Romans
Series: Lessons in Living and Loving
July 12, 2015
Message Two:
Love Long and Prosper
Romans 13:8-14
Intro: Fans of the television show, Star Trek, will quickly recognize the
play on words in the title. In the series, the typical “Vulcan” greeting is,
“Live long and prosper.” In this passage, Paul encourages the Romans
and us to “Love long” – and the result will be a kind of prosperity for our
lives!
Leonard Nimoy who played Spock on the original Star Trek series
explanation of sign … similar to shape of the Hebrew letter Shin – first
letter of word Shaddai – first letter of word Shalom – first letter of
Shekinah – He had seen rabbis hold their hands out like that in
synagogue services and he decided to incorporate that into the series as
a blessing!
Following up on the most recent section of the letter, in which Paul
taught the Romans how they should be living in relationships to the
government, he now teaches them how to live in general! Again, he had
a lot to say in the first eight chapters to the Jewish believers, then in
chapters nine through eleven to the Gentile believers. He is clearly now
speaking to all believers.
Big Idea: Loving right leads to living right.
T.S.: Three thoughts along this line 1. Love long
Romans 13:8 - Owe nothing to anyone— except for your obligation to
love one another…
Paul closed the last section in which he encouraged submission to the
governing authorities by making the case that Christians are to be faithful
tax-payers. So, by continuing on with this theme, he certainly does not
want them to be in debt to the government! We all know this could lead
to trouble!
But it is not just the government to which we should pay our debts. We
should pay our debts to anyone to whom we have the obligations.
Some argue that the Christian should never go into debt, period. Others
would respond that such a command and choice is impossible, or at
least it would make life in many cases extremely difficult. Is that what
Paul is saying? Should a believer never go into debt, even for a house
or a car?
The above quote is from the New Living Translation – let’s look at some
others:
NASV - Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another…
NIV - Let no debt remain outstanding…
New Revised Standard - Owe no one anything, except to love one
another…
God’s Word Translation - Pay your debts as they come due…
The Message - Don’t run up debts…
From the Greek, the original word means – to be under obligation … to
fail in duty … be bound …
Clearly, when you are in debt, you are in bondage. You can be in
bondage to the government, in bondage to a mortgage company, in
bondage to any lending agency for anything. The more debt you have,
the more the bondage, the less freedom, and the less ability to use your
resources for God’s work.
If you do not interpret this passage as commanding every believer to
stay completely out of debt, you would at least have to agree that every
debt should be paid. Not debt should be outstanding. That would lead
to even greater bondage.
Patrick Clements, founder & longtime president of Church Extension
Plan, a Christian organization which helps raise money for churches, and
offers advice on investments, building capital and leadership issues,
argues that to be “debt-free” does not mean that one is never in debt.
But as long as the debt one has is manageable and resources to build
God’s Kingdom are not being quenched, the person can be considered
“debt-free” or free of the bondage of debt.
There is no “law” here to never have debt – but at the very minimum, any
debt a believer has should never go without being paid.
There is a “law” here, though, that Paul is trying to emphasize even more
than the discussion about debt. It is the “law of love.” That is the highest
obligation we have and it should always be paid!
Romans 13:8-10 - If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the
requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not
commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not
covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this
one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no
wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
Paul lists here four of the “Ten Commandments” which God gave to
Moses on Mount Sinai, recorded in Exodus 20. In that list, the first four
commandments deal with a person’s relationship with God. The last six
deal with our relationships with one another. These four, plus honoring
your father and your mother, and not testifying falsely against your
neighbor constitute the last six of those Ten Commandments.
At one point, the Jewish leaders were trying to trap Jesus and they
asked him about paying taxes – he responded,
Matthew 22:21 - …give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to
God what belongs to God.
Later in that same conversation –
Matthew 22:34-40 - But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced
the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again.
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 LORD 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.”
Jesus summed up all of the law and the demands of the prophets by
summing up all of the Ten Commandments in these two categories of
love: Loving God and loving one another.
