Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: When we take the uncompromising stand that we will owe no man anything but to love him, the soul is thrown back on God. Abraham had strengthened his own faith by announcing that it was all in God and that all blessings were from God. Now, he would not be tempted to come down to the King of Sodom for any favor.

Ezra did the same thing. And when he was in difficulty, his stand forced him back on God. He said, "For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, 'The hand of our God is for good upon all that seek him.' So we fasted and besought our God for this."

So may we ask the Lord that He possess us fully. Then shall we learn to deposit all our resources with God and to expect all supply from Him. Then shall we learn to despise the world's gifts and seek the strength and righteousness that come from God alone.

Guest (Male): Over a half century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio outreach which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. The application of God's word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago.

The message we'll be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled The Christian and Debt. We live in a consumer-oriented society. When we want something, we pull out our credit cards and worry about how to pay for it later. The result is that every year, Americans fall deeper and deeper into debt. But this is not the biblical pattern for managing our money. Believers are to demonstrate godliness and self-control in all areas of life, including our finances. What does the Bible teach us about debt and money management in the Christian life?

The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible: Romans chapter 13 and verse 8. Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled The Christian and Debt.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto Thee, our Father and our God, and in the Holy Spirit. We have such need of Thee. Work that is done in the energy of the flesh may produce a splash, but that which is done by the power of the Holy Spirit through us can carve deeply into the hearts and lives of those who listen. Do a real work among us and cause us to grow in Thy truth.

As we consider the difficult subject that lies before us today, stir the hearts of Thy people to face the facts of what the Christian life requires of them in problems such as family budgeting and business relationships. We ask Thy blessing in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

We come now to the 13th chapter of Romans and the next verse in our study, the eighth verse: Owe no man anything except to love one another. We have been studying the relationship of the believer to the civil authority. He is to submit to magistrates, pay taxes when they are levied, and is to respect and honor the office of authority, even though he may not respect persons who hold the office.

The Holy Spirit now turns the discussion to another phase of the financial life of the believer. Not only are we to pay taxes, we must also pay our bills. There is no getting around the implication of our text, and we must face it even if it causes burning of heart and humbleness of spirit.

The Christian life is always demanding further control over the believer. And this control is not only in depth, in areas where we are accustomed to think of spiritual control, but also in width, a penetration into areas where we have perhaps taken for granted the way of life that is followed by the masses of people around us.

Sometimes we're brought up sharply to realize that the world that crucified Christ is a polite and smiling world, and even a cultured and religious world. So long as we follow its ways, there's no difficulty. But the moment we challenge its basic principles, a great crisis may occur. In fact, since we do not have too many conflicts with the world around us, perhaps the reason for our peaceful coexistence is that we have compromised spiritual principles and are accepting without scrutiny the smooth and plausible ways of the enemy world.

The emphasis in the preceding paragraph has been on obligations to other men. We are to pay what is due. What is now being presented to us is a corrective lest we live all our lives in the atmosphere of paying only that which is due. Love gives where nothing is due. This is the very essence of love. That which is done only in a realm of paying that for which one expects a return is not ultimately satisfying.

Take, for example, a scene which is enacted in a million American homes each Christmas time. The mailman brings a handful of Christmas cards. Each member of the family opens the cards addressed to him. Suddenly, there's a wail from someone, "Oh, here's a card from so-and-so, and I didn't send him one."

If this happens three or four days before Christmas, the dialogue will continue, "Well, there's still time. I can put one in the afternoon mail and he will never know he was missed." But if the unrequited card comes on the day after Christmas, the wail is louder, "Now, I can't get one to him on time. Can I get by with a New Year's card?"

And then there's the business of getting one's Christmas card list, writing down the extra name so that there'll be no embarrassment next Christmas, unless perhaps the sender decides not to send because he was missed, and the whole story begins in the other direction. The world lives in this manner. The world balances what it gets and what it receives and tries to work it so that it gets a little more than it gives.

The Christian life is quite otherwise. It looks for what it can do and not for what it can get. It thinks of what it can give and not of any balance in return. The Lord Jesus Christ gave this very embarrassing rule of etiquette. He said to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends, or your brothers, or your kinsmen of rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, and you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now, there's nothing like this in Emily Post or Amy Vanderbilt. This is the exact opposite of the world and its methods. But before we proceed to discuss the nature and obligations of love, let us consider our text in its literal application to problems of modern economic life.

This text has been used to attack capitalism, and it has been used by some who have no knowledge of the real nature of debt to attack the credit system. Our text is one of the categorical statements of Scripture that have caused some theologians to seek for detours. Owe no man anything. Does this mean what it says? Is debt a sin for a Christian?

