Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THE CHRISTIAN AND DEBT”
Romans 13.8-10
Turn to Romans 13.8. We come to a passage in God’s Word, where we are told of the Christian’s proper attitude toward and relationship with debt. Remember that previously in Paul’s letter to the Romans we learned what the Christian’s relationship toward human government should be when it is properly understood.
In today’s text, we learn what the Christian’s proper relationship toward other human beings should be, whether they be male or female, whether they be adults or children, whether they are lost or saved, whether they be Church members or nonmembers. How does Paul describe the Christian’s relationship with others? In this text he describes it in terms of debt, in terms of obligation. God’s Word defines the Christian’s proper relationship to debts of obligation. And in our text for today we will examine what that relationship is, both generally and particularly. Romans 13.8-10:
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
I have spent my entire adult life in debt. It is a profound regret of mine to have a great credit rating, meaning I can be trusted to make timely payments on debt that I owe. Therefore, I stand before you having fallen short with respect to the truth I declare to you. My personal goal is to become debt-free in the time I have left on this earth, and I am taking steps to make that happen, steps I wish I had begun to take decades ago.
Two things related to this matter of debt:
First, THE CONCEPT OF OBLIGATION GENERALLY
Generally speaking, what should the Christian’s attitude toward debt be? What should the Christian posture toward owing money to others be? Paul, changing from the believer’s obligation toward human government, where he writes “render to all their dues” in Romans 13.7, writes these words in Romans 13.8: “Owe no man any thing.”
Recognizing that the word “dues” is the noun form of the same word as the verb translated “owe” in our text, we see that Paul is still dealing the concept of what a person “ought” to do, what is right to do, what there is a moral obligation to do.
The command, for it is a command, to “owe no man any thing,” is couched in a cultural context that is so far removed from ours as to rightly be considered foreign. Therefore, we in the West have an extremely difficult time comprehending what Paul is stating so very simply. To illustrate the truth of what I have said, you ought to read the comments of commentators (I have them footnoted should you care to read my sermon when it is posted online). And you ought to hear the responses of pastors.
So strange is the concept of owing no man anything to modern-day Christians that virtually every authority you might choose to consult will maintain, without any substantial Scriptural evidence to back up their statements, that “owe no man any thing” means to make your monthly debt payments promptly. And the verses they typically resorted to for support are invariably passages from the Old Testament that presuppose no interest being demanded for the principle amount being loaned.[1] Therefore, we should ask what did “owe no man any thing” mean to those to whom this letter from Paul was originally written? How was it taken in light of Old Testament truth? To address these issues let’s consider this plain directive from God’s Word in two ways:
First, considered historically. Do I need to establish that Jews living during Old Testament times were forbidden to lend money to other Jews at usury, which is to say they were forbidden to charge interest of any kind on a loan made to another Jewish person?[2] I do not think so. How about in dealings with Gentiles? Do I need to establish, or is it already understood, that God’s desire for His chosen people was for them to loan and not to borrow from Gentiles? Even in our Lord’s parables where reference is made to usury, to charging and paying interest on a loan, the subject in the parable is loaning money at interest and not borrowing money. Thus, the truth about borrowing and paying interest was too well known in our Lord’s day to need establishing. Therefore, it should be understood by one and all here today that, since Jewish person A was not to loan money to Jewish person B unless it was loaned interest-free, Jewish person B was effectively forbidden to borrow money and thus be obligated to repay debts in the manner that is so common today.
To put it another way, it is clear that God’s plan for the handling of money by Jewish people did not include them borrowing money at interest and paying it back over some time. Loaning money to Gentiles at interest, however, and receiving payment from them over some time, was perfectly acceptable to God. If that establishes a precedent for us to follow today, and I rather think it does, it would be this: Christian, do not borrow from unsaved people and pay them back with interest. Instead, loan money to unsaved people and let them pay you back with interest. After all, you are the ones with the God Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine. Amen? What are you doing borrowing money from lost people when you claim your God supplies your needs?
What did the Christians of Rome, with their strong Jewish background of training, understand this phrase to mean? Allow me to read some comments I made when I preached on Romans 1.14, which reads,
“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.”
Of course, Paul spoke here of a moral obligation to discharge, not a financial obligation. The word translated “debtor,” which is the noun form of our word “owe,” is found some forty times in the New Testament. In both noun and verb forms, it refers to that which is owed, to that for which obligation must be discharged, to that which one ought to do. Context shows if a moral obligation is referred to or a financial obligation requiring the payment of money. The original readers of Paul’s letter to the Romans recognized that when the government obligated them to pay taxes, Romans 13.7, they were to discharge that obligation by paying money. However, they were not to voluntarily obligate themselves financially of their own free will.
