Lesson 55a
Romans 13:8-14 · Mike Doyle · Jul 12, 2020
Romans (2018-21), No. 120
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261919306565

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

We are in lesson 55. Lesson 55 covers chapter 13, verses 8 through 14. So I thought, taking my lead from Courtney, we should probably read the verses, and then we'll go through the questions. So 8 through 14, there's a change in direction here. So, Romans chapter 13, starting with verse 8, Paul says, O no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, quote, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet and if there are any other commandment all are summed up in this saying namely you shall love your neighbor as yourself love does no harm to a neighbor therefore love is a fulfillment of the law and do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awaken out of sleep for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believe The night is far spent, the day is at hand, therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry or drunkenness, nor in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires. Okay.

Everybody get the handout? I think I sent it out a couple weeks ago. So first question is, what does this verse 8 tell us about debt? Personal debts. Pay it off. Don't owe anything. You're talking about money. Yeah, money. But there are other debts, too, I guess.

Now, what's interesting about this verb here, it says, this action has been going on. And what Paul says is, you need to stop this continue action. It was already going on and said, we need to stop this. We need to stop. So I hope none of you invested in a mortgage company. Or Bob Lockwood is retired. Otherwise, he'd have his bank door open tomorrow morning. So stop owing to anyone, even one thing. To do this is to continue owing a person. So on the positive side of that, what does it tell you about your debts? It tells you to pay them, pay them, you know? What's that? Keep them paid up. keep them paid up or get them paid off.

I think it's really important for believers, and I think the Lord would have us live like this, other than maybe a mortgage for your house, that you don't really carry any other debt. I mean, look at us Americans. We have the highest personal economy in the world.

You know, these people that have credit card debt is just desire for more stuff. And I think I was in the wrong business. I should have gotten involved in a credit card company because those guys have a license to steal, you know. Now, in the course of doing everyday business and family functions, are there circumstances where incurring a debt would be proper?

Sure, if you want to buy a house. Want to buy a house? Yeah? How about, how about you're driving your Ford down the street and it stops running? And you got a big repair bill. How about that kind of thing? Come on, you have to answer. If you don't have the money to pay it off right away, then yeah, you can, I think it's okay to incur debt there. So that leads me to another question. Does a believer have a responsibility to budget? Yes, I think so. Yeah. Definitely. OK. And in budgeting, you allocate. Well, let me start here.

Every one of us should understand that we don't own anything. We're just stewards of God's grace. And so whatever you've had in your life that you could quote unquote say is your possession, you're really a steward of it, including money. So if you're a good steward of his money, are you in a position to have your Ford stop working and not have somehow in the bank the money to pay for it without incurring a debt?

Or is that an unreasonable thought? No, that's not unreasonable at all. Should we plan for that kind of thing? If we have the means we should, yes. You know, if you're like Courtney, who's run his own company and other guys who have, you know, lived, like me, in commission sales and stuff, one of the things you have to do is you have to plan out so far with enough money socked away so that if your company goes through a rough time or you go through a rough time, you can still focus because nobody pays you for showing up on Monday. If you're the guy that's got the key to the building, then it's your responsibility to take care of what God has given you. And I think a lot of people, incurred debt based solely on, oh gee, I think I better have this thing, whatever this thing is. What do you think about that? Am I? So as a business owner, am I correctly planning because I have a business line of credit? Should I not have a business line of credit? Now that's the question I'm asking, should you or shouldn't you?

I think it's prudent, yeah. I mean, when 2008 happens, and the financial collapse, and work goes from 100% down to 60%, you know, and kids in college, and this and that, yeah, I mean, we had to tap it. But that, I think, was prudent planning. It was still owing a debt, but, you know, it was to you know, plan for that unexpected, you know, downturn.

So draw a line down the middle of the page, and on the left side, put down the things that you think... It went blank again, Mike. I did? This isn't doing anything. It hasn't ever... Is that better? Can you hear me? Yeah, you're light again. I'm light again? Now you're back. Now I'm back. You're all over the board. So while I'm talking, does it go up and down? You're good right now. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So, so take a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle on the left side. And sound went down again. It's all over the board, Mike. Huh? You're good right now. Again. Okay. I'll keep talking until somebody gives me a thumbs down.