To answer these questions, we must first of all provide some definitions. What is debt? What is credit? Is there overlapping between the two? Is there legitimate use of credit? At the outset, we must say that the Bible is not against capitalism. In fact, the Bible presupposes capitalism and takes it for granted in every part of the book.

One of the Ten Commandments says, "Thou shalt not steal." And this not only tells me that I must keep my fingers off the property of every other man, but it also tells every other man to keep his hands off my property. When Ananias and Sapphira sold their property and brought part of the price to lay it at the apostles' feet, they were reproved, not for what they gave, but for lying about how much they gave.

Peter makes a specific statement which recognizes personal private ownership. The property was theirs, he said, and they could dispose of it as they wished. When they sold it, the money was in their hand and they could do with it what they pleased. If they had decided to use it for a vacation, God would not have punished them. If they had decided to invest it in some other form of goods or property, God would not have punished them.

Death was inflicted only because they pretended to give 100% when they were keeping back some for their own use. It was the pretense and the lie which were punished. The story is a great illustration of the right of private ownership and control of property. Furthermore, the Lord in his parables time and again made use of capitalistic phraseology to impress his point.

A capitalist had great capital and he loaned ten talents to one man, five to another, and one to a third. The whole story breathes the air of honest commerce. They were to invest the money and gain profit. The Bible strongly inveighs against usury, but the Bible flatly warrants the gaining of interest.

Perhaps we can make this clearer if we use a simple illustration from modern life. Many people rent houses. There is nothing morally wrong in renting a house to live in. The house is the property of the owner. The renter moves into the house. He does not own the house, nor does he owe the house. He owes only the rent.

He is using the capital which the owner has put into the house, and he is paying the interest which is rent. Every time rent day comes around, the man who lives in the house must pay the rent. This is involved in the command of our text, "Owe no man anything." In the same way, a man has the right to rent capital.

He may wish to start a small business. He goes to a bank or to a wealthy man and borrows $10,000. What does he owe? He owes the interest. There is no sin in borrowing the capital, provided the interest is paid on the first of each month. And just as the terms of a lease provide for conditions which will demand that the renter move from the house and give it back to its owner, so the terms of a loan may provide for conditions which will involve the return of the capital which has been borrowed.

Most ministers are frequently approached by people who have financial problems. They've gotten into debt and cannot pay their rent or the interest on their loans, and they think that somehow God has let them down. I always proceed with them tenderly but earnestly. I will not allow God to be slandered. He is not man that he should lie.

If their situation is to be remedied, it must be in the realm of truth. God has not failed them, but somewhere along the way, they have failed God. They have run ahead of His plans for them. They've gotten themselves into their own trouble. They did not listen to him, and therefore they listened maybe to some slick promoter who sold them something that they should not have afforded.

Now, if I have to choose between believing their side of the story and God's side of the story, I am going to believe the Lord. He has said that He will take care of us. He has told us that His eye is on the falling sparrow and the flowers and grasses of the field. He has told us that we are more to Him than sparrows, and that if He clothes the grass with the glory of the field blossoms, He will more than take care of our needs of shelter, clothing, and food.

There are formal promises which cannot be whittled down. Matthew 6:33, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Romans 8:32, "He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?" Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

If any Christian is in financial difficulties, it is because he has gotten out of the will of God somewhere along the line. That statement no more admits argument than does the authority of the word of God itself. I have advised so many people in problems like this that it is easy sometimes to see the pattern of sin that led to the swamp of debt.

But the story goes, "These neighbors moved in next door to us, and our children complained. Why couldn't we have all these things that they had next door? They had television and a new car. Their car had a hitch on the back to which a trailer could be attached, and they had a trailer with a lovely boat on it. They could go to the lake or the river and go boating. Why can't we have all these things?"

And then came the sin of over-buying. There is nothing wrong in a proper use of credit. Now, I must admit that I have long gone without things until I had saved the money to buy for cash with a discount. I'm convinced that this is the only thrifty way to live. And it is certainly making the talent that the Lord gives you do the most for you and for himself.

Of course, this means discipline. It means self-sacrifice. But this is the road to character growth and to spiritual power. We must not forget that God has said it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. And therefore, it is good to go without things.

It's interesting to note that the great list of the desires of the flesh that war against the spirit includes emulations. This is in the fifth chapter of Galatians. And this word emulations in the King James Version is flanked by impurity, lasciviousness, idolatry, enmity, and strife on the one hand, and by anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, and the like on the other.

The modern revisions render the Greek word zelos by the word jealousy. But the best authorities give a much deeper idea than that, namely, the idea of eager, selfish ardor. Since envy is in the same list, I'm inclined to believe that the older translation is better: emulation, or the desire to keep up with the neighbors, is a grievous sin and must be faced as such.

