In Debt

OWE NO ONE

300 Illustrations for Preachers Detroit Residents Have the Least Debt

Detroit Residents Have the Least Debt

Psalm 37:21; Proverbs 22:7; Romans 13:7–10

Preaching Themes: Debt, Freedom, Money, Slavery, Wealth

The city of Detroit famously filed bankruptcy in the summer of 2013. But according to a study by Experian, citizens of Detroit actually carry, on average, the least amount of personal debt of the top 20 U.S. cities by population. The amount is still a staggering $23,604 per household, not including mortgage debt. The dubious distinction of the city with the highest amount of personal debt is held by Dallas, with $28,240 per household. And while Detroit residents were steadily reducing their debt, with a 7.1 percent decline over the previous four years, Dallas residents were going in the opposite direction, with a 7.8 percent increase over the same period.

Scripture is clear that financial debt makes one a prisoner. There is a reason having no debt is called financial freedom.

WE ARE IN DEBT

Romans 1:14 LEB

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Romans 8:12–13 LEB

So then, brothers, we are obligated not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 13:5–7 LEB

Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are servants of God, busily engaged in this very thing. Pay to everyone what is owed: pay taxes to whom taxes are due; pay customs duties to whom customs duties are due; pay respect to whom respect is due; pay honor to whom honor is due.

v 8 says to owe no one anything, it means pay whats owed don’tlet debt be outstanding…except love

we can never say, “I have done all the loving I need do.” Love is a permanent obligation, a debt impossible to discharge. As Origen put it long ago, “The debt of charity is permanent, and we are never quit of it; for we must pay it daily and yet always owe it

Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 467–468.

who is my neighbor?

Luke 6:32–34 LEB

“And if you love those who love you, what kind of credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good to those who do good to you, what kind of credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same! And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive back, what kind of credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal amount!

Luke 10:30–37 LEB

And Jesus replied and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who both stripped him and beat him. After inflicting blows on him, they went away, leaving him half dead. Now by coincidence a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. And in the same way also a Levite, when he came down to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. But a certain Samaritan who was traveling came up to him and, when he saw him, had compassion. And he came up and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine, and he put him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him, and whatever you spend in addition, I will repay to you when I return. Which of these three do you suppose became a neighbor of the man who fell among the robbers?” So he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” And Jesus said to him, “You go and do likewise.”

LOVE THEM LIKE YOU

“love your neighbor as yourself”

The exact phrase “love one another” is written 12 times in the KJV Bible.

LOVE IS A FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW

Summed up in the one statement

Paul doesn’t quote the first commandment because he is writing to Saints and assuming that’s a given at this point in the letter he has made clear the gospel

Means of fulfillment HOLY SPIRIT

Ch 7 flushes out that we are incapable of fulfilling the law since we are fallen

But God has done for us what the law was unable to do. By the power of the Holy Spirit through the death of His son, God did in fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law

Nature of fulfillment LOVE

LOVE DOES NO HARM

AGAPE is selfless love which CANNOT be turned in on self, and self love is the essence of sin.

these are all prohibitions of the second table of the law which all bring harm and come from our fleshly desires of self love