That is our obligation – our highest obligation – that is what we owe. If
we obey these – all else follows naturally! This is the conversation Paul
is referring to in this passage.
It is all also summed up in what we call “The Golden Rule.” Many quote
this and don’t even know that it originated with Jesus in
Matthew 7:12 - “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.
This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
This command to LOVE LONG is urgent because -
2. The time is late
Romans 13:11-12 - This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it
is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than
when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will
soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on
the shining armor of right living.
We must keep in mind that our concept of “time” is quite a bit different
from God’s concept.
“He’s coming soon!” What does that mean to us? What does that mean
to God?
When we truly begin to understand the way God has worked with man
throughout all centuries and throughout all His covenants, we understand
that the “New Covenant” that was sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ
and confirmed by His resurrection, ascension and sending of the Holy
Spirit – that act began what the Scriptures refer to as “the last days.”
This is what Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost when He said that
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the fulfillment of Joel chapter 2.
This understanding runs throughout everything Paul has to say about his
expectation of the Lord’s return.
We are in the final moments of God’s dealing with mankind as He is
dealing with mankind now. We talk about so many things that should be
done because the signs of the times certainly point to Jesus returning
soon – Do you know what we should do most of all in light of this?
It is urgent for us to love one another! It is urgent for us get along and
not defraud one another and to be good witnesses of the life Christ has
for all people.
John 13:35 - Your love for one another will prove to the world that you
are my disciples.
2nd Corinthians 6:2 - … Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day
of salvation.
If we fail to love one another – if we fail to keep our obligations in this
world – then the opportunity for us to bring others into a relationship with
Jesus Christ before time runs out is diminished!
3. Live right
Romans 13:13-14 - Because we belong to the day, we must live decent
lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and
drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling
and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil
desires.
The realization that the hour is late and time is short should not only
motivate us to love one another, but it should also motivate us to live
right.
The word “decent” in this translation could also be rendered “honest.”
This goes back to the obligation to keep our debts. To not do so would
be dishonest and would be a bad representation of Christ.
Paul lists some things to avoid, if we are going to live right and be ready
for Christ’s return when time runs out –
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wild parties and drunkenness
sexual promiscuity and immoral living
quarreling
jealousy
In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul gives a longer list and is more clear about the
results:
Galatians 5:19-21 - When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the
results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish
ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other
sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone
living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
We participate in these things when we do not allow the Holy Spirit to be
in control of our lives. This is the “natural” result. If the “time” Paul is
referring to in Romans “runs out” and we are participating in these kinds
of activities, it seems like the inevitable result is missing out on being a
part of the Kingdom of God and all that promises for eternity for those
who have a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ!
Going on in the Galatians section, Paul went on to give the other option –
the “supernatural” result:
Galatians 5:22-23 - But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our
lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
There is no law against these things, because when we are living
according to the law of love that Jesus spoke about, which enables us to
fulfill all the law and the prophets, this is the result!
We don’t accomplish this simply by trying to or striving to. We are not
OK because we refrain from these evil things and we cannot produce the
kind of fruit described here simply by making the conscious effort to do
so.
Paul says, “clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is how we can live right! We make a conscious decision to “put
Christ on” at the beginning of the day, just like we put on our clothes.
We are not going to go out of the house naked, and we are not going to
go about our day “without Christ.”
The result is, we are “in Christ” – we are walking “in the Spirit” and “when
the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us…”
(Living Bible).
We begin to live “naturally supernatural”!
Concl: So, after Paul urges the Roman Christians to live in subjection
to the earthly authorities, because authority has been established by
God, he goes on to say that we should pay all our debts – and “the
greatest of these is love.” We should realize that time is running out for
us to influence people by our love. We should live right, for in failing to
do so we can fail to inherit the Kingdom of God.
Songs about loving God and loving one another?
Have people pray together in groups? …
These message notes are the intellectual property of Randy
Blankenship and are intended for the reader’s personal use only.
For any other use please contact Randy Blankenship at
RandyBlankenship@newlife4kokomo.org