Tag Archives: Acts 10:14

Romans, Part 82

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I took a tangent from Paul’s teaching in the previous essay—I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself[1]—to convince myself it was in line with Jesus’ teaching in Mark 7 since his criticism rang in my ears.  In Revelation Jesus criticized the angel of the church in Pergamum[2] and the angel of the church in Thyatira[3] because certain people under their authority were eating εἰδωλόθυτα (a form of εἰδωλόθυτον; translated, food sacrificed to idols) and for πορνεῦσαι (a form of πορνεύω; translated, commit sexual immorality).

Here, too, teaching against πορνείᾳ (the offense of the πορνεύων, another form of πορνεύω) Paul agreed with Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:12-20; 10:7, 8 NET):

“All things are lawful for me” – but not everything is beneficial.  “All things are lawful for me” – but I will not be controlled by anything.  “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.”  The body is not for sexual immorality (πορνείᾳ), but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  Now God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?  Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute (πόρνης, a form of πόρνη)?  Never!  Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute (πόρνῃ) is one body with her?  For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”  But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him.  Flee sexual immorality (πορνείαν, another form of πορνεία)!  “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body” – but the immoral person (πορνεύων, another form of πορνεύω) sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price.  Therefore glorify God with your body [Table].

So do not be idolaters (εἰδωλολάτραι, a form of εἰδωλολάτρης), as some of them were.  As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”[4]  And let us not be immoral (πορνεύωμεν, another form of πορνεύω), as some of them were (ἐπόρνευσαν, another form of πορνεύω), and twenty-three thousand died in a single day.[5]

In an article on a different but related topic Robert A. J. Gagnon wrote of Romans 1:

If the wrath of God manifested in this age involves, in part, God permitting people to engage in such self-dishonoring, shameful behavior, with death resulting, then the saving righteousness of God must mean not merely forgiveness of sins but empowerment, through the Spirit, to be delivered from the primary control of such shameful impulses. 

Accordingly, “sin shall not be lord over you, for you are not under the law but under grace” (6:14). To be “under the law” is to be dominated by sinful passions that “bear fruit for death” (7:5). To be “under grace” is to be Spirit-controlled and thus bearing fruit for life (7:6).

While that was exciting to me, he then paraphrased Romans 8:12-14 as follows: “In other words, a profession of faith void of a transformed life is worthless and will not save a person from divine wrath.”  And he turned to John Calvin to further emphasize his point: “Those in whom the Spirit does not reign do not belong to Christ; therefore those who serve the flesh are not Christians…”  This kind of fear always led me back to myself, trusting my own works at reform, rather than trusting Christ and the Holy Spirit’s transforming power.  Masters, treat your slaves the same way, Paul wrote believers in Ephesus, giving up the use of threats (ἀπειλήν, a form of ἀπειλή), because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.[6]  Surely we could practice this among the slaves of Christ.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[7] Paul wrote.  If we must threaten, the legitimate threats are sickness and death: Look!  I am throwing [Jezebel] onto a bed of violent illness, and those who commit adultery with her into terrible suffering, unless they repent of her deeds.  Furthermore, I will strike her followers with a deadly disease, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts.  I will repay each one of you what your deeds deserve.[8]  So if Jesus doesn’t sicken or kill enough church-folk to suit me, I’m the one with the problem.  (That is not to say that my health or my life is proof of my righteousness.  Even Jezebel was given time to repent.)

Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, Paul continued his discourse on love, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister.  I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean.  For if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.  Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died.  Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil (βλασφημείσθω, a form of βλασφημέω).[9]

Several American college campuses “fume with righteousness” these days; students, faculty, administration and benefactors silence anyone who disagrees with them.  I sincerely doubt that is what Paul meant by μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν (translated, Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil).  In fact, Paul was much more explicit about his meaning in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1 NET):

“Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds others up.  Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person.  Eat anything that is sold in the marketplace without questions of conscience, for the earth and its abundance are the Lord’s.  If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you want to go, eat whatever is served without asking questions of conscience.  But if someone says to you, “This is from a sacrifice,” do not eat, because of the one who told you and because of conscience – I do not mean yours but the other person’s.  For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience?  If I partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed (βλασφημοῦμαι, another form of βλασφημέω) for the food that I give thanks for?  So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.  Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also try to please everyone in all things.  I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.  Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, Paul continued his discourse on love, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.  So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another.  Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.  For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat.[10]

