Life-Debt: We Owe Him Our Lives

We all like watching Hollywood movies. They’re a great way to be carried into someone else’s experience and to imagine what we might do if we were in a similar situation. Have you ever noticed though, that movies often follow a nearly identical theme as other movies you’ve seen?

Boy meets girl, girl eventually falls for boy, boy messes up, girl gives up on the relationship and leaves, she’s headed out of town, boy comes to his senses, chases girl to the airport/train station to try to win her back before she’s gone from his life forever, he catches her just in time, boy repents and requites his love, they fall into each other’s arms, and live happily ever after.

Many, if not most movies climax in chase scenes. The phrase, "Cut to the chase" was used by movie studio executives to mean skip all the pointless dialogue and get to the point of the story. The phrase is now commonly used when we want someone to "get to the point."

In the movies, this is called a trope. T-R-O-P E, “trope”. A trope is a plot pattern or theme that the movie follows. Over time Hollywood has developed a number of formulas that make for a good trope, a good storyline.

Another trope, and the one that’s relevant to the sermon today is the 
“Life-Debt” trope. In this one, the good guy saves the life of a lowly stranger. The stranger, as a matter of honor, becomes indebted to good guy for life. “I owe you my life”, he says. He must travel with the good guy everywhere he goes until he has repaid him in kind by saving his life.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=sai1o02k

One such movie you may remember is –

RobinHood: Prince of Thieves

Kevin Costner - Robin of Locksley

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - Maid Marian

Christian Slater - Will Scarlett

Alan Rickman - Sheriff of Nottingham

Sean Connery - King Richard

Morgan Freeman – Azeem (means protector or defender)

Robin (Kevin Costner), has been imprisoned in Jerusalem along with his comrade, Peter Dubois. They break free from Ayyubid prison in the Muslim dynasty and save the life of a stranger, a Moor named Azeem (Morgan Freeman), but Peter is mortally wounded in the process. After the escape, Robin returns to England.  Azeem insists on going with him as a matter of honor. He has vowed to follow him until his life-debt to Robin is repaid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood:_Prince_of_Thieves

This one might sound familiar to us as Christians.

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Gal 2:20 (KJV)  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

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Jesus Christ gave his life for ours. He rescued us. We were dead in our sins and the death penalty hung heavily over our heads. For the wages of sin is death; (Rom 6:23) but Christ ransomed us by paying that debt for us. He endured the cross, and died a horrible excruciatingly painful death in our stead.

That should have been us on that cross but God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8) We didn’t deserve it! Jesus took the scourging, the crown of thorns, and the nails for us so we don’t have to. We were dead to rights and would most surely die but the Son of God set us free, and we are free indeed. (John 8:36)

When we come to realize that we are hopelessly lost, repent of our sins, and ask God for forgiveness, we surrender our lives to Him. Our lives are no longer our own. We pledge our lives and allegiance to our God and his Christ.

We are then to demonstrate that allegiance through baptism and the laying on of hands by those elect of God, His shepherd and elders to receive the Holy Spirit to lead us, and guide us, teach us, and comfort us.

So, according to the trope, we have a life-debt to Christ for saving our lives.

At this point, our lives become a living sacrifice. (Rom 12:1-2). We have, by our profession of faith and the act of baptism, pledged our lives to God and Christ to use us as they see fit, to do God’s will. Jesus Christ laid down His life to pay the debt of our sin for us and we have become His bondservants until such time as we can repay the debt.

We’re going to consider this “Life-Debt” today through this one scripture, Galations chapter two and verse twenty.

I am crucified with Christ:

When we are baptized, it is symbolic of Jesus’ crucifixion. Just like the two thieves who deserved the cross, we as sinners are crucified along side Him. The man that we are, the self, the “I” is put to death. “I” am crucified.

We are dead and buried in the likeness of His death at baptism as our old man, the person we’ve been is denounced, and we turn over a new leaf, so to speak, to walk in newness of life with Christ.

Rom 6:3-7 KJV(3)  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?(4)  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
(5)  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
(6)  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
(7)  For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Through repentance and baptism, we have been symbolically “crucified with Christ”. Christ redeemed us by paying the penalty of death held against us and now we have been set free. We are free but we are now indebted to him. We owe him our lives. (1)

However, this is not a one and done event. The old man continually rises up in us again, and again. We must therefore continue to repent, to deny self and recommit our allegiance to Christ on a daily basis.