Consider the practical consequence of Romans 13.8. Do you violate this command when you obligate yourself to pay for electricity that you have already used, paying for it at the end of the month? I do not think so. And why not? Because you have no option. This is not a matter of your own will. It’s the way the electric company operates under our socialist system. It would be better for you and me, and the electric company, if they let us draw on a balance that we maintained with them. That way, no one would ever stiff the power company, and their additional income from our money they held would mean additional profit and in turn lower power consumption rates. Cheaper electricity. But what about buying a house or a car on time, or buying anything on time? What about incurring a legal obligation to pay money for an amount that has been borrowed with interest? Is that your own choice? It sure is. No one makes you buy a car or a house. It is entirely optional. Therefore, the only way most of us will ever buy a house or a car is to intentionally obligate ourselves for a considerable period, unless you pay cash for it. And how much cheaper is a house paid for with cash, saving the interest charged over the life of the loan? It is worth figuring out what that amount would be.
Perhaps you object to my interpretation and understanding of the verse. If you do not think “Owe no man anything” means that you should not owe anyone anything, what do you think it means as an alternative? John MacArthur’s Study Bible comment on Romans 13.8 reads this way:
“Owe no man anything. Not a prohibition against borrowing money, which Scripture permits and regulates (cf. Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:35-37; Deut. 15:7-9; Neh. 5:7; Pss. 15:5; 37:21, 26; Ezek. 22:12; Matt. 5:42; Luke 6:34). Paul’s point is that all our financial obligations must be paid when they are due. See notes on Deut. 23:19, 20; 24:10-13.”[3]
I would respond to what MacArthur’s study Bible reads, and to others who embrace this position, by pointing out that the passages he cites all lie within the context of usury being prohibited, which is to say that borrowing money with interest was not permitted for those to whom the passages he cites referred. Good men who have written commentaries in days gone by, long before borrowing money was such an accepted practice throughout our society, seem to concur with my understanding of Paul’s statement.[4] I have footnoted those sources, too, for you to examine later. But this is just the concept of obligation in general. In general, Paul commands us to “owe no man any thing.” Why is Paul so adamant about being debt-free, being cautious about obligating yourself to future payments of some kind, be they money payments you presume you will have in the future or the discharge of some other duty you presume you will be able to pay?
WE SEE WHEN WE CONSIDER THE CONCEPT OF OBLIGATION PARTICULARLY
Notice how Paul relates the Christian’s relationship to obligation to this matter of love for his fellow man. One phrase or verse at a time:
“But to love one another.”
Please take note of the fact that this word “but” does not carry with it the idea that Christians are to “owe no man any thing, but instead of owing any thing Christians are to love one another.” That’s not the idea here at all. Understand that Paul’s statement here fits perfectly with what he wrote in Romans 1.14, which I read just a few moments ago.
What Paul is declaring is this: The only debt which the Christian is supposed to have is the debt to love one another. And the love debt is a real obligation. It is an obligation that God fully approves. You can owe a tax bill and then pay it off. Once it’s paid off, you are no longer obligated. And you might even find yourself owing a monthly payment for your credit card. Understand that when that card is finally paid off you have no further obligation. Those are two dischargeable obligations, one you do not and the other you do have a choice about. But they are dischargeable.
The obligation to love one another, however, is a debt of obligation assigned to you by God that can never fully be discharged. Love one guy, and when you turn around there is another person you are just as obligated to show Christian love for like the first guy. Could it possibly be that the reason God doesn’t want you to voluntarily enter into debts of obligation to others is because He assigned you a debt of obligation that will keep you more than busy? Could it be that although you are a great lover of men you may not be as much a lover of others as you could be if you were debt-free? “Pastor, I don’t understand.” Though God’s resources are limitless, the resources He gives to us are carefully measured. By obligating himself to that house payment, a person cannot, with the limited resources given to him by God, express his love toward others as he might want to. But understand this as well: The “one another” in this phrase is not just your child or another Christian. It refers to another person. Your ability to love everyone is limited in some way by your financial indebtedness, whether or not you recognize it as being so.
“For he that loveth hath fulfilled the law.”