The Greek word translated wrong is κακὸν (a form of κακός).  Love does no wrong (κακὸν, a form of κακός) to a neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.[11]  But I think it worth noting that κακὸν might have been translated evil in both instances.  There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil[12] (κακόν).  Do not repay anyone evil (κακὸν) for evil; consider what is good before all people.[13]  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil (κακόν) with good.[14]

It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble, Paul continued.  The faith you have, keep to yourself before God.  Blessed is the one who does not judge (κρίνων, a form of κρίνω) himself by what he approves.[15]  I would read this last statement as “in” (ἐν) what he approves.  He does not judge himself by not despising the faith-weak by not placing an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister.[16]  And so I read the final verse—But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin[17]—differently.

The Greek word translated doubts is διακρινόμενος (a form of διακρίνω) rather than a form of διστάζω.[18]  But Michael the archangel, when he disputed (διακρινόμενος; NET: debating) with the devil and argued about the body of Moses…[19]  I think all of the English translations of διακρινόμενος could be improved by some form of dispute.  But get up, go down, and accompany them without[20] dispute (διακρινόμενος; NET: hesitation), the Spirit said to Peter.  To dispute was exactly what Peter began to do in the vision of an object something like a large sheet filled with all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds.[21]  Certainly not, Lord, he disputed the command to slaughter and eat, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean![22]

But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask in faith without disputing (διακρινόμενος; NET: doubting), for the one who disputes (διακρινόμενος; NET: doubts) is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind.[23]  If James meant to say that God’s generous wisdom without reprimand is given only after I achieve a faith of some measure of purity—without doubting—he was wrong.  But if he meant that the wisdom given would be of no value to me if I disputed it, he was absolutely correct.  For although wisdom was given by the generosity of God it will not be received by the one who disputes it.  For that person must not suppose that he will receive (λήμψεται, a form of λαμβάνω) anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded (δίψυχος) individual, unstable in all his ways.[24]  I’ve spent years being double-minded, asking for wisdom and disputing his answers, and He has been nothing but patient throughout: If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.[25]

And so I think—But the man who disputes (διακρινόμενος, a form of διακρίνω; NET: doubts) is condemned if he eats—refers back to one who abstains [who] must not judge (κρινέτω, another form of κρίνω) the one who eats everything.[26]  This is the one who will be condemned by his own conscience if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, but by provocation, and whatever is not from faith is sin.[27]  So love will not goad the faith-weak by flagrant displays of knowledge.  But we who are strong (δυνατοὶ, a form of δυνατός) ought to bear with the failings (ἀσθενήματα, a form of ἀσθένημα) of the weak (ἀδυνάτων, a form of ἀδύνατος), Paul continued, and not just please ourselves.[28]

Paul inhabited a world where God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues.[29]  He could write about the δυνατοὶ.  I grew up in a world where men who hadn’t taken one step on water criticized one who had for his lack of faith, and this before the Holy Spirit was even given, before Peter received his daily ration of faithfulness.  That’s why the one man who noticed that Jesus had the faith to stand on the water and hold Peter up as well was such a God-send.  So I’ll continue to write about the less faith-weak rather than the strong.

Rulers (ἄρχοντες, a form of ἄρχων) are God’s servant (διάκονος) for your good and God’s servant (διάκονος) to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.[30]  They utilize external controls, laws and punishments for infractions, “sin” taxes, tax breaks, etc.  What is Apollos, really?  Or what is Paul?  Servants (διάκονοι, a form of διάκονος) through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow.  So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth.[31]  The love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control of the Holy Spirit are God’s internal controls.  What we believe, what we teach, determines whether we are just another layer of government, another layer of external controls, or followers of Jesus, sometimes stumbling and falling but, living an eternal life led by his Holy Spirit.

[1] Romans 14:14a (NET)

[2] Revelation 2:12a (NET)

[3] Revelation 2:18a (NET)

[4] Exodus 32 (NET); NET note (4): “The term ‘play’ may refer to idolatrous, sexual play here, although that is determined by the context rather than the meaning of the word itself (cf. BDAG 750 s.v. παίζω).”

[5] Numbers 25 (NET) I’m not ignoring the discrepancy (23 or 24 thousand) here but will take it up in another essay.

