Picture a freezing night, a stranded traveler, and drivers speeding past, some even swerving to avoid him. We live in a world where convenience overrules compassion. We've perfected the art of looking away.
Well, today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl asks the question that should haunt us. When did we last stop for a stranger in need? Drawing from Romans 13 and the parable of the Good Samaritan, Chuck explains why love is the one debt we should never stop paying. We'll begin by reading the passage together. Chuck titled today's message, Legal Tender and Loving Care.
Well, we have just three verses today from Romans chapter 13. Don't think that means a short sermon. It just means. Ha ha ha. I have a friend here in Texas who said when I Spent a little while on just a few verses, you sort of super irrigated that today, Chuck.
These verses appear in a context that is of invaluable. significance on the whole matter of love. And Paul does not end the thoughts without driving them home. In verses 8, 9, and 10 of chapter 13. Romans chapter 13.
Verses 8, 9, and 10. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder.
You shall not steal, you shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in the saying. You shall love your neighbor. As yourself. Love does no wrong.
to a neighbor. Therefore, Love is the fulfillment. of the law. Uh You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org/slash offer.
Chuck titled today's message, Legal Tender and Loving Care.
Nothing is more attractive than love. And nothing is more unattractive and repulsive than the absence of it. Yesterday, we had an opportunity to see both placed in juxtaposition. The room today we find filled with worshipers. Yesterday it was filled with mourners.
As we buried a fallen hero. A second lieutenant in the United States Army who had. died a hero's death after less than two months in battle in Iraq. Leaving a family of mom and dad and brothers and sisters and a heartbroken fiancee. Large picture of this fine man.
Stood on an easel right here on this platform. And people gathered from all over. Being a local football player in his growing up years, there were former teammates and coaches. Who had come? to mourn.
What um marvelous occasion to reflect on his years at Texas A and M and finally a commission and the army and cut down by an insurgents' assault. And we heard from one of his coaches who brought a eulogy of. love for this man and his love for others. describing him as a As a fine athlete who played defensive and, in fact, covered the fumble of the opposing team as. They A winning team were able to make it in for the final winning touchdown and they.
and they won the championship. And he said it was so like him. said the coach. Doing something that would help others succeed. At the same time, out on the corner, there were protesters.
Carrying ugly signs. That said, God hates America. God loves 9-11. And other signs too repulsive for me to repeat. Right out there.
I deliberately drove right in front of them to be sure I could look into their faces and read their signs. Thankfully, the family was. protected from that. Awful scene. By being rerouted into the church and surrounded by freedom riders.
With their big flags, and all of them veterans riding their Harleys. encircling the family with their love. as opposed to the hate-filled rhetoric. On the corner. I thought as I drove home, how ironic in this cold rain.
This afternoon. The very freedom The man died. to protect allows them the freedom to protest. But how? drawn I was.
to this family. in their mourning and love. For this fallen hero. Who earned a purple heart and Iraqi medal, as well as a bronze star? Having died a hero's death.
You know, friends, whatever else I have to say. Love never goes out of style. Love is never inappropriate. The absence of love. Always is.
I'm not surprised then that the Apostle, in writing this grand letter filled with doctrine, would keep unpacking the same message again and again so that we could see all facets of it as you would look at various facets of an enormous diamond sitting on black velvet. Because he, being a realist, knows that ours is a world. Filled with sin. You cannot escape it. For whatever it's worth, we took our trip to Australia, and there's sin there.
I mean, even in the land down under. The news sounds just like news in the States, except with an accent. I mean, there's murder and there's violence and there are kidnaps and there is abuse and there is terror and there is robbery and there is dishonesty and there is personal misery and there's political mudslinging. It's all over down there. It's all over.
You can't get away from it. I tried to escape one night and I clicked onto a sports channel. Cricket. Cricket. It's like baseball on Vaikoden.
The longer you watch it, the less you understand it. It's like watching paint dry. Cricket. And they play it for days. There's sin everywhere, friends.
