Romans 13:8-14
The book of Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
When you ask God for something, are you okay with how he wants to accomplish that prayer?
Would you use this church to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations?
MAIN IDEA: Five questions I must wrestle with when I choose to pursue holiness.
Do my obligations prevent me from loving ALL people?
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
I think there are passages in the Bible that would discourage Christians to carry debt.
Exodus 22:14 says, “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution.”
Psalm 37:21 says, “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives;”
Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”
But I don’t see any place in the Bible that clearly states debt is sin, not even verse 8. We could go find some verses and arrange them in a way to make that argument, but we’re not going to do that. I think Paul’s point here is that loving humans should have a greater priority than obligations. So, we can look at the context of the entire passage and draw this conclusion:
When obligations override the ability to love other human beings, debt can be sinful. In other words, if we owe anything to anybody, and that prevents us from spilling Jesus all over the place - we need to learn how to live without debt.
There might be other obligations that override the ability to love humans. Paul lists some the commandments in verse 9. When should not do those things. Unbelievers should not do those things. However, we should expect people that don’t love Jesus to act like they don’t love Jesus. The Pharisees added rules to Jewish living all the time. It is possible that our personal preferences and lists of rules can be sinful, if they override the ability to love all people.
Here are some examples:
Sausage way better than bacon.
College sports better than professional sports.
Ham better than turkey.
Those are silly and don’t often divide people. A little more serious ~ I have pastor friends who preach on Sunday morning wearing a t-shirt, or their hat backwards, or hoodie and jeans. For reasons that are not important, that bothers me. If I refused to be their friend because how the dress when they preach, I just SINFULLY became obligated to something other than loving all people.
Do I unselfishly love my neighbor?
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Maybe you know the story when Jesus was asked who are my neighbors and he replied with the parable of the good samaritan. Yes, a neighbor is person that is consistently in your circle of influence, but it’s also the person that sleep within a football field distance from your pillow. How are you doing unselfishly loving those neighbors? Don’t be foolish in how your give love, but here are some considerations.
Love feels needs.
Love cares deeply.
Love does not harm.
Love seeks good.
Love looks for understanding.
Love walks in the steps of Christ.
How is my spiritual blanket victory?
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
What do I mean by that?
Physical blanket victory is the ability to get out of bed for no reason. Either, we have victory over our blankets or our blankets have victory over the rest of our day.
Spiritual blanket victory. All of us should agree that we are closer to Jesus returning than Paul was. I don’t get caught up in end times conversations for one reason ~ If we actually believed that Jesus could return today, and we lived like Jesus could return today, the world would be a much different place. That’s spiritual blanket victory. Stop being casual about Christianity, end the spiritual nap, get working on why God has you on this earth.
What is feeding my soul?
12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
As believers, our soul has been redeemed, our inner person has been renewed, but somedays our hands and feet need to catch up a little bit. Paul said, “I do what I don’t want to do, and I don’t do the things I want to do.”
There are lots of things competing to feed our soul and influence how we see the world around us. How is social media helping you pursue holiness? How is your favorite news channel helping you pursue holiness? How are your favorite shows and movies helping you pursue holiness? How is your music helping your pursue holiness? How are your video games helping you pursue holiness? How are your friends helping your pursue holiness?
Is something weighing you down? Are you discouraged? Do you feel defeated? The things you cling to in those moments are often the things that are feeding your soul.
What is winning in your life right now? Do you need help feeding your soul?
Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem.
Have I divorced my sin and embraced who I am in Christ?
13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Jot down 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Jot down Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Present the path to salvation concisely and clearly!!! Today can be your day to know Jesus personally.
