Love and a Christian's Debt Ceiling

Romans 13: 8-10 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The worldly political parties continue to bicker and disagree about the nation's debt ceiling and how to move forward together. They dig their heels into their pre-formed positions and petulantly shake their fists at each other. Our country is now 14 trillion dollars in debt. Even on a personal level we cannot escape debt. The average college graduate is $20,000 in debt. The average household carries over $14,000 in credit card debt. But beyond the dollars and cents debates and the weight of monetary debt, there is a larger debt we all owed. It weighed down our souls and consigned our spirit to an eternity separated from God. But thank God that He paid that debt for us. Jesus Christ not only raised our debt ceiling He eliminated it!

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2: 13-14 (ESV)

Let's take this apart to better understand what we need to be thankful for every day of our lives. First of all, we had a record of debt when it came to God. We were indebted to Him. God created us and thus has the right to set the demands any way He sees fit upon His creation. But we sometimes think we can usurp the place of God:

No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, "Why have you made me like this?" When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles. Romans 9: 20-24 (NLT)

God is the potter and He has the right to design us as He sees fit. Obedience is what He expects and since the Garden of Eden, we have fallen woefully short. The result of falling short is known collectively as sin. You don't hear a lot about sin anymore in modern American churches. Sin reminds us how bad we really are. Unfortunately that doesn't sell to the "me" generation very well. We do not want to hear about how God truly sees us:

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3: 10-18 (NIV)

God doesn't mince words beloved. Our sin condition is very real. There are not seven steps to a better you there is only one. That is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through His blood shed on an old wooden cross, that we can ever be seen as clean again before a holy God. But like we do not hear a lot about sin, we also do not hear much about the blood anymore:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1John 1: 7 (NIV)

But we have seen the modern church movement start to move away from discussing sin and enter into a bloodless Christianity. Because it easier to market. Because it sells better. Because it is what people want to hear, as foretold by God:

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2Timothy 4: 2-4 (NIV)

We have seen the explosion of theories within church systems, which are merely myths for people to turn aside to. We have seen the emergent myth. We have seen the seeker-friendly myth. We have seen the purpose driven myth. But without sound doctrine which includes the fact that we are born sin sick and need the healing and cleansing that can only come from the blood of Jesus, we will continue to have packed church houses of people who are not going to heaven. We do not need to be an emerging, seeker-friendly, purpose driven sheep. We need to be a humble, repentant, and regenerate sheep. Because there is a debt that we owe to God and we cannot pay it ourselves beloved. That debt is so high, it is pressing up against our debt ceiling. If it is not paid in full, then the punishment is an eternity separated from God.

The Colossians verses also teach us that our record of debt stood against us with legal demands. In the world, when you owe money, there are legal demands made upon you to repay your debt. Credit card companies can garnish your wages to make sure they get their money back. What legal demand does our sin carry against us with Almighty God?

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6: 23 (NLT)

Wages are what you earn. Death is what we truly deserve for our sin. It is the legal requirement we have for the debt we owe. Once again, not a politically correct message, but an accurate one. But thank God that He doesn't leave us in this condition. Thank God He doesn't send our bill to collections. Because the enemy sure likes to collect these debts. No; God had a payment plan in mind that would set us free from the legal requirements. A one time payment plan:

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Romans 3: 23-26 (NLT)

But the enemy still likes to accuse us. Night and day he makes accusations against us. He whispers in our ears about our sin condition but nothing about the ransom that was already paid for it. He will whisper about our cheating, our lying, and our deceitfulness. He will whisper about our sexual sins, our sins in our thought life, and our sins of apathy. He will keep us tied and shackled to that event in our past through guilt and shame and feelings of unworthiness. But realize the last lesson from the Colossians verses is that God took all of those debts and nailed them to the cross!

That thing you have told no one about that happened when you were 10 years old? God nailed it to the cross for you. That failed marriage or relationship you can't seem to get over? God nailed it to the cross for you. Your past as a drug addict, alcoholic, or adulterer? God nailed it to the cross for you. Realize that every time you insist on marinating in the failures of your past that you literally climb back up on the cross and take these things back from Jesus who took them from you. Leave them on Calvary's hill today and walk in the freedom you deserve as someone who has had your debt canceled by Almighty God!

And what does God expect for this payment He has made on our behalf? What is the interest He charges us? Going back to the key verses today we see the only payment He expects out of us is love. That is an ongoing debt. God even gets specific here to prove His point. How can you say that you love someone and then steal from them? That is why stealing is sin. How can you say you love someone and then murder them? That is why murder is a sin. Adultery and coveting are not based in love either, so they are sin. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves as Jesus once taught as well:

One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" Jesus replied, "'You must love the L ord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Matthew 22: 35-40 (NLT)

Can you imagine trying to trap God with a question? Remember this exchange if someone ever tries to trap you regarding your beliefs. The answer is always love. In fact, Jesus goes as far as to say that the entire law and all of the demands of the prophets are based on loving God and loving each other. In fact, Jesus gave a new commandment to us all before He went to pay our debt on Calvary's hill:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." John 13: 34-35 (NLT)

Love each other. That sounds simple enough but how short do we all fall? Just as Christ loved us beloved. That means loving each other unconditionally. That means not holding anyone liable for the debts they owe. For the mistakes they make. If you want to know why it seems more and more difficult to see souls won for the Kingdom in these the end days look no further than John 13: 35. We fall so precipitously short of fulfilling this new commandment from our Lord and Savior and the world is watching. If they see this is how we treat each other, without love, where is their incentive? They need to want what we have.

It is interesting that the key verses conclude today by saying that love, is the fulfillment of the law. The result of following the laws God laid out in the Old Testament would be love. But man in his sinful state cannot possibly love at the level God desires for us. His law would never be fulfilled through our human flesh. The result is we owed a debt to God for not being able to fulfill His law, to love as He wanted for us. That debt hit a ceiling that could not be raised so God designed an eternal payment plan through His only Son Jesus Christ. These were His words about fulfilling the law:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5: 17 (NIV)

Love is the fulfillment of the law. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. Jesus is love. And all He asks is that we remember how much He loved us when we are dealing with each other. That is the only debt that is to remain outstanding. To love one another. There is a world watching us right now. They need to see the love of God in us and through us. Show it today.

Reverend Anthony Wade August 2, 2011