14I
am a debtor to both Greeks and barbarians, to both wise and unwise ones; 15thus,
for my part, I am ready also to preach the Gospel to you, those in Rome.
As I started studying these verses, Paul’s beginning words
caught my eye. “I am a debtor.” I wondered, “Do I really understand what he is
saying?” Of course we can all run ahead and say, “We are all debtors! Jesus
died for us and now we live indebted to live for Him, etc., etc.” But does
anyone really think those thoughts as they walk through their day? Does the word
“debtor” keep coming to your mind? I doubt it. It doesn’t to mine either. So
rather than run ahead with all the standard Christianese and clichés, I think
there is value in just pausing and asking myself, “Do I really understand this?”
And so I ponder and study.
Debt is, in general, a bad thing of course. In Romans 13:8,
Paul instructs us, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt
to love one another…” Proverbs warns us the borrower is servant to the lender.
The wise man, in general, avoids situations where he would place himself into
debt. On the other hand, there is a sense in which you cannot avoid it. Either
the gas company provides me with gas all month and at the end, I owe them, or
perhaps I could pay them up front, then they owe me. Either way, someone ends
up owing someone else.
As human beings, we depend heavily on each other all day
every day. When someone does me a service of any kind, I owe them something, if
not simply gratitude – but even that is a “debt,” something I owe. How often do
we say to one another, “Thanks! I owe you one for that.” There’s also the
negative sense of how we may hurt each other and so we pray, “Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors.” Then I noted from my studies throughout the Bible
people owe debts to one another, then they owe debts to God; but God is never
indebted. He is the great Giver. He owes us nothing. One may object that He
owes us the fulfillment of His promises, but a moment’s thought will conclude
that is another matter. Who obligated Him to keep His promises? He did. Once again,
He owes us nothing. We owe Him everything.
That is why salvation has to be of grace. As Paul will go
on to say in Romans 4:2-5, “If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had
something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now
to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However,
to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their
faith is credited as righteousness.” Salvation cannot be by works for a number
of reasons, but here is just one more – God is never and can be never a debtor.
He is the great Giver. I cannot “earn” salvation, or I would put God in a
position that He “owes” it to me. No, no, no. He gives. We receive. We are
indebted to Him. We are in many ways indebted to each other. These debts to God
and to each other are very real and call us to respond faithfully.
Now this is where my mind takes off. Let’s put it in
terms we hear and think about all the time. We all know too many people whose
whole life is lived imagining that everyone else owes them something. They
basically see life as if everyone else is indebted to “me.” They can and will
rehearse for you all the ways others have failed them, all the things others
ought to do for them. That kind of people make lousy spouses and lousy bosses,
lousy workers. What does Paul say? “I am a debtor.” Before we even dissect exactly
what he means, stop and think about what he is saying. He’s saying, “I owe the
world. The world doesn’t owe me.” “I’m the debtor.”
Here we go again with the Christian mind. What does the Christ-like
person say? “Even the Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister,
and to give His life a ransom for many.” A Christian could say, “I should be a
servant. I should be like Jesus and put others first.” That is great, but have
we ever really wrestled with this question of debts? Do I see myself first of
all as truly and completed indebted to God? All that I am, all that I have, my
very salvation itself, I owe to God; and then there is my life -- where would I
be if I hadn’t had my wonderful loving parents? Along with them, I have received
so much from teachers, coaches, bosses, friends. And there is my wife and my
children. I am the undeserving recipient of blessings utterly beyond my wildest
imagination. I think of the words, “How can I do less, than give Him my best,
when He has done so much for me?”
As believers, this ought to be our very deliberate and
practiced attitude toward life: “I am a debtor.” I can never, ever repay the
debt I owe to God and so, so many people, but I can spend the rest of my life
trying. In Paul’s case, the Lord called him to preach the Gospel, and he says, “I’m
ready.” What has he called you and me to do? Has He called you to be a spouse?
A parent? A butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker? Whatever He’s called us to,
we should work hard at it, always feeling underneath it all that we are the debtors.
We have met the debtor – and he is us!
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