Luk 9:23-25 KJV(23)  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.(24)  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.(25)  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

The pleasures of this world are tempting to be sure.

But Christ says we must deny self in return for the pearl of great price. (Matt 13:46) We have been given treasure beyond measure. When we were deserving of death on the cross, Christ stepped in and paid the price for us. We are now dead to the world and glory only in Christ and him crucified.

We owe him our lives. (2)

Luk 14:27-28, 33 KJV(27)  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.(28)  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? (33)  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

To be a disciple, takes discipline. We must be diligent daily to make our calling and election sure. We need to be disciplined to endure to the end and to finish the race and finish strong crucifying daily the lusts and sinful desires of the old man.

  

nevertheless I live;

While we have crucified the old man that we were, spiritually speaking, we know that we still live our lives in the physical sense. Yet, we are to remain mindful of the life-debt that we owe to our Savior.

We owe him our lives. (3)

You may have heard me say that already. In marketing there’s an old adage called “The Rule of Seven”. It states that someone needs to hear something at least seven times before they remember it and take action. So, don’t be surprised if you hear it again.

Rom 6:8-13 KJV(8)  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:(9)  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
(10)  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
(11)  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(12)  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
(13)  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Though we have been crucified with Christ, we are still alive in the flesh. Warring against it daily. We still have a carnal nature that must be suppressed daily until it is eradicated.

We would like it if just by our baptism we could be washed clean for all time but it doesn’t work that way. The infestation of sin is so huge and so relentless that we must continually re-commit ourselves to Christ. We must take up our cross daily and crucify the old man again.

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matt 6:34) Every day we must re-up our commitment to Christ. We must deny self again and again.

We know what we ought to do but the flesh is weak and continues to draw us back to our old ways, our old bad habits. Even Paul struggled with this.

Rom 7:14-25 ESV(14)  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
(15)  For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
(16)  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
(17)  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
(18)  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
(19)  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
(20)  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
(21)  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
(22)  For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
(23)  but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
(24)  Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?(25)  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

I have always drawn encouragement from this passage. If Paul, even Paul, struggled with doing the very things he knew he shouldn’t, and not doing the things he knows he should, I shouldn’t be so discouraged when I see myself doing the same.

Even Jesus himself said that, “I can of mine own self do nothing.”

Joh 5:19-20, 30 KJV(19)  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.(20)  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. (30)  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

We shouldn’t just give up. Even though we strive to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect, we should understand that we will fall short time and again. The struggle is real and unrelenting. We must continuously seek the will of the Father and yield to His will, to His Spirit.

yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:

“Yet not I”. Would you be surprised to learn that the Greek word here for “I” is the word “ego”? Ego, meaning I, me, my; a primary pronoun of the first person I.

What do we mean when we say someone has a big ego? They’re all about themselves, aren’t they?

But here it says, “Yet not I”. It’s not about me. It’s not about “I”. It’s not about self. It’s not about you. We no longer live for self, self-promotion, self-aggrandizement.

It’s not about you, but Christ. Isn’t that what it says?

“Yet not I, but Christ”.

When we are crucified in that watery grave of baptism, we are committing death to “self” and “selfishness”. Death to self to walk in newness of life for Christ.

We owe him our lives. (4)

Yet as we struggle with getting what we want first, sometimes we get things out of order, don’t we?

The two greatest commandments are to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt 22:37-40)

So, when we fall short of this, we need to be aware of whom we are serving.

Rom 6:16-18 KJV(16)  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
(17)  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
(18)  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
 Whether we realize it or not, we are servants to whom we yield ourselves. That to which we are obedient is our master! Either to sin and death or to the LORD our God.

Thank God that we do not have to be slaves to sin! Through Christ in us, we can overcome. Not by our power or might but by God’s Spirit which he has given us.

and the life which I now live in the flesh

This is best explained in Romans chapter 8.

