Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”
The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Chapter 13:8-14)
This week we will conclude our reading of chapter 13, verses 8-14 as we consider Loving Our Neighbor in Jesus Christ…
If
we could boil the “Christian” life down to one
word, it would be – “obedience.”
By obeying the “truth” of God in His Word
and through the “Holy Spirit,” our “obedience” produces God’s “power,” “blessing”
and “joy” in our lives – all of which are essential elements of the Christian’s
life-long “walk” of “faith.” And “obedience”
is certainly at the very heart of our “life”
in Jesus Christ. Without “obedience”
and “holiness” through His “power” there is no “fulfillment”
in Him! In fact, the mark of genuine “salvation”
in Jesus Christ is to have a great and consuming “love”
and “passion” for “obedience”
to the “Word of God.” The essential
attitude of “love” within the true
child of God in Jesus Christ is what Paul addresses here in these excellent
passages…
Love Your
Neighbor!
The
“heart” that is willing to “obey” God – not out of legalistic “fear” or compulsion – but out of true
“love” for Him is indeed a blessed reality!
Therefore, the Apostle Paul begins with these thoughts pertaining to the “love” for “one another” in our
relationships of which is the “fulfillment”
and KEY attribute of the “Christian” life:
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “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 is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law – Romans 13:8-10
Remember,
Paul has just been writing about “paying”
our “taxes” in verses
6 and 7 and now goes from the “debts”
that we “owe” to the “government” to the “debts”
that we “owe” to our “one another”
relationships – the people in our lives. The
imperative here in this verse applies to every relationship. No “believer” is to have unpaid “debts” – we are to “owe no one anything” except for “love” in Jesus Christ!
INTERESTING
QUESTION: Does the term “Owe no one anything”
mean that we are not to be allowed “credit” in terms of finances? Does it
mean that we are not to borrow, earn money on interest nor have any
financial obligations? Is there no Biblical basis for borrowing anything,
anytime, for any reason? Good questions!
The
Old Testament book of Exodus chapter 22 has
an answer to this often debated issue:
If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest – Exodus 22:25
We
clearly see here that someone
obviously needs “money” for something! The word “interest” is the Old English word
for “usury” and means “exorbitant
interest” – or “gouging” someone. It simply means an “interest”
rate that is unfair. Therefore, we make no assumption that lending and borrowing is wrong. In
the case of a legitimate need, the
Bible does indeed advocate borrowing, as long as it is not an exorbitant “interest”
rate. The warning here is not to charge a high “interest”
rate just because a person is desperate and has no other choice. And we find
that to “lend money”
should also be done with a willing “heart”
as well!
However,
Paul’s focus here in this passage is clearly NOT referring to “money” at all, but rather the “debt” of true “love”
which is the “fulfillment of
the law” towards our “neighbor”
in Jesus Christ!
Put on
Jesus Christ!
Next
Paul essentially says: "Among all
these other exhortations, let me add this thought.."
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 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 – Romans 13:11-12
Paul
has already told us what to “do”
in regards to how we treat the “government”
given to “us” by God. Now he says we
must “do this” now “knowing” it’s “high time” that we “awake” from our “sleep” because “time” – kairos – this “age” is wasting! In other words, it's “time”
to be a “living sacrifice” for God.
It's “time” to be fully “dedicated” to God. It's “time” to not be “conformed to this world” in thought and
action. It's “time” to “use” our “spiritual
gifts” for God. It's “time”
to be properly “related” to “believers” and “unbelievers.”
It's “time” to “submit” to our “government”
rulers. It's “time” to “pay our taxes” and it's “time” to start “loving”
the way that God would have “us”
to “love” others. We must also “cast off”
the “works of darkness” and cloak ourselves with God’s “armor
of light.” Now is the time – There’s no time to waste!
Why? Because “our salvation is nearer than when we first
believed” What does that mean? Paul’s appeal
here is based on our final – Glorification! It is an eschatological motive. We “serve”
Jesus Christ because the “day”
is “coming” – the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ is at hand! And we've got to “wake up” NOW! This is a key
incentive to “holy” living. Throughout the
New Testament Christians are “called”
to “righteous” living based upon the “coming” of our “Lord”
and “Savior” Jesus Christ because He's going to evaluate
our “service”
to Him!
