I am – Motivating Factors in Doing His Will

Introduction

You may not know this, but I’m not like you. There’s something that you’re afraid of that doesn’t faze me at all. In fact, you fear and dread this thing, and I welcome it. I embrace it. It’s something that you fear and dread so much that the very mention of it, just one word depresses you. Fills you with a sense of fear and dread. And that word is Monday. We’re people of schedules, aren’t we? My schedule’s different than yours. I like Monday. You probably dread Monday. Because Monday is traditionally the beginning of a new work week. The weekend is over. Back to the grindstone. We know why we dread Mondays. Because they’re attached to work. But why do you work? Why don’t you just quit your job?

Why be held to a schedule of drudgery and work and time and demands? Well, the obvious answer is because I have to. Where I preached in North Alabama, there was a man in his 80s who still got up every morning and went to work. He told me one time, he said, no, I don’t have to work. I could starve. We work, we live by those schedules because there’s an obligation to. We have to because we have to have that work to get a paycheck to pay our bills and to buy our groceries and to do those other things. We understand and we are driven, and we are people of schedules because of a sense of obligation. We have to.

Paul is going to talk about three things that motivated him. And let’s look at those three things as motivations for ourselves. We sang this morning, and we’ve been emphasizing throughout this year the idea of stand firm and take action. That we’re to be people of action. If you’re a person of Christian action, then keep it up and maybe do a little bit more. If you, in looking in the spiritual mirror of God’s word, recognize that I haven’t been as active, a participant in the cause of Christ, then start. Take action. But that action must be predicated by some kind of motivation. Here’s your motivation. Let’s look in Romans chapter 1 and let’s read our text beginning in verse 14. Three simple verses. Romans 1 verse 14, the apostle said, I am debtor, both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise.

1. I Am Debtor

So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. Those three verses we find three I am statements that will form the basis of our lesson this morning. I am a debtor, Paul says. Therefore, I am ready. And then lastly, he’ll say, and I am not ashamed. Let’s look at those three I am statements, and let’s own them as ours, and serve as the motivation to the obligation that we have to serve God. First of all, Paul said, I am debtor. That’s a concept we’re all too familiar with, isn’t it?

You don’t need to consult any kind of dictionary. You don’t need any help in understanding the word debt, do you? Unfortunately, we’re all too familiar with the idea of debt. A debt is something you owe. Something has been provided for you, and so in turn, you have to give something back. You owe a debt. Again, we’re people of schedule. We’re people of debt. But we understand that word not just in its most literal physical financial sense. We understand that word as it’s otherwise used, don’t we? Can you think of somebody to whom you owe a debt, not financial, but otherwise. Maybe somebody who’s done something for you. And so you feel obliged, there’s the word of our hour. You feel obliged or obligated to do something or be something for that person.

We understand that concept, don’t we? Paul said, the beginning of his motivation in serving Christ and doing what he did as an evangelist, as an apostle, and is just as a Christian, was on the basis of a debt. I think there’s two senses in which Paul could say he was a debtor. Notice that he uses this language. Again, Romans 1, verse 14. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, the wise and the unwise. Now here we have to approach debt a little bit differently than we traditionally look at it. We look at it as a two-party exchange. The bank gave you money to buy a house, and so you have to pay that bank back. It’s a one-on-one, two-person party relationship. That’s probably not what Paul is talking about here.

I am debtor both to the Greeks and the barbarians, to the wise and the unwise. What had those people done for Paul that obligated him to do anything for them? Really nothing. So that’s not the sense in which he was a debtor to them. I owe these people something because of what they’ve done for me. That’s the traditional way we think of debt. That’s not the debt Paul owed. He didn’t owe those people anything because they had done anything for him. But he was still a debtor in at least two senses to those people. This was a debt that he owed to who? To God. We must begin to see our service, our obligations to others, do not spring out of our relationship to them, to their worthiness, or of their prior actions in deserving my service.

But my obligations to my fellow man spring out of my relationship to God. I am a debtor to them because I am a debtor to God. The apostle Paul understood this keenly. Hold your finger here in Romans 1 and go to the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 1. In speaking of the exceedingly abundant grace of God. Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 15, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.