Rom 8:9-14 NKJV(9)  But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
(10)  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
(11)  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
(12)  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
(13)  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
(14)  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

We know that we are alive, flesh and blood human beings. But we do not live according to the flesh if we have God’s Holy Spirit. We do those things that are pleasing to God when we heed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Yet we are still in the flesh and drawn to the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life whether we like it or not. We need to be cognizant of those times when our desires are counter to God’s will and not do them.

And don’t try to bargain with them either. The heart is deceitfully wicked. You can’t knowingly sin and say, “I’ll just repent later.”

Luk 12:47-48 KJV(47)  And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.(48)  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

We cannot willfully sin and expect to escape chastisement. I remember once when I was about 6 years old, my father told me to take some old decks of playing cards out the fire pit where we burned our trash. Instead, I took and hid them under the shed. Little did I know he was watching me out the window. Suffice it to say, it did not go well for little Bobby.

1Pe 4:1-2 KJV(1)  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
(2)  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1Cor 6:20)

We owe him our lives. (5)

I live by the faith of the Son of God

https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/you-can-have-living-faith/our-faith-in-christ-or-his-faith-within-us

Faith – the conviction of the Truth of God.

That is the definition of faith in its simplest form. We could do sermon, after sermon, after sermon on what faith is but it comes down to this – Do we believe and trust what God has told us in His Word, the Holy Bible?

We have a tendency to overcomplicate things with our intellect and application of human reason. “Do I have faith?” “Do I have enough faith?”

Simply put faith is this – Are you convicted that what God has said is true?

Now, of course, there’s a whole lot more that can be said but let’s not overcomplicate things and cause ourselves untold worry and consternation.

The latter half of this phrase, “I live by the faith of the Son of God” has caused endless debate. Some translations say, faith IN the Son of God. The King James says, faith OF the Son of God. Which is it?

To settle the matter in our hearts, I will read a portion of our UCG booklet, “You Can Have Living Faith”.

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A few of these instances are found in Galatians 2. Galatians 2:16 in the original King James Version states that we are justified—made right with God—by having the “faith OF Jesus Christ” and the “faith OF Christ” (emphasis added throughout). The New King James Version translates these phrases as “faith IN Jesus Christ” and “faith IN Christ.” Which version is correct?

To understand, we’ll have to go into some grammar and translation issues. In the original Greek there is actually no word for “of” or “in” in the phrases. Rather, the question revolves around the case ending of the name. There is no question that the genitive or possessive case is used here in the original Greek. In English we would typically designate this with apostrophe s —that is to say, “Christ’s faith,” faith that belongs to Him.

But there is controversy over whether the subjective genitive or objective genitive is intended. Is Christ in these phrases the object of faith—that is, the faith belongs to Him because it is directed TO Him (from us)? That would justify the translation “faith IN Christ.” Or does it belong to Him because it is inherent within Him—the faith He Himself has? This would mean that “faith OF Christ” is the proper translation—and that, seemingly, His faith is somehow instilled into us.

“Not I, but Christ lives in me”

Let’s look now at Galatians 2:20. As rendered in the original King James Version, Paul wrote, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” The italicized words are rendered in the New King James Version as “faith IN the Son of God.” A literal translation from the Greek would be “God’s Son’s faith”—but the subjective/objective question applies here too.

Helping us is the context. Paul is writing of Jesus living within and through him (by the Holy Spirit) instead of him just living his own life. So, in then summing this up by saying he lives by faith involving Christ, it would be illogical for Paul to mean his own faith in Christ. It makes much more sense contextually for him to mean that Christ’s faith operates within him as Christ lives His life within him. Remember his point:

“… yet not I, but Christ …”

We should therefore understand Paul’s parallel phrases only four verses earlier, in Galatians 2:16, to likewise mean “faith OF” Christ. And it makes sense that parallel construction elsewhere should be viewed the same way. Thus, Romans 3:21 should say “faith OF Jesus Christ,” and Philippians 3:9 should also read “faith OF Christ,” as the original King James Version translates these.

Even the New King James Version translates Revelation 14:12 as stating that Christians have “the faith OF Jesus” (though that’s because “faith” here is viewed by the translators as the belief system and not the belief itself—yet both derive from Him).

Faith toward Christ and help to believe

Of course, we certainly do need to have faith IN Christ. Paul himself stated in Acts 20:21 that we must have “faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (parallel to “faith toward God” in Hebrews 6:1). Paul’s wording clearly refers to our faith directed TO Christ. We must believe in who He is and what He has done for us as well as all that He teaches through the whole Bible.

