Romans 1:14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
There’s an important lesson to be learned from the apostle Paul in this verse. The lesson is this: Having been loved by Jesus, we are indebted to Him. We owe Him love in return. That debt is paid as we love everyone God puts in our paths. Here’s how Paul explained this lesson later in chapter 13:8. “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”
Everyday, we wake up in debt. We owe the love of Jesus to everyone we meet. Paul used extremes when he mentioned Greeks and barbarians and the wise and foolish as a way of saying that he owed love to everyone.
What a contrast this is from an earthly selfish attitude where people think everyone else owes them—everyone is indebted to them. From a fleshly, worldly perspective, we think we deserve to be loved and to be happy. Once we see the truth, that in reality, because of our sin and hatred for God, we deserve condemnation and wrath from God, we can also see the incredible riches of love that God has poured out on us. We owe Him! Big time! How does one repay such a huge debt, a debt that we are powerless to pay? What an amazing turn of fortune! God has forgiven our debt through His Son Jesus, and having truly seen what He has done for us, we have become His bonds slaves. We owe Him our lives, and thus we ask, “What can we do to show our love in return?” He says to us, “Forgive the debt of all who owe you anything. Love them like I love you.” Paul’s understanding was that he was obligated to love all men because of the gospel which revealed that God had given Him the righteousness of Jesus as a gift. The fruit of that righteousness was what Paul wanted to display to the Romans and to all men.
So I repeat we have a lesson to learn from Paul. We are bondslaves of Christ and therefore owe the love of Jesus to everyone. That’s another way of saying we were saved to live to love with Jesus.
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