I can't wait to get mail back from Australia in this message. You move to Wyoming, live on a ranch, you'll get a sinful neighbor who will make your life miserable. You go to Hawaii, you'll have a sinful person in the hotel room next door. who will make your nights miserable.
Furthermore, you carry a sinful person into the room when you walk in. It's everywhere. It's everywhere, as one theologian put it. If depravity were blue, we'd be blue all over.
So Paul writes to blue people. And he says to us in this context. This is how to live the Christian life. That's the general context of this passage of Scripture. Here's how to live the Christian life.
The specific context is This is how to be a good citizen.
So, the general context is in verses 9 through 21 of chapter 12. The specific context is in chapter 13. verses one through seven. 12, 9 to 21 is the general context, how to live the Christian life, and then 13, 1 to 7 is how to be a good citizen. While on that subject, he doesn't leave The matter of love.
He begins in a way that would surprise you, and some have been surprised and even led astray by taking only the first four words and teaching that there should never be debt. Owe no one anything. But the verse is filled with Many other words. It begins, owe nothing to anyone, and you could think: well, that means we should never borrow money. It would be wonderful if we never had to.
It would be magnificent if we could live debt-free, and some do, and everyone applauds that. People ask, is the church in debt? Yes, it's a debt we can manage, but yes, well, why are we in debt?
Well, we prefer not to meet in the rain. Um It was just helpful to have a roof over our head. And I think you'd agree we didn't splurge. And we're here with the dead. Will there be dead in the new building?
There will be dead. But I thought the scripture says, owe no man anything. But do you know what the rest of the verse says? You say, well, before I look at the rest of the verse, I want to know what that means. And I don't blame you.
First of all, the verb is in a present tense meaning keep on owing.
So the idea is: don't keep on owing on the same debt, pay it off. Let no debt remain outstanding. You borrowed money to buy a car, pay the debt off. Don't get another debt on top of that debt, on top of another debt. If you have a credit card, pay the credit card off.
Don't keep stacking credit on top of credit. Pay off the loan. You're buying a home, pay it off. At chunks over time, over the years, you finally get it. Paid off.
And uh So he says, owe no one anything, meaning don't let your debt remain outstanding. No one has been more conservative in his writings than Martin Lloyd-Jones, so he certainly wouldn't take liberty. with what we just read. And in his work on Romans he writes, There's no need to waste any time over this. This verse cannot mean that because we are instructed elsewhere in Scripture to give loans.
In the Old Testament as well as in the New, the question of usury is taken up, also the question of paying interest on borrowed money, and they are not prohibited. A legal loan correctly arranged is all right. as long as you observe the terms of the agreement. It is wrong not to repay. as soon as possible anything you have borrowed.
That's the point of the first four words. But Now that you have listened to that explanation on loans, understand what he's really teaching. Keep reading. When you do serious study of the scriptures, guard against partial verses and forming convictions out of a few words. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.
That's the debt you stay permanently involved in paying off. Owe no one anything except to love. one another. Keep reading. For he who loves His neighbor has fulfilled The law.
This is the debt you never stop. Payer. Let me have a parallel here to give you an example. Hold your place and look at Romans chapter 1. You'll remember when we were there.
Several months ago, or was it Years ago when Romans won. Verse 14. Notice what he says about being in debt. He says, I'm in debt. In fact, the same Greek word rendered o nothing, verse 8 of chapter 13, is the identical Greek word as translated under obligation in verse 14 of chapter 1.
Same term.
So it's the same meaning. I am in debt. Both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the wise and to the foolish. Meaning what? I am in debt.
to give them the good news. That's why he says in the next verse, so for my part, I am eager. to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Look at his I ams. I am in debt. Verse 14. I am eager to preach the gospel, verse 15. I am not ashamed.
Verse 60, there's your devotional for next week. when you have to bring your talk. There it is. You can act like you found it on your own. I am Paul right there.