Christians
throughout the centuries have realized that the imminent Second Coming
of Jesus Christ is very “near.” Even James – the half-brother of
Jesus Christ – echo’s this “truth”
in his epistle to the Jewish “brethren”
of his day:
You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near – James 5:8
We
then see that we are not to be engaged in what is the evidence of “fleshly” and ungodly “desires.”
Those who habitually commit “sin”
as a willful life-style “choice”
do so in the “dark” so that they won't be
discovered in the “day”…
Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy – Romans 13:13
These
wicked people do their “revelry”
in the “night." They do their “drunkenness” in the “night." They do their “lewdness” & “lust” in the “night" by much “strife” and “envy."
However, this is not to be a part of the Christian’s life! We have no
place in a “drunken” party. We have
no place in a brawling barroom. We have no place in late-night “carousing” around in the
streets. That's not “proper”
activity in which a “Christian”
is to be engaged. We are to “walk
properly” in Jesus Christ! That is the typical “sin” pattern and “works of the flesh” that “are evident” and
habitually “practiced”
by those who will not “inherit
the kingdom of God”:
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God – Galatians 5:19-21
These
wicked “works” and attitudes are
something from the past part of our lives – not the “present.” We as true “believers”
are to have no part in such “practices.”
These are the “deeds of darkness” set aside
for the spiritually “dead”
– apart
from God. Therefore, Paul says “Let us walk properly” as “children” of the “day”
in the “righteousness”
of Jesus Christ being “led”
by the Holy Spirit!
This is
the Christian life!
Paul
then finishes this excellent chapter with one of the most direct exhortations
in all of Scripture:
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts – Romans 13:14
The
one who will “put on”
the “Lord Jesus
Christ” is garmented with His character, disposition,
attitude, habits and virtues. We must “make
no provision for the flesh” and its “lusts.” In the book of Acts, there
was a search for a pejorative term of those who followed Jesus Christ. The term
chosen by the unbelievers of that day
was "Christians” or “little Christs." We are to “put on” Jesus Christ – That's what “Christian” means!
In
fact, the Apostle Peter also addresses the issue of “sanctification of the Spirit” unto
“obedience” to God:
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ – 1 Peter 1:2
The
Sanctifying “power”
of the Holy Spirit is a “work”
unto “obedience” to Him. And “therefore” true “love” is the “fulfillment” of the “commandments” – Found throughout the Word of God!
When we came to saving “faith”
in Jesus Christ we “put on” His “righteousness,” His “holiness”
& His “nature.” God the “Son” willingly took our “sin” upon Himself and received the full “wrath” of God the “Father”
on our behalf! God now sees us as “righteous”
in
Jesus Christ from a positional sense.
Theologians often refer to this truth as forensic “righteousness” or declared “righteousness” in Him! Even the ancient rabbis used to talk about the true
“worshiper” of God “putting
on” the cloak of the Shekinah.
In other words, becoming “like”
the one he “worshiped!” – May that be said of us as well!
In closing:
There
are some people today who would say that the “Christian”
life is a matter of simply “letting go”
and “letting God” do it all. And
there is certainly a sense in which we must allow the “Holy
Spirit” and the “power”
of God to work through us. However, there must also be a tremendous amount of “effort” on our part to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”
and “obey” the Word of God!
Admittedly, the word “obedience” is not a popular word today. To
a child, “obedience” is a very threatening word. After all, “obedience” is an invasion of their world
of independence! The word “obedience” forces them away
from the things they most want to do and to
the things they least want to do! And some of that
childhood aversion to “obedience”
maintains itself right on through to adulthood, doesn’t it? – Yes it does!
This is true particularly of the unregenerate person – the one who
doesn’t personally “know” God through a saving “relationship” in Jesus Christ. To that
person, there is no desire at all to “obey”
God or His Word. This perspective of “obedience”
has no binding claim on the “life”
of an “unbeliever” – He does what he wants to do!
However,
we as “Christians” can deeply
sympathize with the godly and yet “carnal”
Apostle Paul when we found him also to be “warring”
with the “flesh” as a result of his “sin” nature:
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me – Romans 7:14-20
And
every
true “Christian” fights that very
same “sin” battle in the “flesh”… Need we say anything more? – Amen Paul!
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
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Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
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