SPIRIT 40 2022 – WEEK 2

SPIRIT 40 – WEEK 2 MARCH 6-12, 2022

I AM A DEBTOR TO TELL THE GOSPEL

Romans 1:14, “I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise”. 

In his epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul told them that he was obligated to preach the gospel to all people categorized as follows:- the Greeks, (the educated and civilized, the cultured of his world); the Barbarians, (the uncivilized, uncultured people of that time); the wise, (the studied and learned of the world); and the unwise, (the unlearned of the world). 

A Debtor!!! 

What does it mean? 

It is the debt of a man who has the message of life to a person who is dying. He certainly considered himself under obligation to pay this debt. Really, it is quite a dishonorable thing to leave a debt unpaid. 

Why then did he feel this constraint? 

The answer no doubt can be gleaned from the following verses: “ For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it… being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…” ( Gal. 1:13-16). 

Certainly, this was his call. The Lord had commissioned him on the Damascus Road and sent him out to preach the gospel. (Really, the apostle is saying, I had no choice in the matter). He knew that he would have to give an account of his ministry and his stewardship. The following verses attest to this: “… necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16); and, “ For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ….Knowing, therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (2 Cor. 5:10-11). 

Furthermore, it is the wonderful, glorious character of the gospel itself, that had not only made him a debtor but was now pressing him into action. The love of Christ! This amazing thing! The gospel of reconciliation. This love of God that sent His only Son, and made Him to be sin for us. Paul had seen and experienced it. Now he wanted everyone else to see it, to rejoice in it, to glory in it, and to participate in it. For him, it was a debt created by grace. 

Like the apostle, if you have so participated in the grace of God, you have an obligation likewise to participate in the debt that grace creates. This is a shared obligation by all believers. To be blessed by God’s grace is indescribable: the blessings, the kindness, the mercies that the Lord has bestowed on each one of us that is saved is more than amazing. Note, this debt of grace is owed not only by apostles and/or preachers but by every recipient. We all are now debtors to take the gospel to sinners everywhere. Again, the basis for this debt/obligation is God’s grace that we have received. 

Knowing too, the appalling need of men and women makes this ministry all the more urgent. Once we realize fully the state and condition of people by the thousands around us – that unbelievers, wretched as they are, dying in their sins, with worse to come- we are constrained to speak. WE MUST. 

It is grace that obligates us to every man, woman, and child. Really, we are debtors to the lost. Should we withhold the gospel from them, then, we are saying that somehow we are special, deserving, entitled, and they are not. Little wonder the apostle Paul wrote,” I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise.” It’s the consciousness of what this glorious gospel has done for us – the experience of joy, peace, and happiness that it brings, that makes us anxious that others should share the same benefits. 

Our Lord talked about it in the story of the woman and the lost coin. Having found it after considerable effort, she went to tell her neighbours. “Come and rejoice with me, I’ve found it “. 

This then is the glorious gospel of which we’ve become debtors, the gospel that we’re compelled to share. “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again”. (2 Cor. 5: 14-15). 

Look at the cross, see God’s interest in us. See His investment. Now may He direct you to invest in souls. 

EVERY PAYMENT YOU MAKE TO THE DEBT YOU OWE IS REALLY PROFIT ACCRUING FOR YOU.