That when it came to sinning, when it came to rebelling against the cause of Christ, he excelled them all. He had more sin to be forgiven than the average man. Do you see in what sense Paul could say, I am a debtor? I preach the gospel to Greeks and to barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise because they’ve done something to me and I’m obligated to give that to them in exchange? No. He said, I owe this debt because of the exceedingly abundant grace of God. Now, Paul would be the very first one, this man who, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit penned the book of Romans, would be the first one to tell us that this is a debt that would never fully be repaid.

But what is our attitude toward a debt that cannot be repaid? Do we dismiss that? Or do we still feel this sense of obligation and debt that pins us to that relationship and its obligations. Paul was a debtor to God because of what God has done for him. The psalmist put it this way in Psalm 100. We are all debtors to God. Psalm 100 and verse 3 says this of our God and our relationship to Him. Psalm 100 verse 3, know that the Lord He is God. It is He who made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. In this self-absorbed me first generation and culture, we must absolutely divest ourselves of that concept and realize I am not my own.

I don’t get to decide. I don’t get to decide the words that I speak. I don’t get to decide the actions that I do. I don’t get to decide anything. It is my God. And I am his debtor. We are his because he made us.

You were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your own body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We are debted to God because we’re not our own. It is he who made us, and we are doubly debted to God because He has bought us at a price. The price of His own son. Two debts that I’ll never be able to repay. But like the Apostle Paul, I will spend my life in service to him because I am his debtor.

Simply because it’s the right thing to do. Out of a sense of aught. A sense of obligation. Is there other motivation? Is there the fires of hell that motivate me? Is there the glories of heaven that motivate me? But true spiritual maturity, I believe, and am convinced, comes when I’m not motivated just by those two ends of the spectrum, but I’m also motivated by a sense of aught, a sense of obligation that I do this because it’s the right thing to do. And so I, like Paul, am a debtor. I owe a debt to God. But there was a sense, a second sense in which Paul was a debtor to his fellow man. In the same way that I am a debtor. Let’s illustrate it this way.

You see someone struggling in the water.

As a member of the human race, do you have some obligation to help that person? I think we’d all agree, yes. There’s just some sense of obligation to our fellow man. Not because that person had previously saved me from drowning or ever done anything for me. But there’s still an obligation I owe to that person. Now, what if I am a member of the rescue squad? Do I have an obligation to help that person who is drowning? As a Christian. One who, not in some arrogant, egotistical way, but one who has the words of life.

Do I have any obligation to my fellow man who’s dying in sin? Do I have a sense of obligation as just a fellow human being? To extend to them a lifeline. Especially since I’m a member of the rescue squad.

2. I Am Ready

Paul said, I am debtor. Then in Romans chapter 1, verse 15, he said, Since I am debtor, I am also ready. So, Romans 1 verse 15, so as much as is in me, I’m ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. I am ready. I don’t know that the English word ready really conveys what Paul was trying to convey here. In fact, some translations, the New International Version, translates this, I am so eager. Because we use the word ready in a different sense sometimes, don’t we? Are you ready to go to work in the morning? I’m ready. There’s no eagerness there. You ready to go to the doctor? Ready to go to the dentist to have that tooth pulled? Yes, I’m ready.

There’s no eagerness there. But this word that Paul used, I am ready, carries with it not just a sense of, okay, all right. I have to. This is my duty. Let’s get it over with. But there was a sense of eagerness.

One commentator I read said that the imagery that you need to see here is like a racehorse. At the starting line. I have a better one. It’s like a three-year-old who wants to get to that candy or to that toy, and you’re holding them back. Have you ever done that? And you want to let them go, but you realize I can’t let them go because they’re going to go flying and they’re going to fall. They’re pulling and pushing in that direction so much. That’s the concept Paul said. I am debtor. And so as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the gospel. Do you believe that about Paul? Again, hold your finger at Romans 1. Go back to Acts 20. Acts 20 records Paul on his third missionary journey.

