anyone except to love one another’…parallels Jesus’ statement…that you love one another as I have loved you.
Regardless of what anyone else may say or do…our command is to love…it’s not ‘I’ll love you if you love me’ …others do not have to love you in the same manner before you love them.
This is where things begin to get a little confusing…when Jesus says… that you love one another…He is not talking about the 1960’s flower child love where we just love everybody…or the response to everything is: ‘I love you man.’
Verse 8 is not talking about the mushy…want to do good…emotional…out of obligation…lip service …kind of love that is characteristic of people in general.
There is one debt that you will always owe and never be able to pay off fully… the debt of love to others.
That should be the type of love we have for one another as Christians…it’s not about what we get out of it…it’s about what we give to others.
Side note…never let a relationship end because of your lack of love…if it ends let it be because the other person refused to receive your love.
Jesus set the example of love for us with Judas…at the last supper…Jesus knows Judas is about to betray Him…despite that…Hebrew tradition has Judas sitting in the place designated for the most honored guest…[John 13:21, 25-26]…to the left of Jesus.
Then…Jesus, knowing Judas’s intention…avoids humiliating him in front of the other disciples.
Godly love refuses to do anything that might offend someone [Matt. 16:6].
Godly love is forgiving [Eph. 4:32 / Matt. 6:14-15 / Luke 6:36-37].
Godly love does no wrong [Romans 13:10].
Godly love is characterized by humility…gentleness…and patience [Eph 4:2].
Godly love does not cause people to stumble morally or spiritually [Rom 14:21].
Godly love is kind…not jealous…does not brag…is not arrogant…does not act unbecomingly…is not provoked…does not rejoice in unrighteousness [1Cor. 13]
That is the kind of love Paul is referring to…supernatural Godly love which is only given to the spiritual believer through the power of the Holy Spirit.
To love as Christ loves is only possible as we abide in Him and He in us…IF we are to fulfil the law of Christ by loving others as Christ loved us, and IF we are to owe nothing to anyone except to love one another – this can only be done in the power of the indwelling Spirit.
Loving the people that cross our path every day…all the while living a life of integrity and showing consideration towards others, is the mark of a true believer.
You’ll never reach the place where you can say… “Now I love others as much as I ought to” …no matter how long you’ve been a Christian and how much you have grown as a Christian…you still have room to grow in love.
An interesting concept…Paul mentions twice…[13:8] ‘he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law’ …‘love is the fulfillment of the law’ [10].
Interesting that Paul would bring up the law when in just a few earlier verses he makes the point that:
we are not under the law but under grace [6:14]
that we have died to the law in Christ [7:4].
Immediately after writing about the importance of loving one another Paul goes on to quote the Law [9] by stating four Commandments:
You shall not commit adultery…murder…steal…covet
How do I know if something written in the Old Testament apples to me today?… if it’s repeated in the New Testament.
Again…the foolishness that says the Old Testament is out of date…or…just let love be your guide, is misleading.
SO…What is the possible relevance in stating these four Commandments… and why just these four?
The Ten Commandments are broken into two sections…the first four are vertical commandments…they reflect how we are to relate to God:
- You shall have no other gods before me.
- You shall not make for yourself an idol.
- You shall not wrongfully use the name of God.
- Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
The four Paul mentions comes from the second part of the Ten Commandments. They are the six horizontal commandments that reflect how we are to relate to each other.
- Honor your father and mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet.
These four commandments are fulfilled when we “love your neighbor as yourself”…they draw a boundary around what is acceptable and what is not.
When you look at the Ten Commandments through adult eyes you discover they are much broader than what is taught in a children’s Sunday School class where they are learned as a set of do’s and don’ts…when applied to our daily life they help us feel a closer connection to God.
Think about this…when we practice true biblical love which is to love your neighbor as yourself none of these four Commandments are a possibility…we become conscious of the wrong we’re doing when we commit adultery…murder … steal …or covet because love is controlling our decisions and actions.
In the 13th chapter of Romans Paul is defining what a transformed life looks like …it all starts in [9] ‘let love be sincere.’
Contained in these four words is the proof of whether someone’s faith is genuine.
Paul puts love at the top of the list…without love it questions how serious a person’s profession of faith really is….without love living a transformed life is impossible.
So the question Paul is asking us here, is…are you living a lifestyle that reveals God is living in you?
Are you paying your debts? …not just the financial ones you owe…BUT…are you working at paying the debt that you will always owe…the debt of love for others?
Christians who have been conformed into the likeness of Jesus and are experiencing transformation is the indication of a life lived with God.