“Render…to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another….” (Rom. 13:7-8).

With love being so important, it’s no surprise that God expects man to love one another. In Romans 13, as Paul lays out the believer’s responsibility to be subject to “higher powers” and to “render therefore to all their dues…” (v. 7), he points out that one of the things we owe is love. He says, “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another…” (v. 8). The word for “owe” in verse 8 corresponds to the word “dues” in verse 7. Love is a due we need to render and a debt we can never pay off.

As Charles J Ellicott said, “When you have paid all your other debts, taxes, and customs, and reverence, and whatever else you may owe, there will still be one debt unpaid—the universal debt of love.”

Just as Paul reminded those in Thessalonica, this debt of love is to all men, not only to fellow or even like-minded believers: “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men…” (1 Thes. 3:12). One of my mom’s favorite sayings was, “Practice what you preach,” and Paul certainly did. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-29, Paul describes many of the sufferings he endured but finishes with, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?”

If anyone had a right to “burn” because of how others behaved, it was Paul. What allowed Paul to endure so much and yet “abound in love…to all men?” The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 5:14: “For the love of Christ constraineth us.”

Christ demonstrated His love for all in His willingness to die for all. The love that Christ showed for all also constrains all believers “that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (v. 15). We are told to “walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph. 5:2). The love of Christ compels us to “abound in love…toward all men.”

Christians are usually told they should begin reading their Bible in the Gospels, often with the Book of John. This is partly because each Gospel is said to present Jesus differently: Matthew, as King; Mark, as a Servant; Luke, as Man; and John, as God. To many, John sounds like a logical place for a new Christian to begin in order to become established in the faith. But what does the Bible say?

The Gospels are loved, and for good reason. For in them our Savior, Jesus Christ, is revealed, and His life while on earth is shared like in no other book ever written.

They tell us how our God and Savior humbled Himself and was born in such lowly conditions, and how He walked from town to town, teaching, healing, and showing love and compassion for the ones He knew would soon reject Him. And even though He created this world, He willingly subjected Himself to harsher conditions than His creation. He said of Himself that the “foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20).

However, as precious as the Gospels are, we must not assume that is where God would have us begin or that they contain the necessary doctrine to establish our foundation in the faith. We shouldn’t, like so any do, esteem the “red letters” more than the rest of the Bible. After all, are not Christ’s words spoken from heaven just as important as His words spoken while on earth?

We should remember that God is not neglectful in providing direction, especially on something as important as a believer being established. All too often, people make the mistake of giving their opinion on an issue instead of simply asking, “For what saith the Scripture?” (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 4:30).

“Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
“But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:25-26).

In reality, every new believer would do well to begin their Bible reading and study in the Book of Romans; it truly is the foundational book of doctrine for the Body of Christ. But you don’t need to take my word for it. Consider the words from our text in Romans 16:25-26 and the fact that Paul wrote Romans because he could not go to Rome as he wanted, and said, “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established” (Rom. 1:11).

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:1-2).

Being charged with something is a serious matter. By calling upon God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as witnesses in this charge, Paul is using some of the strongest words possible.

Paul’s charge to Timothy begins with the all-important requirement to “preach the Word” (v. 2). The word “therefore” in verse 1 takes us back to the final verses of chapter 3, where Paul said, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The Word of God is the instrument of God to reach the man of God; it’s also the necessary tool to reach the unbelieving world.

“The world is bombarded with message after message offering hope after hope. But above all the messages and above all the hopes that bombard the world, there is one that is more needed by man than all the others—one that is so important that it supersedes all the others combined. What is that message? It is the message of the Word of God. The Word of God offers the only lasting hope for man. For this reason, the Word of God must be preached. The minister of God must commit himself to the awesome charge to preach the Word of God and to minister as never before.”¹

The Word is God’s testimony to the world about Himself. It is similar to the Golden Records placed on the two Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977, which contained gold-plated records giving mankind’s account of himself and was intended for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Unlike God’s record, the Bible, I expect those Golden Records shall never be used and benefit no one.

The Word of God is not gold-plated but God-breathed, and unlike anything produced by man, it “shall stand for ever” (Isa. 40:8). He declares, “I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa. 46:9-10).

^{1. The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible: New Testament.}