“Debt” has two meanings. Debt is that which one owes as the result of actions taken by another. Debt is also that which one owes as the result of a promise made to another. The truly converted person knows that, because of the actions taken by God’s Messiah and the promise he (the convert) made upon surrendering his life to Him, he has two debts which must be paid in order to qualify for eternal life. These two debts–one to the Lord, the other to his fellow man–cannot be satisfied in one fell swoop, but must be paid throughout the remainder of one’s life. Though the salvation seeker can never truly pay the debts he owes, he must spend the rest of his life making “installment payments” on them. The payments are made by obeying God’s Word, which is His Will, Way and Walk. Beginning with true conversion, continued obedience throughout the remainder of one’s life will result in being awarded salvation (Mat. 3:20-22) and a seat on the Throne of Jesus Christ which will be located in New Jerusalem (Rev. 3:20-22)–the future universe headquarters of God’s Kingdom. See the Kingdom of God. Notice how Jesus explains our debt to Him in Revelation 3:20-22: “Behold I stand at the door and knock (calls out via His Word). If any man HEARS MY VOICE (Scriptures) and OPENS THE DOOR (believes and obeys His Words), I will come in to him and sup with him and he with Me. To him who OVERCOMETH (Satan’s call to disobey God’s Word) will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, EVEN AS I OVERCAME AND AM SET DOWN WITH MY FATHER ON HIS THRONE. He who has an ear, let Him hear what the Spirit says TO THE CHURCHES.” Because of the price He paid to offer us salvation, we owe Him unwavering obedience to His Word, which is Jesus Christ in written form.

Let us now look at ourselves relative to our fellow man. During my college teaching days I would tell my students that, whether they realized it or not, someone was watching them–each one of them was someone’s role model. The same holds true for each of us. Someone is taking note of what we do, how we do it, with whom we do it, where we do it, etc. This fact is especially important to those of us who call ourselves by God’s name. We owe our fellow man a tremendous debt–we are tasked with showing him the way to salvation. Like it or not, each of us is someone’s life pattern that is being emulated in the spiritual realm. Our life-long responsibility is to set the proper pattern; this is our debt to those who know us or know of us.

As professing Christians we have two methods by which to pay this debt as shown in Matthew 7:13,14. We can believe God’s Word and obey it before the watcher, thereby showing him/her the way to eternal life. Or we can believe and obey Satan and show the watcher the way to eternal death. What makes the process difficult is that the two ways are identical from a general view: both are spiritual in nature; both involve the Bible; both point to a superior being; both point to an after life; both have ministers who tell the listener what he/she wants to hear; both claim to be preaching “God’s Truth;” both have adherents who proclaim their way to be the right way, etc. The difference in the two “ways” involves the “fine print.”

Two glasses of water are made available to a thirsty traveler. One glass is beautifully decorated while the other is plain. The water in the attractive glass contains a deadly poison that is invisible to the naked eye. The water in the plain glass is pure and will produce life. The popular glass is readily available to the seeker and has many fans who urge the thirsty traveler to partake of it. The plain glass is hidden and can be found only by diligently searching for it, which few do because of the negative reaction of the other drinkers (church people).

The debt true Christians have relative to our fellow man is to drink of the unpopular glass, to set the godly example even though it is despised by the majority of drinkers. We owe it to those who are watching us to obey God in what we do and say, where we go, who we go with, etc. Our “walk” is extremely important–we are commanded to abstain from even the “appearance” of evil (1 Thes. 5:22). For this reason God commands us to come out of Satan’s church system and stay out–we are not to so much as “touch” it. By being involved in the Counterfeit Church one is saying to his/her watcher: “This is the way to salvation; follow me.” Millions have been lured into the Counterfeit Church by the acts of other people. Our debt to our fellow man is to obey the God Who said that we are either gathering with Him or scattering from Him (Mat. 12:30). There is no middle ground–one is either working for Him or working against Him. Our debt is to work for Him. Let us pay our dual debts to Him. L.J.