Week 57 - Free Weekend Program for Street & Vulnerable Children

Text : Romans 13:6-10

Theme : Owe no Debt Except Love

6.This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.

7. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.

8. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

9. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

10. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.

We must support those who rule and govern over us. They work mostly on a full-time basis, dedicating their time, skills, and talents to maintain order and guide us; this is funded by the taxes and revenues we pay.

Always remember that these governing authorities are God’s ministers. He appoints them to oversee physical, not spiritual, matters, and He wants us to support them by paying our taxes, revenues, customs duties, etc. We must do this accurately, not out of fear of punishment—which is often guaranteed, for "they do not bear the sword in vain" (Romans 13:4)—but in obedience to God. He sees all we do and desires that we maintain a clean conscience, as we studied last week.

For this reason, give to everyone what is due to them: pay the required taxes, obey traffic rules, pay vehicle license fees, business fees, customs duties, etc. Honour your parents, and respect your teachers in everything good (everything not opposed to the written word of God). Similarly, obey the leaders God has placed over you in church and fellowship; submit to them in everything godly. Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."

This is extremely important. Notice that leaders will give an account to God regarding your soul and how they have watched over you with the truth of God’s word. Giving an account to God is not easy; He checks both the motive and the method, even when the words are true. It takes the grace of God to serve as a leader.

James 3:1 tells us, "Not many of you should become teachers (serving in an official teaching capacity), my brothers and sisters, for you know that we (who are teachers) will be judged by a higher standard (because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly)."However, remember that we studied in Romans 12:8 that God has given each one of us a spiritual gift, and leadership is one of them. If we have the gift of leadership, He will enable us to use it to serve others diligently, doing our very best to the glory of God. So don’t shy away or feel inadequate like Gideon in Judges 6:15, and don’t become proud like King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16.

Also, God wants us to make their work easy by being obedience, diligent and faithful to every godly instruction they give; this will make serving us joyful for them. Being disobedience and a burden to leaders over us does us no good, it doesn’t please God. and we will find no joy disobeying God.

Let’s go further to verse 8, it says "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law."

A wicked person borrows and does not pay back (Psalm 37:21). It’s been a great immeasurable blessing to see how God rescued me from wicked prosperity gospel teachings. There, people borrow and wish death upon their lenders so they never have to repay what they owe. They hold special sessions, like "jubilee services," with ungodly ministrations for "debt cancellation," invoking the names of lenders and using the blood of Christ to "cancel financial debts," referencing Deuteronomy 15.

The problem with this self-serving religious appeal, done with constant reference to Deuteronomy 15 and vicious incantations in reference to 1 Samuel 15:23 and Exodus 22:18 (“suffer not a witch to live”), is that it contradicts Matthew 7:12 which says “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Think about this for a minute: would you like your creditor to wish or invoke death upon you so they never have to repay their loan, how would that feel if you hear it ? Listen carefully, If you must borrow, then plan and work hard to repay what you owe. Debt cancellation is rare, but if the lender decides to cancel your debt, great! It’s a gift from God, not a spiritual privilege earned because you pay tithes or because you have “laboured in prayer.”

Christ died for our sin debt. He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, that spoke contrary to us, He nailed it to the cross where he was crucified. ColossiaText : Romans 13:6-10

Theme : Owe no Debt Except Love

6.This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.

7. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.

8. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

9. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

10. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.

We must support those who rule and govern over us. They work mostly on a full-time basis, dedicating their time, skills, and talents to maintain order and guide us; this is funded by the taxes and revenues we pay.

Always remember that these governing authorities are God’s ministers. He appoints them to oversee physical, not spiritual, matters, and He wants us to support them by paying our taxes, revenues, customs duties, etc. We must do this accurately, not out of fear of punishment—which is often guaranteed, for "they do not bear the sword in vain" (Romans 13:4)—but in obedience to God. He sees all we do and desires that we maintain a clean conscience, as we studied last week.

For this reason, give to everyone what is due to them: pay the required taxes, obey traffic rules, pay vehicle license fees, business fees, customs duties, etc. Honour your parents, and respect your teachers in everything good (everything not opposed to the written word of God). Similarly, obey the leaders God has placed over you in church and fellowship; submit to them in everything godly. Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."

This is extremely important. Notice that leaders will give an account to God regarding your soul and how they have watched over you with the truth of God’s word. Giving an account to God is not easy; He checks both the motive and the method, even when the words are true. It takes the grace of God to serve as a leader.