And on the left side of the piece of paper, write all the things that you think you can borrow money for. And on the right side, write down all the things that you think you shouldn't borrow money for. And then compare it with the verse that says, owe no one anything except to love one another. So can I reasonably assume from that that as a believer, I'm not to owe anybody anything, or are there exceptions to that? It's like the same thing that Courtney taught when he said, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. Are there exceptions to that?

Turns out there aren't any. Right? So did you have a mortgage, Mike, ever? I did, yeah, but I haven't had one in a long time. So, okay, let's go back however many years and you had a mortgage to violate this verse? Oh, well, you know, sure. I totally did. Yeah. I don't think so. You don't? I really don't think so. I think, well, Constable, Dr. Constable says something that It's pretty interesting here.

He says, the NASB translation, owe nothing to anyone, is misleading because it contradicts Jesus' teaching to loan to those who want to borrow from you. Matthew 5, 20, 42 says, give to him who asks of you. Don't turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. So even Jesus said that.

And you know what's amazing to me? Dr. Constable, I believe, uses the NASB a lot, and he says the NIVs let no debt remain outstanding, avoids the problem, and gives the correct interpretation. I've never heard anybody speak so highly of the NIV, but here he does. I think it's necessary to really interpret that correctly.

He's not condemning debt, he's condemning the unpayment of debt. incurring penalties, you know. He says, pay your debts. Pay debts to the utility company every month. I would second that, Jim. I think the real focus here is the log portion. It's not the debt portion. It's, yes, take care of the debt side of things. Don't let that weigh over you. So you're saying financial debt creates a burden to loving one another?

I think it can. It absolutely can. But I think the verse here is about the commitment to shore those up, right? Because it can stand in the way. Okay. Yeah. I mean, you've got to pay it off as soon as possible, but you know, if you need to incur debt, then keep your payments up to date. Okay, so I think that's the key.

Yeah, I think we're getting there now, because I think that a transliteration is stop owing to anyone even one thing. In other words, once you sort of get your handle on this, and look where it is, it's in Romans chapter 13, talking about practical matters in a Christian's life. I think that there are, as a growing believer, this is one of those applications where you begin to think up, I have credit card debt, I have this debt, I have that debt, you know what, I need to start paying those off and get the zero on them so that I'm not dependent on them. And I think that's an important principle, you know.

Mortgages have limits in terms of time. 30 years, I think, is the normal one, but there's 15 and less. And that's, to answer your question, Courtney, that's what I did. You know, 20 some years ago, it dawned on me, you know, I can maneuver things in my life so that I can get rid of my mortgage fairly quickly. And I was able to do it. And it was a blessing that I was. But it's amazing when that debt is gone out of your life, what kind of resources you have to help other people if you're in a position to do that. So yeah, lots of Christians are in debt.

And, you know, I've sat with some and, you know, the old deal of, well, give me your credit cards. Let's take a look at your debt. How much are you paying? Okay, we're going to pay this card off, the next card off, the next card. We're going to get down to zero so that you're living, you're not living owing every cent that you make on installment payments to other people. And it's doable. In a year or two, you can pay off most of your debts. You really can.

So, and I think that what the Lord is telling us here, Paul is telling us, is that owing, like J.D. says, is to, you never run out of the fact that you should owe the love you have, love for your fellow believers, but get that financial debt out of the way if you can, because it leaves you a lot more time and resources to love one another. So that's question two, is there a debt that is proper to owe? The debt of love. That's exactly right. So pay all your debts, be indebted in the manner of love.

So as I exist on Sunday morning, July 12th, and I'm looking at, 17, 18 people on my screen. I have a debt to all of you to love you. Now some of you, it's pretty easy. Others. I'm waiting for the payment there, Mike. I wasn't talking to you. Way behind on your payments to me.