What, precisely, the law is that is referred to here is open to question. Is it the law of the land that is fulfilled when you show love for other folks? Is it the Law of Moses that is fulfilled when you show love for other folks? Is it the law written on your heart? Is it the law of God? Is it the law of the Spirit of life? Is it the law of righteousness? Perhaps it is the general concept of law, so that love is recognized to always fulfill whatever law is in force.
I say “show love” because you don’t actually love without showing love, do you? Love is not an attitude. Love is an activity. Love is not what you feel, but what you do. Whatever, then, this law is that Paul is referring to, it is satisfied when the child of God actively discharges the only obligation he is supposed to have, the only obligation he is authorized by God to have. Thus, if you love you don’t have to worry about what law it is, because you’ve satisfied it. Amen?
Verse 9:
“For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
In Exodus chapter 20 we find the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. Of those Ten Commandments, four of them, the first four, describe man’s duty toward God. The final six describe man’s duty toward his fellow man. Of those six, five are listed here by Paul, with only the command to honor your father and mother not listed. In light of this verse, I would strongly suggest that the law referred to by Paul in verse 8, while not necessarily being the entire Law of Moses, and not being the entire Ten Commandments, may very well consist of the directives that describe a person’s duty toward other people. So, what Paul is instructing his readers is this: When you discharge your duty to love your fellow man, you are doing what God has described your responsibilities to be toward your fellow man in the Ten Commandments.
Verse 10:
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Does God retain the right to bless and withhold blessing? Of course, He does. And when God withholds blessing from you, or when He tests and tries you, does He necessarily want others unnecessarily involved? In other words, could God want to take you through a financially lean time and take good old George through a financially fat time? Sure. What happens when God tests you by laying you off when you are in debt up to your ears? If you owe no man anything, you are tested by God, and you can cry out to God for a job to support your family. Period. If you owe money to George, however, when you lose your job you cannot pay George what you owe him. And even after you lose your good reputation you still owe good old George. Thus, you have sinned against George by defaulting and not paying him.
“But pastor, I did not mean to covet when I bought what I could not afford. I did not mean to steal from George by taking his money and not paying it all back. I did not mean to bear false witness when I said I’d pay him each and every month but couldn’t because I was laid off. I love old George and wouldn’t do anything in the world to harm him.” When we borrow money to buy what we cannot afford, we do so because we covet. And when we cannot pay off what we owe because we have presumed that God would not or could not work in our life by laying us off or us being laid up injured, we end up stealing and bearing false witness. In short, we cannot love George as we might otherwise have had we not borrowed his money and gone into his debt. “No, pastor. I only borrow when I have collateral. That way, George always gets more than he loaned to me if I default.” And that way, you have thrown away your equity if you default. That’s good stewardship?
Christian, if you present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, then you have acknowledged in the third way God’s ownership of your life. First, God owns you because He made you. No believer disputes that fact. Second, God owns you because Christ’s blood was shed to purchase you from sin. No believer disputes that. And third, God owns you because you consciously and constantly give yourself to Him. My, what a wonderful thing it is to live in the freedom of God’s will for your life ... unless God’s will conflicts with our hopes and aspirations, that is. Unless God’s clearly revealed will dims one’s hopes of owning a nice home some day, or a nice new car. God’s will is for our lives to be an instrument to express His great love for mankind. And our usefulness as instruments to express God’s great love is hindered when we obligate ourselves in any other way than to express God’s love to our fellow man.
I know from personal experience what it is like to consider this passage and to struggle for another understanding of the passage. I used to have real estate interests only two blocks from Disneyland. I know what bondage to the American dream and its indebtedness is like. I have tried for years to figure out a way to interpret this passage so that I could mortgage a house or finance a car without sinning against God. I have read all the commentaries. I have considered all the options. Every single one of them. And I have talked with dozens of pastors. But the results are always the same.
If the Word of God is the final authority, and if the Bible is allowed to speak for itself, then it must be admitted that God does not want His people to financially obligate themselves by going into debt ... ever. Financial indebtedness interferes with the Christian’s ability to faithfully and fully discharge his obligation to love others.
“But pastor, the Bible says we are to live by faith.” This is most true. However, faith is not presumption. Faith is trusting God enough to live God’s way, not the world’s way. It is presumptuous to obligate ourselves to pay tomorrow what we may not have tomorrow. It is never faith to presume that God is going to do what He has not expressly said He would do in the Bible. But we do an injustice to the text if we do not conclude by saying this: Paul’s whole thrust in these three verses is to describe for the Christian the only obligation God wants us to have toward our fellow man - love.
