The Debt You Never Pay Off.
Romans 13 — The one debt you're supposed to carry forever
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Romans 13 — The one debt you're supposed to carry forever
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has been building something massive — eleven chapters of dense theology: , , , the future of , the of poured out on everyone. Chapter 12 was the pivot. Now he gets specific — government, neighbors, and time.
Remember who was writing to — Christians in , under the empire that crucified and would eventually kill Paul himself. These believers were viewed with suspicion. And yet:
"Every person should submit to the governing authorities. No authority exists except what God has established — and the ones currently in power have been placed there by him. So anyone who resists the authorities is resisting what God has arranged, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Rulers aren't a threat to people doing good — they're a threat to people doing wrong. Want to live without fear of the person in charge? Then do what's right, and you'll have their approval. The one in authority is God's servant, working for your benefit. But if you do wrong, be afraid — the sword isn't there for decoration. They are God's servant, an agent of justice against the wrongdoer.
So submit — not just because of the consequences, but because your conscience tells you it's right. This is also why you pay taxes. The authorities are ministers of God, devoted to this very work.
Pay everyone what you owe them. Taxes to whoever collects taxes. Revenue to whoever collects revenue. Respect to whoever is owed respect. Honor to whoever is owed honor."
Paul wasn't saying every government is good. He had the scars to prove it. What he was saying is that ordered — societies functioning under and leadership rather than chaos — is part of how holds the world together.
A tiny religious minority in a massive empire. Pay your taxes. Show respect. Be the kind of citizen nobody can accuse — not because Rome deserves your , but because how you under imperfect authority says something about the God you follow.
From taxes, shifted to something far more fundamental:
"Don't owe anyone anything — except the ongoing debt of loving each other. Because whoever loves another person has fulfilled the law.
All the commandments — don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't covet — every single one of them is summed up in this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the complete fulfillment of the law."
He collapsed the entire moral code into one word. . Not love as a feeling — love as a filter for every interaction: am I doing right by this person?
Every commandment Paul listed — , murder, theft, coveting — each one is a specific way of harming someone. If you genuinely love people, you won't do any of those things. Not because you memorized the list. Because love won't let you. Rules tell you where the line is. Love makes you forget the line exists — because you'd never want to it anyway.
And you never finish paying this debt. That's why he called it a debt — the only one worth carrying.
closed with urgency:
"You already know what time it is. The hour has come for you to wake up from sleep — because salvation is closer to us now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over. The day is almost here.
So let's throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let's live the way people live in broad daylight — not in wild partying and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and reckless living, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Instead — put on the Lord Jesus Christ. And stop making plans to satisfy the cravings of your old nature."
Two outfits. The stuff you do when nobody's watching — and "the armor of light," in the open. Then his final instruction: put on the way you'd get dressed in the morning. Let him be the first thing people encounter when they meet you.
"Make no for the flesh." Don't just resist the — remove the runway. Paul isn't talking about willpower — he's talking about infrastructure.
And underneath it all, a ticking clock. The night is almost over. Live like the lights are about to come on. Because one way or another, they are.