When you look at love as a debt, to be indebted in the manner of love, What's happened is that the demand of this debt increases. You ever notice that? Because the longer you know me, and the longer I know you, the harder it is to love me. Because you start to find out that there are certain things about me that aren't very lovable. I have a few questions.

And I agree with Courtney on that one. But yeah, so I guess define love here. What does it mean to love someone? We oftentimes think of that as a pursuance and everything's out of the way and it's just all love towards a person. Mike, you've got stories that you've told me. you know, about family and friends and situations.

How do you, how do you complete this, I wouldn't say a command, but this principle with everyone, even those that hurt you? Hard thing to do, which really leads into the next question. Courtney, what's the word for love here? Unfortunately I can't get to my computer. The one that I'm on has my...

I can get off and get there, but I don't know which one it is. you know what we're doing that too though, J.D., back to yours, remember what we just went through was about being at peace with all people? We just went through that, and now through authorities, through when you have been offended, when all those different things, this is very, we're very myopic in our little sections that we look at, but when you put it as a whole, remember this is the whole letter to the Romans. Remember all the things we went through about being offended and that you know be at peace with all people be subject to the authorities all these things fit together where again now try and be at peace with all people or love all and I think it's kind of the end culmination of all this is, you know, love is the key. And, you know, that omits offense and all the different things.

So, again, it fits in with the whole section. Yeah, I think you're right. This is Agape Love. That's the word here, agapeo. And it's this idea to regard with affection, love, and concern. Am I echoing? What's that? One of the key things here that I've learned is that you can learn affection and have concern for someone from a distance.

You don't have to place yourself into a harmful situation. You can still love them without being in a harmful situation. That's something that at least I've learned. It still fits with the verse. It doesn't mean that you have to uh... engage consistently or i mean obviously we we know this we know the scenarios where we where we love one another with great affection and we're close to someone uh... but you can love with affection from a distance as well that was just something that i thought i'd add and see if anyone had any thoughts on notice that uh... i want you to notice that it's a debt imposed on us as believers that we owe love to one another.

Now, I wish I had a line of credit for that. Well, Mike, why is that? It's because we have been extended grace and love to us. And so I think that's where, you know, we can pay it out or whatever. It's because the love that's extended to us through Christ. I think that's okay, but let's expand on that. And question three talks about that.

Does verse 8 and 9 make loving a law to be obeyed? Now, verse 8 and 9, You know we've been working on eight but nine for the commandments you shall etc etc and if there are any other commandment for all are summed up in this saying namely you shall love that your neighbor as yourself so the point is is Has a has every other law been taken off of our backs except for the law to love? Are we under an obligation to? from a legal standpoint to love and by legal standpoint i'm talking about if i love i get blessed if i don't i get cursed this is again the logical imperative it is not a cause and effect it is a result of and as i was saying that's because the love of christ extended to us we can extend love to others and i can't remember Remember though, like, again, which I, revenge is the Lord, but if you love your enemy, it's like heaping coals on his head, you know, but you're extending love to your enemy. And then, you know, do we love the authorities, both good and bad? Yeah, we have to be under the, and now we're to love. Remember the other commands too, that what, I forget where it is, where it's faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love.

Again, this is pointing to the same thing. This is a result of our life with life, Christ's life in us. It's a result of. Logical is the expression of our life, Christ's life in us. The logical expression is the love, you know, expressed. I have a question. Is this our love that fulfills the law or is it? Correct. That's a question. Is it our love? that is the fulfillment of the law? No, it's Christ's love working through us. I agree. So this is not a command in the sense of a way that we fulfill the law. Would you agree? It's not like we pull up our bootstraps and do our best to love people because that won't work, I don't think. I don't think so either, Russ.

So I wake up tomorrow morning and I I'm having trouble loving Courtney. What do I do about that? Because I just read my, I spent an hour in my Bible and I read through these verses and I went, oh gee, I hope Courtney doesn't find out that I don't love him right now.

