The Continuing Debt

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 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 neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10 NIV)

According to this Scripture, we owe it to love one another. Why do we owe it? To whom are we indebted? Obligated? Well, if we do what this says, we have fulfilled the law? What law? The law of God which says that we must love one another with the love of God, in the way in which God loves us. So this is not human love, based in our feelings, but this is agape love which prefers what God prefers, and which chooses his choices and obeys them.

So, we owe it because God commands it. And as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are obligated to God to obey his New Covenant commands, to leave our sinful lifestyles behind us, and to walk in his ways, in his power. For if we choose not to, and we choose our sins, instead, and we choose to hate, and to not love, and to live selfishly, without consideration for others, and so we choose to disobey God, then we are not in fellowship with God.

And this is a continuing debt, for it will never be satisfied, i.e. we must keep loving, and keep doing what is right for others, from now to eternity. And Jesus Christ is our example of what that love looks like. It is pure, it is unselfish, and it is not based in the one being loved, but in the one doing the loving. And it is not dependent on our emotions nor on our circumstances nor on how these same people treat us, in return. We love no matter what!

So, we do not say to our spouses, “I love you,” and then deliberately and habitually go and commit adultery against them, and then lie about it to try to cover it up, as though it did not happen. That is not love! For Jesus said that “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28 ESV). And I believe this also applies to women looking at men with lustful intent. Same thing!

For adultery doesn’t have to be just sexual intercourse with someone to whom you are not married. But you can commit adultery in your minds, via your own fantasies, or via watching sexually explicit videos, or via engaging in sexually explicit conversations with others to whom you are not married, or via sexual self-gratification where you serve as your own sexual partner, etc. There are many ways to commit adultery, and all of them are evil.

And we do not say to our friends, “I love you,” and then do evil to them behind their backs and treat them with hate when they are not watching. And we do not lie to them, not even with what some people call “white lies.” For we can “murder” (kill) people with our words and with how we treat them, if we do not treat them with love, in the way in which Jesus loved us and gave his life up for us so that we can be free from slavery to sin.

And we do not steal from them what belongs to them and not to us. But this isn’t just about material things like personal property, for we can steal from them by not treating them with love, but by treating them with hate. And we can steal from them if we refuse to tell them the truth that they need to hear just because we are more concerned about them liking us than we are concerned about their eternal salvation and where they will spend eternity.

And to covet is to be consumed with desire for what others have, that we do not have, often to the point of hating them because we do not have what they have. For some people, this may even come to the point of murdering them or slandering them in order to gain revenge because the others have something that they want, but cannot get. Jealousy can be a terrible thing that may eat away at someone who will then end up doing the unthinkable.

Now all of these come from what is stored up in the human heart, “for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:17-20 ESV). So, if any of these, or any like these are your “go to,” i.e. in your deliberate and habitual sin patterns of behavior, then you should pray for God to examine your heart and show you what is stored up in your heart.

But then you need to let go of those things which are weighing you down and which are keeping you from obeying the Lord. For example, if you are holding on to pride, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, selfishness and lustful desires, etc. you must allow the Lord to deliver you from those, which will engage you in having to forgive others who have hurt you or who you feel betrayed you. And then you must obey the Lord and not the flesh.

For, the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say “NO!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross to redeem us out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now serve the Lord Jesus with our lives in walks of obedience to his commands, and in holy living, in the power of God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us  

By Stuart Townend

How deep the Father's love for us 

How vast beyond all measure 

That He should give His only Son 

And make a wretch His treasure 

How great the pain of searing loss 

The Father turns His face away 

As wounds which mar the Chosen One 

Bring many sons to glory 

Behold the man upon the cross 

My sin upon His shoulder 

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice 

Call out among the scoffers 

It was my sin that held Him there 

Until it was accomplished 

His dying breath has brought me life 

I know that it is finished 

I will not boast in anything 

No gifts, no power, no wisdom 

But I will boast in Jesus Christ 

His death and resurrection 

Why should I gain from His reward 

I cannot give an answer 

But this I know with all my heart 

His wounds have paid my ransom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV2zMZ-nZ7k 

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The Continuing Debt

An Original Work / February 21, 2025

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love