What should be the situation in a Christian home on the day when the paycheck is received? I think there should be thanksgiving and praise to God because He has supplied the need. There should be clear recognition of spiritual obligations and first of all, a removal of the Lord's portion in order that it may be distributed as he leads. Then there should be subtraction of the fixed sums for rent, food, clothes, and transportation. Then there should be a percentage for the other main needs of life.

Now, if there's complaint that there is not enough, it is really a complaint against God. He has promised to provide for all your need. And therefore, what you have is His provision, and it does cover your need whether you like it or not. He has not promised to provide for your greed. And if there is a lack, you must begin by accepting the fact that it is your fault. You have misspent.

You have gone your way instead of His on some expenditure. The thing to do is to say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." Spend the money for the things you really owe, even if it leaves you without food for the children for a few days. The devil and the flesh will tempt you to panic, but if you wait on the Lord, He will not only provide for your need, but He will teach you deep lessons along with His provision, and soon you'll find yourself out of debt.

There is one more phase of this subject that the Bible teaches in a beautiful way. We have spoken of "owe no man anything" in the sphere of finance. And now let us apply this to the fact that we are to owe no man anything in the sphere of advancement. We are not to live by "pull." We are not to be so indebted to any man that we must pay him for his favors by dancing to his tune. We owe all that we have and are to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are to own no other master.

A great story in the book of Genesis illustrates this. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, had been living down in Sodom because it was surrounded by lush pastures. Several kings came from the north and took the town together with much booty and many prisoners. Among these was Lot, and his uncle Abraham mounted an expedition to rescue him.

The battle was successful and Abraham returned by way of Salem. He was refreshed with bread and wine given him by the king of that town. But the king of Sodom came to Abraham and asked for a division of the spoils. Now, it all belonged to Abraham by right of conquest, for the king of Sodom had lost it all in battle.

But he now asks for the persons, who by all standards of those days were now Abraham's slaves, saying that Abraham should keep all the goods. Now, many people might have fallen for this temptation, but not Abraham. Everyone would have looked upon Abraham as a partner of the king of Sodom.

But Abraham answered, we read in Genesis 14, "I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a shoelace or anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abraham rich.'" Now, if God is the most high possessor of heaven and earth, He is able to take care of His servants.

And Abraham, who had seen His glory and followed him from Ur of the Chaldees, is not going to compromise by taking strings and shoelaces from a Sodomite king. For if he had done so, the Sodomite would have claimed part of his glory forever. If the world can claim part of the success of a child of God, then the sting is taken from the witness.

But if all the glory is given to God and if all the resources come from God, then the world cannot take any part of it. And the believer becomes, as Paul says, as unknown and yet well known, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. When we take the uncompromising stand that we will owe no man anything but to love him, the soul is thrown back on God.

Abraham had strengthened his own faith by announcing that it was all in God and that all blessings were from God. Now, he would not be tempted to come down to the King of Sodom for any favor. Ezra did the same thing. And when he was in difficulty, his stand forced him back on God.

He said, "For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, 'The hand of our God is for good upon all that seek him.' So we fasted and besought our God for this."

So may we ask the Lord that He possess us fully. Then shall we learn to deposit all our resources with God and to expect all supply from Him. Then shall we learn to despise the world's gifts and seek the strength and righteousness that come from God alone. And we ask Thee, our heavenly Father, that Thou shalt bless this word to many hearts and use it to Thy glory in building character and in strengthening Christian life. In the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we must surrender our wallets as well. He is Lord over our finances and has established definite principles of money management in His word. We hope you have benefited from today's message entitled The Christian and Debt. To listen to additional teaching by Dr. Barnhouse, visit us online at alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll-free, 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled The Christian and Debt, or simply ask for message number R-13-8.

We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled Death is Swallowed Up in Victory. In this four-chapter booklet, Dr. Barnhouse answers such questions as: what happens the moment you die? Where are the dead right now? Is there such a thing as soul sleep? These and many other questions on the subject of death are treated with profound biblical insight. Are you grieving the loss of a loved one or struggling with the issue of death? Ask for your free copy of Death is Swallowed Up in Victory when you call or write.

Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals exists to promote a biblical understanding and worldview. Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place.

The Alliance also produces the radio broadcast, The Bible Study Hour, featuring the teachings of the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice, and Every Last Word, featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. For a full list of radio stations carrying our programs, please visit our website at alliancenet.org.

Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of listeners like you. If you have benefited from the broadcast and would like it to continue, please prayerfully consider a donation to help us keep this ministry on the air. For more information or to make a contribution to help further our work, contact us by calling toll-free, 1-800-488-1888. Again, that's 1-800-488-1888. Write to us at Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Visit us online at alliancenet.org.

Be sure to ask for a free resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reformed teachers and theologians, including Dr.'s Donald Grey Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, Martin Lloyd-Jones, and Philip Graham Ryken. Thanks for listening today. Join us again next time for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.