ROMANS 30


     We will begin this lesson in Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing,
but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the
law."

     In our society today, the number one cause of divorce is debt.
Easy credit has caused our young people to over-spend, and then they
start blaming each other when they can not meet their obligations. If
we would all practice not owing anyone anything, it would take many of
the day to day pressures off, and we could live more peaceful lives.
It takes a little longer, but if we save to get something we really
want, we will appreciate it more when we do get it.


     We are commanded over and over to love each other by God
throughout the Scriptures. God set the example of love when He gave
His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us. God's type of love
we can only hope to have. Agape love asks nothing in return. It is the
perfect love. The love that we show is usually conditional. We usually
love because of what someone has done for us, not in spite of what
they have done to us. When Jesus was asked what was the most important
commandment that God had given us, He replied; Mark 12:30 "And thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first
commandment." Mark 12:31 "And the second [is] like, [namely] this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these."

     Romans 13:9 "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt
not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is
briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself."

     All of the above mentioned sins are against our fellow man. If we
love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we will not commit these sins.

     Romans 13:10 "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore
love [is] the fulfilling of the law."

     Love and charity are really the same thing in 1 Corinthians.  Let
us look at a Scripture that perfectly describes love. As you read it
think love in your mind every time you see charity.  I Corinthians
13:1 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have
not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." I
Corinthians 13:2 "And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and
understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all
faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing." I Corinthians 13:3 "And though I bestow all my goods to feed
[the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not
charity, it profiteth me nothing." I Corinthians 13:4 "Charity
suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth
not itself, is not puffed up," I Corinthians 13:8 "Charity never
faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether
[there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it
shall vanish away." I Corinthians 13:13 "And now abideth faith, hope,
charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity."  I
believe we should repeat again [love is the fulfilling of the law].

     Romans 13:11 "And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high
time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than
when we believed."

     Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it]
with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor
wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." We see from these two
Scriptures that, whatever we plan to do for God we better get after
it. Salvation is for today, because we are not assured of tomorrow. We
are warned in Matthew 24:42  "Watch therefore: for ye know not what
hour your Lord doth come." I Corinthians 7:29 "But this I say,
brethren, the time [is] short: it remaineth, that both they that have
wives be as though they had none;" I Corinthians 7:30 "And they that
weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they
rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;" I
Corinthians 7:31 "And they that use this world, as not abusing [it]:
for the fashion of this world passeth away."  We must awake, because
the coming of the Lord is near, and then the judgement.

     I Thessalonians 5:1 "But of the times and the seasons, brethren,
ye have no need that I write unto you." I Thessalonians 5:2 "For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night." I Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." I Thessalonians
5:5" Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we
are not of the night, nor of darkness." I Thessalonians 5:6 "Therefore
let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober."
I Thessalonians 5:7 "For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they
that be drunken are drunken in the night." I Thessalonians 5:8 "But
let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."
We can easily see that we must not put off salvation, it might be too
late.

     Romans 13:12 "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us
therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour
of light."

     In this Scripture and the one above in Thessalonians, we see that
Christians are not in darkness, we are children of the Light.
I Thessalonians 5:4 "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that
day should overtake you as a thief." I Thessalonians 5:5 "Ye are all
the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness." Jesus is the Light and if we are full of Him,
then we are full of light, as well.

     Romans 13:13 "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting
and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying."

     Chambering has to do with having sex relations with someone other
than your spouse. Wantonness has to do with all sorts of sins of the
body. We can see in these Scriptures that, these sins that are going
on are the same sins that brought destruction to the earth in Noah's
time and also in Lot's time. Luke 17:27 "They did eat, they drank,
they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that
Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all."
Luke 17:28 "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat,
they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;"

     Romans 13:14 "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof]."

     Romans 8:12 "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live after the flesh." Romans 8:13 "For if ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds
of the body, ye shall live."

     In all of these lessons, I have explained that we are a spirit
that dwells in a body of flesh. The soul of man is either controlled
by the desires of the flesh [which is sin], or we are controlled by
the spirit which desires to do God's will. Galatians 3:27 "For as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."  We can
not overcome the flesh ourselves, but the Spirit of Christ within us
can overcome the flesh. You see, we have no power of our own. It is
the power of Christ that overcomes. Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

                                 Notes



















                             Questions 30

1.  Owe no man________.
2.  Who has fulfilled the law in verse 8?
3.  What is the number 1 cause of divorce in America today?
4.  When did God set the example for love?
5.  When they asked Jesus which were the most important commandments
    what did He answer?
6.  Name the thou shalt nots in verse 9.
7.  How are we to love our neighbor?
8.  In verse 10, what is the fulfilling of the law?
9.  What 2 words are the same thing in 1 Corinthians?
10. What chapter of Corinthians is the love chapter?
11. Why is it time for us to wake out of sleep?
12. In Ecclesiastes ch.9 v.10 it says what is not in the grave?
13. In Matthew ch.24 v.42, we are told to watch, why?
14. In 1 Thessalonians ch.5 v.1, what 2 things do we have no need to
    know?
15. The day of the Lord comes as a _____ in the _____.
16. When they shall say peace and safety; then comes sudden
    ___________.
17. Put on the breastplate of what?
18. In Romans ch.13 v.12 we are told to put on the armour of _____.
19. Christians are not of darkness, but _____.
20. What does chambering mean?
21. What is wantonness?
22. What was going on just before the flood in Noah's time?
23. What was going on in Lot's day?
24. What are we told to do in Romans ch.13 v.14?
25. If we live after the flesh, how will we die?
26. Our soul is either controlled by the ______ or the _____.
27. Quote Galatians ch.2 v.20.

                                 Notes