Responsibilities of members of the body of Christ.
Paul asserts that the responsibility toward the ruling authority by the members of the body of Christ extends toward other members of Christianity and the society where they reside. “Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.” Romans 13:7, NET. However, the highest debt owed by the members of the body of Christ, the Church, is to love everyone selflessly. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8, NET.
The debt of selfless love is not like a monetary debt to an institution or an individual. Any material debt must be paid when due. However, when the material debt is paid off, the debtor is no longer responsible. The law has been satisfied. This is not the case concerning the debt of selfless love. The debt of selfless love cannot be paid in full ever! On the contrary, the more we pay down the debt of selfless love, the higher it becomes. If we were to pay nothing of the debt of selfless love, we would suffer eternal loss. Eternity is not long enough to pay off the debt of selfless love.
Members of the body of Christ, the Christians, abide by these principles because they know the time in which they live. It would be immoral to conclude that we do not have to fulfill our responsibility because “Jesus is coming soon.” On the contrary, true Christians are motivated to practice selfless love because they are convinced that Jesus is coming soon. “And do this because we know the time, that is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers.” Romans 13:11, NET.
Exhortation to mutual tolerance; read the next blog.