But the one that interests us today is I am under obligation. Let's see if I can illustrate it. Let's imagine that you, though young in life, suffer from a terrible dread disease. that is affecting your joints. Your muscles.
It's a lot like arthritis, perhaps it's even worse than that. It keeps you awake at night. Before long, they are no longer supple. You can't move them without pain. You find you can't move around as you once could, playing tennis or playing catch or playing a little pickup game of basketball.
You can't move about. And the pain is horrendous. You try the massage therapy, and you try SPAs, and you go to one physician after another. In the process, you find out there's no cure. For this ailment.
Then you have someone tell you almost by chance. There is this physician who lives in another country. who practices good medicine. And he has come up with a formula that he can prescribe: that if you take it, You'll be free of pain.
Okay. You you don't ignore that. As soon as you're able to afford it, you take that trip. And you go to that physician. And he listens to you, and you describe your situation, and you realize.
He realizes that you've got exactly what he's able to help. And he writes that prescription. You take that prescription and you have it filled. You began to take that medicine. Three or four mornings later, You're noticing an absence of pain.
Less and less pain, and another week passes, and you're sleeping through the night. and in less than two weeks you're free of pain. Let's say in the next month you come across someone you've never met who is obviously in pain. And you could tell by looking, they're going through the very same thing that you were going through. And you have the name of the position.
Right here near your heart. You are under obligation. to give that name. To this suffering friend, right? You're in debt.
To everyone you meet who is in this kind of pain. You dare not keep this to yourself. This is hope.
Now you know where I'm going. Many of you lived many years without Christ, and you knew what it was to go through sleepless nights and anxious moments and the misery of guilt and doing wrong and not being able to, quote, straighten up your life. And there was a sense of hopelessness and despair, and education didn't help, and travel didn't remove it, and you couldn't escape it.
Someone cared enough about you to to pay their debt. And they told you of the Savior, the name of the one who could change your life. And now you carry that name. Right. your heart.
In that sense, verse 8 is saying in chapter 13. Owe nothing to anyone except there is a debt you do owe, and you will owe it the rest of your life. And that is to love one another. He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Interesting change in terms.
I have to take the time to say this, even though it may sound a little pedantic. See the word another in verse 8: love one another. And see the word neighbor a little later on. It doesn't really read in the original neighbor. It reads another.
Except it's another of a different kind. The first is another like you, and the other is someone very different from you. Different in beliefs and theology, different in personality, different in politics, different in mannerisms, different in taste and color and values and past history. All of that different makes no difference. The love is to be shown, you're still in debt.
Don't let any of the barriers that would normally hold you back from extending a life of love to that other individual hold you back from doing it. You're in debt to them. And it's a perpetual debt that goes on and on. As a matter of fact, I love the way it continues. When you do that, you actually fulfill the law.
What's the purpose of the law? To make us like God. But it has no power to do it. Until Christ comes into the life. And as Christ comes into the life and we live out the life of Christ, which is a life of love.
It is amazing. It is amazing. The difference it makes. And as I said at the beginning, nothing is more attractive than being around someone who loves us. Unconditionally.
And yet, discerning enough to express that love in a way at times that's tough. Harness. As a matter of fact, it goes on to say: as you fulfill the law, you. You shall not commit adultery. May I make the statement, delicate though it is, don't let anyone who is attempting to lure you into adultery convince you that it's love.
Love doesn't prompt adultery. Love, verse 10, does no wrong. Adultery is obviously wrong. But when you love, you don't commit adultery. It wasn't love that David had for Bathsheba.
He didn't love Uriah, her husband, when he lured Bathsheba into his home, into his palace. wasn't love. though I'm sure he used words that were very affectionate. in the process of lust. And you shall not murder.
Never convince yourself that you take someone's life out of love. It's impossible. Or stealing, taking something that isn't yours. You never do it because you love them. Or coveting what they have, or who they are, or some title they possess, or whatever may be that point of covetousness, doesn't come from love.