Of course, even here we are not truly alone in our efforts. For God helps us to have faith. We are like the man who cried out desperately to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)—and the apostles who implored Him, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). Indeed, God will help us to have faith even before we are spiritually converted through the Holy Spirit.

However, just our own belief in God and Christ is not enough to bring us in line with God’s way and ultimately lead us to salvation. We must have the “faith OF the Son of God.” Jesus is expressly stated to be “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). So, our faith is obviously from Him.

Jesus’ own faith—or building up ours?

But what does this actually mean? Does Jesus really give us His own faith—putting His own trusting belief into our hearts and minds? Or does He build His degree of faith within us over time —a development process wherein He strengthens our own faith (which is thus His by authorship)? We should understand that both aspects are at work in the life of a true Christian.

Some advocate solely the latter. If a man said he was going to attain the “strength of Samson,” no one would think he meant that Samson’s own strength would somehow be given to him. They would just think he was speaking of become as strong as Samson—probably over time. Likewise, receiving “the faith of Christ” is taken by some to mean only developing, over time, as much faith as Christ had or has. And indeed, it is true that our thinking is transformed over time to be like Christ’s—including in what we believe.

But there is more to it than that. For in a person obtaining the “strength of Samson,” it would not be because Samson lived within and through him. With the faith of Christ, the matter is quite different.

When a person receives the Holy Spirit after repentance with faith and baptism, God the Father and Jesus Christ supernaturally live in that person through the presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:23; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 John 3:24)—Christ as the active agent to live through the person, as we saw in Galatians 2:20. His thoughts and actions direct our own supernaturally to the degree we yield to Him. Thus, we exhibit His character, experiencing a measure of faith as fruit and a gift of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22, KJV; Romans 12:3; 1 Corinthians 12:9). Indeed, we experience “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Yet we should recognize that when God gives us supernatural help through the Spirit to see as Christ sees and act accordingly, we should not view this as Christ having and exercising faith for us or in place of us. Rather, He lives through us—bringing transformation to our own minds over time so that we ourselves gradually come to think and live more and more like Him. Thus, there is supernatural intervention and empowerment by Christ, but this is transformative of our own being through a process of conversion—a process that requires our own ongoing cooperation.

And in this way, Christ’s faith becomes our faith. As the apostle John stated, “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). It truly is ours as well.

Again, we must certainly have faith IN Christ. But on top of that, the faith OF Christ being established and built within us is the only way that we can remain in God’s way of life over the course of our Christian lives and receive eternal salvation.

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We need but a smidgeon of faith. We think we need faith we can feel. Faith with the power to instantly move any mountains out of the way. However, in and of ourselves we can do nothing, but we can do all things through Christ who lives in each and every one of us.

who loved me,

1Jn 4:7-10 KJV(7)  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
(8)  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
(9)  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
(10)  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
 

We owe him our lives. (6)

and gave himself for me.

Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. (1Co 7:23)

2Co 5:14-15 KJV(14)  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
(15)  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. That price was our very lives. We were dead in our sins and would surely die if Christ had not stepped in to save us. As a result of our repentance and baptism, it’s as if we have been crucified along with him as we have pledged our love and allegiance to him for life. We follow him whithersoever he goeth. (Rev 14:4)

By God’s Spirit living in us, His thoughts and actions direct our own to the degree we yield to Him. Trusting this, we can be content in whatsoever state we find ourselves. (Php 4:11) We serve God and Christ. It is our reasonable service, our duty to do so. (Luk 17:10; Rom 12:1)

Therefore, whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, we are to serve the Lord. We may lament that we were sick or injured and ended up in the hospital, for example. Well, how else would God get you to go there? You wouldn’t have gone otherwise. Somebody there needs to hear the words of life. Who is it? How can we help? That’s how we can count it all joy.

You may have an accident, or a lawsuit, or whatever calamity you can name. How else would God get you to go there? It is our duty to speak the words of life wherever we go.

Christ died for us and our life is no longer our own.

Christ’s sacrifice for us has created a life-debt that will take an eternity to repay. Remember: We owe him our lives. (7)

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