We are not just to love the lovely. We are to love all men. And the specific way we show love to the lost, the particular way we discharge our debt, our obligation, to those who are not saved, is by preaching the Gospel to them. I wonder how bold the worker would be to witness to his boss if he had no mortgage payment and owned his car free and clear? My, how free to do right you are when you owe no man any thing. And think of how you could love on people if you were so unburdened of debt that you could actually use the money that used to go down the drain paying interest to take visitors out to lunch after Church. Assuming you now have a credit card balance of $2000 at 18% APR, being out of debt would free up $360 per year to entertain people you’d like to win to Christ. At $40 a meal for four, that is nine times a year.
Borrow money if you want to, buy a house or a car on time if you want to. You may honestly disagree with what I think God’s Word teaches here. That’s okay. You are not accountable to me for your finances but to God. And there are enough scholars who disagree with me that I must entertain the possibility that I may not be correct in my understanding of this passage.
Let me close with a word of comfort. The Spirit of God has no desire for you or anyone else to be consumed by guilt for long periods. The Spirit of God brings awareness of sin with guilt to the lost only so He can provoke them to consider the claims of Christ, to then turn from their sins and trust Christ, and to then know the joy of a clear conscience and the forgiveness of sins. In like manner, the Spirit of God works in a Christian’s life much the same way. The Christian sins or in some way gets himself into a jam. The Spirit of God brings to that believer an awareness of wrongdoing, a pricking of the heart, a consciousness of having sinned. But for how long? Only long enough to recognize the wrong and repent of the sin. “Lord, that was wrong. I will now seek to remedy my wrongdoing with joy and delight.”
Once you appreciate the sinfulness of the sin you have committed, and are determined to honor God and seek an appropriate resolution to the problem, the Spirit of God has no further need of provoking you to feel guilty about anything. Great joy can be a Christian’s who, having sinned, having felt guilty about his wrong, and having repented toward God and committing himself to righting the wrong done, is on his way to freedom from the consequences of his wrong.
Are you in debt? You should set yourself on a course of action to be free from that debt, never to get into debt again. But between here and there, once you are reconciled to God’s way being better than the world’s way, you can enjoy the joy that comes from the Spirit of God having shown you your wrong, having then shown you God’s right, and bringing you clear of your enslavement to debt.
Might I suggest that while you are clearing yourself of debt, you train your children, and put yourself in a position to help your children, so they never go into debt themselves ... for any reason? Some problems are so big that they take two generations to deal with. So, you be the generation that starts solving this debt problem and doing what you can to making sure no other generation of your heirs ever sinks into debt for any reason ever again.
I close with an anecdote. How could Jewish immigrants from Russia come to the USA at the beginning of the 20th century and end up owning entire blocks of Manhattan by the time they died? They clung to a single principle they learned from their religious upbringing in Russia. Never borrow. Only loan. When economic times are good, the money you loan will be repaid with interest, and you come out ahead. When economic times are bad, your loan will default and you will end up with the collateral for the loan, and you come out ahead. Either way you win, because “the borrower is servant to the lender,” Proverbs 22.7.
Take this approach in your own life and raise your children to see the utter folly of borrowing and the wisdom of loaning. I think the cause of Christ would be far better off if those of us who claim Christ handled money this way.
__________
[1] John F. Walvoord & Roy B. Zuck, General Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1983), page 100, Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans - ECNT, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 1998), page 691, Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle To The Romans - NICNT, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996), page 812, William Hendricksen, Exposition Of Paul’s Epistle To The Romans, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1981), pages 438-439, Robert Haldane, Commentary On Romans, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1988), page 596, Rene A. Lopez, Romans Unlocked: Power To Deliver, (Springfield, MO: 21st Century Press, 2005), page 259, John Gill, An Exposition of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans - Newport Commentary Series, (Springfield, MO: Particular Baptist Press, reprinted 2002), page 497.
[2] Exodus 22.25; Leviticus 25.36-37; Deuteronomy 23.19-20; Nehemiah 5.7, 10; Proverbs 28.8; Isaiah 24.2; Matthew 25.27; Luke 19.23
[3] See footnote for Romans 13.8 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), pages 1718-1719.
[4] Frederic Louis Godet, Commentary On Romans, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications), page 446, Handley C. G. Moule, The Epistle To The Romans, (London: Pickering & Inglis Ltd., New Edition), page 358, B. H. Carroll, An Interpretation Of The English Bible, Volume 5, (Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2001), vol 3, page 199.
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