James 3:1 tells us, "Not many of you should become teachers (serving in an official teaching capacity), my brothers and sisters, for you know that we (who are teachers) will be judged by a higher standard (because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly)."However, remember that we studied in Romans 12:8 that God has given each one of us a spiritual gift, and leadership is one of them. If we have the gift of leadership, He will enable us to use it to serve others diligently, doing our very best to the glory of God. So don’t shy away or feel inadequate like Gideon in Judges 6:15, and don’t become proud like King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16.

Also, God wants us to make their work easy by being obedience, diligent and faithful to every godly instruction they give; this will make serving us joyful for them. Being disobedience and a burden to leaders over us does us no good, it doesn’t please God. and we will find no joy disobeying God.

Let’s go further to verse 8, it says "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law."

A wicked person borrows and does not pay back (Psalm 37:21). It’s been a great immeasurable blessing to see how God rescued me from wicked prosperity gospel teachings. There, people borrow and wish death upon their lenders so they never have to repay what they owe. They hold special sessions, like "jubilee services," with ungodly ministrations for "debt cancellation," invoking the names of lenders and using the blood of Christ to "cancel financial debts," referencing Deuteronomy 15.

The problem with this self-serving religious appeal, done with constant reference to Deuteronomy 15 and vicious incantations in reference to 1 Samuel 15:23 and Exodus 22:18 (“suffer not a witch to live”), is that it contradicts Matthew 7:12 which says “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Think about this for a minute: would you like your creditor to wish or invoke death upon you so they never have to repay their loan, how would that feel if you hear it ? Listen carefully, If you must borrow, then plan and work hard to repay what you owe. Debt cancellation is rare, but if the lender decides to cancel your debt, great! It’s a gift from God, not a spiritual privilege earned because you pay tithes or because you have “laboured in prayer.”

Christ died for our sin debt. He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, that spoke contrary to us, He nailed it to the cross where he was crucified. Colossians 2:14. We broke all the laws of God James 2:10 and incurred eternal consequences - eternal liabilities upon ourselves. We were liable to death—eternal damnation—but Jesus paid it all and redeemed us. He became the sin-bearer and made atonement—sacrifice with His own life. Then God forgave our sins and set us free from the power and punishment of sin.

This is the true jubilee—freedom from the bondage of sin by the finished work of Christ. Sin is no longer our master. We owe nothing to the law; we died to the law in the body of Christ and are now married to Him who was raised from the dead, so that we should bear fruit to God (Romans 7:4). That fruit is love. This is spiritual, God’s kingdom is spiritual. it has no guaranty for financial or material debt cancellation.

In conclusion, owe nothing to any one except love; Love is the debt we now owe to all, to everyone. Love does no evil to his neighbour. Think about the good things you would like for yourself and wish those things for your neighbour. Go further by praying for them, even for those who are your enemies. love your neighbour as yourself; would you like to see harm or evil come to you? No! Then don’t wish it or act it upon someone else.

Finally, the Ten Commandments are God’s law to us. The first four are unto God, and the last six are to others. However, by loving God and our neighbours as ourselves, the entire law is fulfilled. If we love God, we will obey Him sincerely from our hearts. And if we love our neighbours, we will treat them with kindness, respect, and truth. Through the grace of God, we can take delight in loving God and loving our neighbours without being overly concerned about the law, because love satisfies the law.ns 2:14. We broke all the laws of God James 2:10 and incurred eternal consequences - eternal liabilities upon ourselves. We were liable to death—eternal damnation—but Jesus paid it all and redeemed us. He became the sin-bearer and made atonement—sacrifice with His own life. Then God forgave our sins and set us free from the power and punishment of sin.

This is the true jubilee—freedom from the bondage of sin by the finished work of Christ. Sin is no longer our master. We owe nothing to the law; we died to the law in the body of Christ and are now married to Him who was raised from the dead, so that we should bear fruit to God (Romans 7:4). That fruit is love. This is spiritual, God’s kingdom is spiritual. it has no guaranty for financial or material debt cancellation.

In conclusion, owe nothing to any one except love; Love is the debt we now owe to all, to everyone. Love does no evil to his neighbour. Think about the good things you would like for yourself and wish those things for your neighbour. Go further by praying for them, even for those who are your enemies. love your neighbour as yourself; would you like to see harm or evil come to you? No! Then don’t wish it or act it upon someone else.

Finally, the Ten Commandments are God’s law to us. The first four are unto God, and the last six are to others. However, by loving God and our neighbours as ourselves, the entire law is fulfilled. If we love God, we will obey Him sincerely from our hearts. And if we love our neighbours, we will treat them with kindness, respect, and truth. Through the grace of God, we can take delight in loving God and loving our neighbours without being overly concerned about the law, because love satisfies the law.