Love seeks the highest good of the other person. You know what it does?
Well, I'll tell you what it doesn't do, verse 10, it does no wrong to a neighbor. Let's face it, folks, we live in a cold, heartless, uncaring world. It is a world that is going its own way and won't stop to help you as you struggle in your way. I thought of it when I read this article from the Chicago Tribune. Titled, He Started Cutting the Nobody stopped.
Mm-hmm. The story of Mary Hannigan. Mary was assaulted on Chicago's Kennedy Expressway when a man purposely rammed her. Then attacked her with a knife in her own car when she stopped to check the damage. As she struggled for her life, no one stopped to help.
When she managed to move her car forward so it blocked an exit ramp, One car even drove around her without stopping. While she was being brutally attacked. Fortunately, her assailant fell from the car when she was able to push on the accelerator again, and she escaped. in the hospital. after a plastic surgeon had worked six hours on her face.
leaving one hundred stitches. Her husband said. That's what I can't believe. It's as if people went out of the way. not to help her.
Sergeant James Marble commented: The only ones who would have helped her would have been police officers driving by. People just don't help other people. Unfortunately.
Now Okay. I make a study of your faces and I can see Yeah. all kinds of things going on in your mind.
Some of you are thinking, well. I mean, my life could be in danger. Others, if you are saying it's really a risk. To get I understand. Every time I drive by someone in need, That's my thinking.
So like you. I too do that. Not always, thankfully, but more often than I'm proud to admit. I would like to urge all of us to stop and think about the last time we helped someone we didn't know. who was in need.
Just a random act of kindness.
Some of you can't remember. I will tell you this.
Now that you and I are both struggling with the guilt of that statement. We will never have trouble talking with them about Jesus after the fact. Yeah. You help Mary Hannigan in her car and get her to a hospital and rescue her from the assailant. And I will tell you, Mary Hannigan wants to know everything she can about you and your life.
And she can't say thank you enough. Uh You don't have to fight for an opportunity to witness. She will beg to know, how come you stopped? What is it that made you different from all the other drivers? Uh Why didn't you just pass by?
Like everybody else. A very convincing illustration that affirms the power of compassion. Our study is rooted in Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 13. these three verses, the ones that Chuck Swindolf cited, definitely pack a punch. There's a lot more Chuck wants to show us, he titled today's message Legal Tender and Loving Care.
This is Insight for Living. It's November tenth and we're beginning to turn our attention to Advent and the Christmas season, and we're pleased to offer a brand new resource designed for your family, hoping the next few weeks will become rich with spiritual meaning. I'm referring to a book published exclusively by Insight for Living called Everlasting Light: A Journey from Promise to Presence. Everlasting Light is a 25-day Advent devotional that invites you to step out of December's rush into a prayerful rhythm of waiting, reflection, and preparation. It includes scripture to anchor your heart, a quote from Chuck Swindahl to shape your thinking, and pastoral reflections from our own Carlos Sasueta to carry into your day.
This is a hardcover book, and a copy is ready right now, so you'll receive it in time for Advent. Ask for the book called Everlasting Light when you include a contribution to support the Ministry of Insight for Living. I'm sure your heart is heavy, as mine is, about the tension that prevails here at home and around the world. Do we need any more convincing that our troubled world needs the love and compassion of Jesus? This only amplifies the need to shine the everlasting light of God's love through Insight for Living.
You can partner with us right now by going to Insight.org. or call us at 800-772-8888. When you give, don't forget to request the 25-day Advent devotional called Everlasting Light. To send a donation and request in the mail, address your envelope to InsightForLiving. Post Office Box 5000.
Frisco, Texas 75034. And you can give online at insight.org/slash donate. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Schucksman Dahl continues his message titled, Legal Tender and Loving Care. Tuesday on Insight for Living.
The preceding message, Legal Tender and Loving Care, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