That's just another day, that's Monday. No, but I mean, I'm serious with a dilemma like that, because we have people in our lives that are just, what's the contemporary term? They're just toxic people. And every time you're around them, they rub you the wrong way. And you just, what do you do? But what did the verses say about that? They're your enemy? What do you do to them? Well, they're not even an enemy. They may even be family.

Well, this goes back to my overall arching thing is you chose to be offended. Yeah, but that's a legal thing. That's not a gracious thing. No, that's your will saying. You chose to be offended. Okay. And that's, you know, when you get mad at me on Monday morning, you're choosing to be offended. Yes, I am. No question. And so, but that's your choice. I make that choice. That's right. I make that choice. So I'm just going to sit there and say, well, I'm just going to make this choice to not be offended by Courtney, but I still don't love him.

Well, and so this will be my thought, is that, and I use this terminology, I may not like the way that you treat me. It doesn't mean that you have the right to offend me to my core, you know, but I may not like something that you do to me. I'm talking about toxic people.

I may not like it, but I can still extend love to you. I can still respond graciously to the toxicity that you impose on me. So you don't have to like the way that people behave. You don't have to like them as how they are currently as a person, but we do owe them the love of Christ.

And I feel like that's where this verse would have me stand. Well, you know, J.D., the problem with that is that, you know, if I say to somebody, well, I'm supposed to love you, but I don't have to like you, that's nonsense. You know, you can't, I don't think you... I don't like the way you treat me. I don't have to like the way you... Sure. But then, so, I mistreat you, but Monday morning when you're reading your Bible, you better be loving me, boy. Well, you do love, but it's not your love, right?

It's Christ's love. There we go. You get out of the way. And it's a growing opportunity for us as well. When we face these toxic situations with folks, those are opportunities for you to grow in love. But you do owe them. But it's not because you're being forced. It's because that's what Christ is. That's who He is. It also goes back to the witness part.

If you show love to a toxic person, in time, you are an ambassador of Christ. You are showing Christ. You are different than everybody else. that responds angrily or whatever. I think those are opportunities for us to show the love of Christ to somebody who is toxic. And it's the understanding that you are a witness for Christ.

And by showing that love, that's an opportunity. And that's, you know, and if not, you go back to the verses that you're heaping, you know, coals on his head by showing love in an opportunity where normally you would hit back. Yeah, but you know, Courtney, I can say that that's not a very good motive. I'm going to go after this guy with love because I want to pile a bunch of hot coals on his head. He'll learn. He'll learn. I confess that. I confess that that's not the right motive. I'm just saying scripturally that's what happens. But I mean if you use it as a witness opportunity, I mean like I said, I use it like I said on the drill rig when everybody's you know being drillers, and you're different.

And that stands out, and people wonder why you're different. I think on the toxic person, you can be the very same. They're typically looking for some reason to get you riled up and going. When you don't, you're different. Why are you different? Why didn't you respond in kind and punch me in the face, or get in my face, and why didn't you do this?

I think it becomes a great opportunity to witness, because you're different. You have Christ's life in you, and it becomes an opportunity. All of these become opportunities for us. So would you say that opportunities give me, how do I say this, if I have an opportunity where someone is in my face, I have an opportunity to suck it up as a Christian and demonstrate love? I don't know if you should say, suck it up. You're just exhibiting the life of Christ. But how do I trigger that exhibition?

That's what I'm after. I think it's the yielding. I mean, it's Roman sex. It's yielding. OK. I see that the focus isn't, I agree with you, Alan. The focus is not on me and my performance. The focus is who do I submit myself to in terms of who's going to do the loving. I think J.D. hinted at it.

He didn't point out exactly, but I think we need to understand that love is not a feeling. Love is an action. We can't distance ourselves from our feelings because we're humans. We need to realize that we need to love these people whether we feel like it, whether we feel love or not.

I disagree somewhat. I think love is an emotion. It is an emotion. It's a feeling. But the root of where it comes out of is Christ. So I think it's a love, because love is an emotion, it's a feeling. I don't have a cold love for somebody that's mechanical and whatever. It's a feeling, it's an emotion. I think it goes back though, again Mike, to the thing about the offense. Who's being offended?