It’s his third missionary journey. We could also call it his last missionary journey because he’s going to be arrested at the end of this journey. This journey ends with Paul’s arrest. And it comes as no surprise to him because as he is making his way toward Jerusalem, he increasingly gets information that it’s not going to end well when you get to Jerusalem. Agabus, the prophet, who had correctly prophesied the famine, is now prophesying that Paul is going to be bound when he gets to Jerusalem. And so in Acts chapter 20, read this, verse 22, and see, Acts 20, verse 22, and see now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem. Not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

But none of these things move me. Nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy. And the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Was Paul ready to preach the gospel? Do you remember when Paul was first approached by our Lord to become an apostle? It was said of this Paul that he would preach not just to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, at the kings and rulers. This is a part of the plan of God. And Paul says, I know. Well, I don’t know the details of it, but I know there’s bad news waiting for me. But I’m going. As much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel.

In your prayers this week, think about including this in your prayers. Ask God to help you. To help you to have that zeal for the cause of Christ. That you would be like that racehorse, or that you’d be like that three-year-old that has to be held back because you are so eager and so ready to do the will of God. This eagerness, this zeal is not something that is extra. It’s essential. We need to feel this pull. We need to feel that push, this eagerness to do this more than anything else. A common excuse that is given by myself and everybody else is I don’t have time. That’s kind of the end-all excuse, isn’t it? Oh, well, if you don’t have time, that’s supposed to end the conversation.

We need to realize that that’s not really an accurate statement. What we really mean is, I’m not willing to use my time for that. And sometimes that may be okay. We have to prioritize. And there may be somebody asks you to do something, and you say, I don’t have time. What you’re really saying is, I don’t want to make time for that because this is more important than that. We all make those judgment calls. And many times we’re right in making those judgment calls. But when it comes to the kingdom of God, seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Do we have the eagerness? The fervor, the zeal, that this is my drive. As much as is in me, I am eager, Paul said, to preach the gospel.

3. I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel

Lastly, in verse 16 of Romans chapter 1. He has said, I’m a debtor. I’m ready. And in verse 16 he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I’m not ashamed. Now, why would Paul make a statement, I’m not ashamed? Making the statement, I am not ashamed, presupposes that two things. Number one is that there were those who were ashamed. And that there were possible excuses that could be given by Paul for him being ashamed. Otherwise, the statement just out of the blue makes no sense. I’m not ashamed. But what are you talking about, Paul? Why would you be ashamed? Because others were.

This same apostle, talking about this same gospel, said this, Romans chapter 1, and in verse 18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. If you think that you live in the only society, the only culture, the only time in which people have looked down upon Christianity, who have looked down upon the belief in an intelligent designer, you’re kidding yourself. Paul said, In my day, the gospel is foolishness to so many people. But I’m not ashamed. Paul was being persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, and would be put to death.

Actions that otherwise would cause you to be ashamed, wouldn’t it? Even in the first century culture where Jews despised the Roman government many times, they still viewed being imprisoned by that Roman government as something to be ashamed of. But Paul said, I’m not ashamed. He would tell Timothy, don’t you be ashamed of my chains and my imprisonment.

Now, why would Paul be tempted to be ashamed of the gospel? Because he was being persecuted for preaching it. He was being hated by his own people, the Jews, for embracing it. The Greeks, the wise men of that day were calling it foolishness. The Roman government had rejected, and in fact had outlawed it. That’s why he might be ashamed of the gospel. But why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel? For it was the power of God unto salvation. I’m not ashamed. I am ready. Because I am a debtor. Let us feel the sense of obligation and motivation that Paul felt to be what we ought to be, because of the debt we owe. And to feel the immenseness of that debt that it motivates us with an eagerness that we cannot be held back.

Conclusion

And no matter what, we’re not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because no matter what it is to anybody else’s eyes, to me, and to you, it is the power of God unto salvation. Don’t be ashamed of that gospel this morning. Are you ready to obey that gospel? Do you feel the sense of debt that you owe unto your God, your creator, to your God, your redeemer? Why not believe in him? Confess him. Confession is the absolute opposite of being ashamed. Confess that faith. Repent of your sins, turning your back upon this sinful pathway of life, and be baptized this morning for the remission of your sins. Why? Why should I be baptized into Christ this morning? Because you’re a debtor. Because you’re not ashamed.

And because you’re ready. If we can help you as you render obedience to the gospel call this morning, as you’re motivated by the debt that you owe, if we can help you in any spiritual way, let that be known right now, as together we stand and as we sing.