Any Unpaid Debts?
Romans 1:1-16; 8:1-14
No man likes to live under the burden of unpaid debts. Of course, an honest debt is often a stimulus to harder work and greater thrift! But most of us are happy when the debt is finally paid.
Christians have some spiritual debts that, in one sense, can never fully be paid. Romans 1:14-15 informs us that we are debtors to every lost soul to tell them the good news of the gospel. “I am debtor!” Paul admitted, and he did everything possible to pay that debt.
What would you think of the man who possessed the means to save a friend’s life, yet refused to act? Or the lifeguard who was strong enough to rescue a drowning child, yet who turned his eyes away and refused to move? We would consider such men to be murderers! Well, what do you call the Christian who knows God’s gracious plan of salvation, yet refused to share it with a condemned world? “I am debtor!” cried Paul. “I must carry the gospel to the last lost soul!”
Romans 8:12-13 indicates a second debt–our debt to the Holy Spirit. Paul makes it very clear that you have no debt to the flesh! Yet how prone we are to take care of the flesh and ignore the Spirit! Suppose the Holy Spirit had not convicted you of sin. Suppose He had not opened your eyes to the truths of the Word of God. Suppose He had not imparted saving faith to your heart. You would still be lost!
How do we pay our debt to the Holy Spirit? By keeping His temple clean; by obeying His leading and not grieving Him; by studying the Book that He wrote about Jesus Christ; by yielding our bodies to Him to be used to win others to Christ.
Any unpaid debts in your life?
(Copyright, Warren W. Wiersbe. First appeared in Thoughts for Men on the Move. May not be copied or reproduced without express written permission of the author.)
Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
