Problem: “Owe no man anything“=Don’t be owing any man anything. This important phrase has been understood in two ways: 1) I owe no man anything because I never incur any debts. I refuse to borrow money. I refuse to use credit cards. I refuse to buy anything unless I have money on hand. I will never owe anyone anything. I will never borrow anything and therefore I will never need to owe anyone anything. 2) I owe no man anything because I have paid all my debts. I have met all my obligations as they become due. I was a debtor to certain people but I have paid these debts on time and fulfilled my obligations. I have not let any debts remain outstanding (unpaid)–see NIV.
Solution: The first understanding of the phrase cannot be correct for many reasons. This understanding says, “I owe no man anything because I have never gotten into debt.” This is contradictory to the preceding verse (v.7) which says that we are to render to all what we owe them (that is, we are indebted to people in our society and we need to pay them what is their due). Thus, the emphasis of verse seven is not that we have no debts, but that we are to take care of these debts and give back (pay) what we owe. Therefore we need to understand verse 8 as follows: “I owe no man anything because I have paid my debts and I have rendered to every man that which I have owed him.” Thus we reject the view which says that verse 8 means “NEVER GO INTO DEBT.” It should be understood to mean: “PAY YOUR DEBTS (pay what you owe) SO THAT YOU OWE NO MAN ANYTHING.”
If the other view is correct (“NEVER GO INTO DEBT”), then all borrowing would be sinful, because you would then be putting yourself in debt and you would have an obligation to pay back or return what was borrowed. This would include not only money, but the borrowing of any object (such as a book from the library, a rake from your neighbor, etc.). This would also mean that lending would be wrong because by lending you would be encouraging sin (you would be encouraging someone to borrow, and thus you would be encouraging someone to owe someone something).
Thus we must ask this question: Does the Scripture condemn borrowing and lending? Although the Bible does warn us about some of the dangers of borrowing, it does not condemn this practice. Indeed, the Scriptures even encourage lending. Consider the following passages:
“A good man showeth favour, and LENDETH: he will guide his affairs with discretion” (Psalm 112:5). A good man is the man who LENDS.
“He that hath pity upon the poor LENDETH unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will He pay him again” (Proverbs 19:17). Lending to the poor is a losing venture because the poor are unable to pay back the debt. But GIVING to the poor (when done at the right time and in the right way) is here considered as LENDING to the LORD, because the LORD will pay back the one who gives to the poor.
“But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed” (2 Kings 6:5). There was nothing wrong with borrowing this ax head. The problem here was that the item borrowed was lost in the water, thus making it impossible to return to the lender. What the Scripture condemns is not borrowing, but failure to return borrowed goods and failure to pay back what was lent.
“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). The borrower becomes the lender’s slave. This verse does not condemn borrowing but it does warn against the dangers of it. There is great danger in getting oneself in prolonged debt. We should pay our debts as soon as possible and be very careful not to borrow more than we are able to pay back. In our day it is very important to be careful with the use of credit cards. Banks and credit card companies act as LENDERS every time a credit card is used, and if the person does not pay back this debt quickly (at the first billing), then he will end up paying high rates of interest. Many have gotten themselves into financial trouble because of unwise use of credit cards.
“The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth” (Psalm 37:21). Notice the first part of this verse. Why is this man considered “WICKED”? It is not because he borrowed, but because he did not pay back what he borrowed. Not paying back what you have borrowed is actually a form of stealing. It is holding on to something for too long of a time and using it as if it were yours, when it should have been returned to its rightful owner. What if you steal your neighbor’s rake and it is sitting in your garage? What if you borrow your neighbor’s rake and fail to return it and months later it is still sitting in your garage? In both cases you are wrongfully keeping what belongs to your neighbor and which should be in your neighbor’s garage. You should not be acting as though you possess it, because it is not yours. We must respect the property of others. The difference between these two examples is seen by the way the rake got in your garage in the first place. In the first example it got there because of the sin of stealing. In the second example it got there because you borrowed it with your neighbor’s permission. He said you could use it. But he did not say that you could use it and keep it for months!
Consider the public library. There is nothing wrong with borrowing books or tapes from a library. This is what the library is for and such is encouraged. What is wrong is when we do not bring the books back on time. This is when penalties and fines are given by the library.
“But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him [a poor man], and SHALT SURELY LEND him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth” (Deut. 15:8). Here LENDING is encouraged.
“And if ye LEND to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and LEND, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:34-35). If LENDING were inherently sinful, then the Lord Jesus would never have said this. The teaching here is that we are to love our enemies and do good to them even if they repay us with evil. The GOOD that we can do could involve LENDING, and the EVIL that they could do might involve not paying us back again.
“He is ever merciful, and LENDETH; and his seed is blessed” (Psalm 37:26). The righteous man is gracious and LENDS.
Remember, if it is sinful to borrow [as some people wrongly teach based on Romans 13:8], then it is also sinful to lend. Why? Because lending to someone would make that person a borrower and hence a sinner. If lending makes someone else SIN, then it would be wrong to lend. This is not what the above passages teach. Indeed, the Lord Jesus said, “from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:42).
The true meaning of Romans 13:8 is that we are to PAY OUR DEBTS in a responsible manner with the result that we “owe no man anything.” It does not mean that you can never go into debt, because if it meant that you could never borrow a library book, you could never borrow a pencil from a schoolmate and you could never borrow an egg or a quarter pound of butter from your neighbor.
The rest of the verse makes clear that this is the true meaning: “Owe no man any thing, BUT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). The view which says that we should never go into debt is teaching that we should never have any obligations. Romans 13:8 does not teach that we should never have any obligations, but that we are to take care of our obligations by paying our debts. There is, however, one obligation which we will always have. There is one debt that we can never pay off, and this is THE DEBT OF LOVE. The more you pay that debt, the more you owe.
Suppose you owe someone $10.00. One week later you pay back this person the full amount. You can then say, “I have fulfilled my obligation and my responsibility. I am no longer in debt. I am done with this. I don’t have to pay any more.” In contrast to this, when you show love toward someone and give of yourself for the sake of another person, you cannot then say, “I have fulfilled my responsibility. I have loved this person and now I am no more obligated. I never need to love this person again.” No, love is an obligation which continues on and we need to keep on paying it.
Salvation application: Because of our sins we owed a great debt to God. Christ came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. “The wages of sin is DEATH” and the only way we could pay our debt would be to suffer eternal separation (DEATH) from God in the lake of fire. When the Lord Jesus took our place on the cross, He died as our SUBSTITUTE and He fully paid the debt we owed. The sinner could ask, “But God, am I not obligated to spend eternity in the lake of fire because of my sin?” God could answer, “I am completely satisfied that the debt has been paid. My beloved Son paid it all!” As the hymn says, “I will sing of my Redeemer, and His wondrous love to me; On the cruel cross He suffered, From the curse to set me free. Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer, with His blood He purchased me, On the cross He sealed my pardon, PAID THE DEBT and made me free!” See also Robert McCheyne’s famous poem entitled, “I am Debtor.”
How can I fulfill my responsibility towards my neighbor? It is impossible to do this apart from love: “for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). Galatians 5:14 teaches the same: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
