p. 6 | The Christian’s Debt by I. H. Evans

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 30, 1909

The Christian’s Debt

By I. H. Evans

SAID the apostle to the Gentiles, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” Why was Paul a debtor to the Greeks and to the barbarians? What had these people ever done for the apostle that put him under this burden of debt to them? Had they loaned him money? Had there been some commercial transaction between them that put Paul under obligation to them so that he continually felt impelled to spend and be spent in their behalf? It could be none of these reasons that made Paul debtor, for he had seen comparatively few of the millions to whom he claimed himself indebted. These people of whom he speaks were the heathen nations peopling Asia Minor and Europe. To all these Paul counted himself in debt.

But how did this indebtedness come to the apostle? and what was he to do to discharge it? Paul had received a revelation of Jesus Christ into his heart and life, and when he conceived the unspeakable love of God in giving Jesus Christ, his Son, to die for sinners, Paul felt a great heart-burden to spread this knowledge of a crucified and risen Saviour. Upon his heart lay a great burden of devotion and love, not only to his fellow men, but also to Christ, who had died for him. Well did Paul know that what had been done for his own salvation and life, Christ desired to do also for all the people whom Paul could persuade to accept Christ as their Saviour.

To the church at Corinth, the apostle wrote: “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.” To Paul the duty of preaching the gospel was paramount to every other duty on earth. He did not stop to inquire whether others were doing their full duty in this respect. To him it was a personal debt that he owed to the world and to God, and it mattered not to him whether Peter and James and John remained in Jerusalem, or whether they became world evangelists and helped to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It was his duty to preach the gospel to the world because he had a personal debt of love and gratitude that he could never pay.

But we ask, Was this earnest servant of God the only one called to the work of evangelizing the nations? What meant the great commission Christ gave to his disciples when he said, Go into all the world and make Christians of every nation? Is this command alone to the church as a whole, or is it to the individuals who compose the church? Paul always mentioned his duty of preaching the gospel in the first person. “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.” “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians.” If the duty of preaching the gospel rests not only upon the church as a whole, but upon the individual members of the church, we ask, Is every member of the church indebted to the world for all the knowledge he has in Christ Jesus, as Paul was indebted to the world? Is he under obligations to pay this debt? What is it that he owes the world? From “Mount of Blessing” we read:—

Every one who has been made a steward of the manifold grace of God is called upon to impart to souls in ignorance and darkness, even as, were he in their place, he would desire them to impart to him. The apostle Paul said, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” By all that you have known of the love of God, by all that you have received of the rich gifts of his grace, above the most benighted and degraded soul upon the earth, are you in debt to that soul, to impart these gifts unto him.—Page 184.

And again:—

The standard of the golden rule is the true standard of Christianity; anything short of it, is a deception. A religion that leads men to place a low estimate upon human beings, whom Christ has esteemed of such value as to give himself for them; a religion that would lead us to be careless of human needs, sufferings, or rights, is a spurious religion. In slighting the claims of the poor, the suffering, and the sinful, we are proving ourselves traitors to Christ. It is because men take upon themselves the name of Christ, while in life they deny his character, that Christianity has so little power in the world. The name of the Lord is blasphemed because of these things. . . .

Search heaven and earth, and there is no truth revealed more powerful than that which is made manifest in works of mercy to those who need our sympathy and aid. This is the truth as it is in Jesus. When those who profess the name of Christ shall practise the principles of the golden rule, the same power will attend the gospel as in apostolic times.—Pages 185, 186.

Surely this is strong language. It places at the door of each Christian the responsibility of service for others. It does not lay the responsibility upon the church regardless of its members, for this is an impossibility. The church can not carry a responsibility for service in evangelizing without that responsibility resting on the church-members. The church only as individual units can do its work. When each member of the church faithfully does his whole duty to the world, then it is that the church is doing its full duty, and not till then. If in slighting the claims of the poor, the suffering, and the sinful we are proving ourselves “traitors to Christ,” then there must be a great responsibility resting upon us as individuals to give to others the gospel we have received. We must not forget that the Lord says that “all we have received above the most benighted soul,” to that soul we are indebted for what we have received. Let us not forget that this duty is not man-sent or church-made. It is divine, and from above. It forms a part of the great commission which Christ gave to his church.

As the apostle said, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel,” so no individual can settle with the church whether he has discharged his debt or not. No one in the church is competent to judge, nor is appointed by God to judge. The duty is a personal duty between God and the individual.

There is not a heathen in all the world to whom the Christian does not owe a debt. There are more than one billion of these poor benighted heathen living in the world to-day. The denomination that we represent may carry on a great work and do much good. The question should not be, What is the denomination doing? but, What am I doing as an individual to fulfil the great debt that I owe the world? If ninety-nine members of the church fulfil every duty, and I fail in the performance of my part, the loss will be mine. If every church-member besides myself fails in the performance of his duty, and I do mine acceptably to God, my reward is sure. He deals with each individually.

Our duty is to preach the gospel to both the Greeks and the barbarians. I need not ask, Will my brother do his part? It is for me to do mine, and the Lord will reward me according to my service. Let us each ask ourselves, How much of this great world-wide debt have I paid? When the Christian can truly sing,—

“Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts! Thou fount of life! thou light of men! From the best bliss that earth imparts, We turn unfilled to thee again,”

he must realize, to an extent at least, the duty he owes to lead others to this same Fountain of life. But he who enjoys such an experience as this, has a great debt resting upon him to bring to others the joy of which he himself is a partaker through the merits of the Lord Jesus.

The millions from the darkened heathen portions of the world are crying for help. The debt is on every professed Christian to answer this call. What will you do, my brother? How do you propose to discharge the debt which God has laid at your door in giving you salvation through Jesus Christ? The wail of woe from the darkened lands of the earth ought certainly to pierce our hearts. Their need, their lost condition, their only hope of salvation, must appeal to every Christian to discharge the debt he owes the world.

“There’s a call from the dark to-night That haunts the lighted room. From his ‘other sheep’ on the broken steep At the edge of eternal doom. “There’s a pain at my heart to-night,— From the heart of God it came,— For I can not forget that he loves them yet, And they’ve never heard of his name. “There’s a sob in my prayer to-night, When I think of the million homes Where never a word of the Lord is heard, Or a message from Jesus comes.”

Then let us, as God’s professed people, daily study how we may pay the debt we owe.

I. H. EVANS.