My old Adamic life or Christ life? And you're choosing to be offended and angry or whatever. So Christ chose to be offended by those guys that were selling stuff in the temple. Christ chose to be offended by those guys who were selling stuff in the temple. So he got angry and he kicked their tables over and threw them out. Right. He chose to be offended. Right. He did. That's correct. And rightly so. Well, how come he didn't do the same thing when they were crucifying him?

That's a personal offense. Yeah, there was a plan though about let's see before eternity started that that was going to happen. Now, okay. I think the fact that we're talking about a principle here that is not based on on me as an Adamic human being.

It's based on the fact that I am positioned in Christ, I have a new resurrected life, and the decision that I make is not to do. The decision I make, like Alan was saying, is to allow the Spirit to do in me. That's the decision I have to make. It isn't I decide to put a bunch of coals on your head. No, I'm subject to what the Holy Spirit would have me do through His power and the life of the Lord Jesus in me at any given moment. I walk in the Spirit. He's the one that effectuates and manifests that life. What's my decision? To let Him do it. Mike? Yeah.

Ok, so Galatians 5.22, the fruit of the spirit, the first thing mentioned is love. As we have talked in the past, I don't have any patients, but the fruit of the spirit does. And the fruit of the spirit has love, and so we are commanded to love because of the fruit of the spirit. We can't do it with ourselves, but we have to allow the fruit of the spirit to lift it up through us.

That's good, that's good. You know, there's a Hungry Heart recently that said, if you don't have patience, you don't go to the Lord and ask for patience, you go to the Lord and ask for the Lord who is patient. That's right. He's the one that's patient. He's the one that's the lover, you know. Go ahead.

1 Corinthians 13, 4, love is patience. Mm-hmm it is and by its very nature and that all the description of love is you know in first corinthians 13 It goes very detailed about what love is and the first thing is love is patient Love is kind not jealous. Love does not brag is arrogant.

You know so I just have one thing if I came real quick You can talk as long as you want you got three minutes Three of my life We're talking about agape love here. Yes, we are. We're also mixing love as a definition across a broader space. But just to kind of give a more simpler definition, this whole idea of agape love is just being unconcerned with yourself and concerned with the greatest good of others, right?

That's the nature of it. Right. And it's not born out of emotions. It's not born out of feelings. This is not the feeling type of love that we're talking about here. although love does feel. We've got other words for that. But in this particular verse, it's not born out of that side of things.

It's born out of the choice to be concerned with others and the greater good for them as a neighbor would. And I think that's really important to maybe bring the scope down to what Paul is intending here. And he sums that up with the neighborly love comment that follows in that set of verses there. So one last question I think will help sum this up.

Question four says, what does it mean to love as a fulfillment of the law? What's interesting about that phrase is that love is not law doing. Love is the fullness of the law. In other words, the one who loves has, without being under it, exhibited what the law sought.

Do you see that? There's a difference there. The law said, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love has, from another principle, even love and grace, sought no wrong to others. Love, therefore, is shown to be the fullness, not the fulfilling of the law.

What do you think about that statement? It's interesting. I don't quite understand that. When the verse says, in verse 9, I'm sorry, verse 8 says, who loves another has fulfilled the law. It doesn't say obeyed the law. It says you filled it. You fulfilled it. In other words, you weren't obeying a statute. What's happened is that the life you have in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's a life of love. By the virtue of the fact that you are a lover, you are fulfilling the law. Fulfilling it without even obeying it. It's part of being under grace. Does that make sense? Obedience isn't the issue here. Fulfillness is. That make sense, I hope? Yeah. Okay, guess what?

It's 945. So all of you who can't wait to get to church, we're gonna cut it off here. I'll pray and we'll pick up at question five next week. Thanks, great discussion this morning. Thanks a lot. So let me pray and we'll go. Father, how we thank you for your grace. We thank you for all of the mercies and grace that we live under from you and the life that we share in the Lord Jesus. And we pray in his name, amen.