[6] Ephesians 6:9 (NET)

[7] Romans 8:1 (NET) I still “want to call this the absolute baseline of faith in Jesus Christ.”  See the NET note (1) about the addition to the text: “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1 KJV).

[8] Revelation 2:22, 23 (NET)

[9] Romans 14:13-16 (NET)

[10] Romans 14:17-20 (NET)

[11] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[12] Romans 2:9a (NET)

[13] Romans 12:17 (NET)

[14] Romans 12:21 (NET)

[15] Romans 14:21, 22 (NET)

[16] Romans 14:13b (NET)

[17] Romans 14:23 (NET)

[18] http://biblehub.com/greek/1365.htm

[19] Jude 1:9a (NASB)

[20] Acts 10:20a (NET) Table

[21] Acts 10:11, 12 (NET) Table

[22] Acts 10:14 (NET) Table

[23] James 1:5, 6 (NET)

[24] James 1:7, 8 (NET)

[25] 2 Timothy 2:13 (NET)

[26] Romans 14:3 (NET)

[27] Romans 14:23b

[28] Romans 15:1 (NET)

[29] 1 Corinthians 12:28 (NET)

[30] Romans 13:4 (NET)

[31] 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 (NET)

Romans, Part 69

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Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality.[1]  I’ll forego the table of Scripture this time.  I’m convinced now that I’m not forcing the situation.  Paul was describing love empowered by the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not offering obedience to his own rules as the true path to living eternal life.  And there was always something arbitrary about what I was trying to do.  Kindness is the most obvious aspect of the fruit of the Spirit to effect contributing, but since I have used it already I would’ve said faithfulness.  And as I consider the needs of the saints I tend to focus on Love is patient.[2]

But the fruit of the Spirit isn’t really divisible into love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control any more than love is divisible into the constituent parts of Paul’s definition in 1 Corinthians.  I can’t spoof the fruit of the Spirit by striving to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled, though I’m not sure I would have understood that if I hadn’t tried to do it on my own.

The Greek word translated contribute above is κοινωνοῦντες (a form of κοινωνέω).  It means to share, or to have in common: All who believed were together and held everything in common (κοινὰ, a form of κοινός).[3]  The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common (κοινά, a form of κοινός).[4]  Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, the author of Hebrews wrote, [Jesus] likewise shared in their humanity.[5]  And this brings up another aspect of the concept common.

The Greek word translated share above is κεκοινώνηκεν, another form of κοινωνέω, or a form of κοινόω.  In the NET online if I click on the English word share I am taken to κοινωνέω, if I click on κεκοινώνηκεν in the parallel Greek I am taken to κοινόω.  Perhaps this is just a mistake.  It happens sometimes.  In Revelation 20:10 for instance if I click on lake I am taken to λίμνη (‘lake’), if I click on the parallel Greek λίμνην I am taken to λιμήν (‘harbor’ or ‘haven’).  But I’ll pursue this as if it is a possible understanding of the Greek rather than a coding mistake because all of these words share κοινός as their common root.

Jews from the province of Asia[6] accused Paul: he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled (κεκοίνωκεν, a form of κοινόω) this holy place![7]  If this is a potential meaning of κεκοινώνηκεν it accentuates how He who became Jesus profaned, defiled or made Himself common as He shared (μετέσχεν, a form of μετέχω) in our humanity.  This isn’t difficult to grasp; a common woman was one shared by many.

I want to take a moment to discuss who He-who-became-Jesus is.  To most of my contemporaries He is the unknown Son of God who declared the known Jehovah as his Father.  I think of Him as the known yehôvâh (יהוה) who became flesh and blood as Ἰησοῦς and revealed his as yet unknown Father.  Admittedly, I would arrive at a stalemate on this issue from Scripture.  I lean the way I do because of personal experience.  That Jehovah killed someone or sent someone to die, even his own son, isn’t really news, certainly not good news.

If yehôvâh became a man  Ἰησοῦς and gave his own human life to satisfy his own righteous vengeance against human sin, if He created human beings knowing full well He would ultimately pay this price for them, that is news, very good news.  And it helps to explain the great pains He took,[8] and continues to take, to demonstrate the failure of any other means of redemption.  And with this understanding I can appreciate how yehôvâh bowed to the higher authority of his Father’s will, authority which supersedes all law or covenant, as He relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people[9] at Sinai.

So what makes a person common, defiled or profane?  What defiles (κοινοῖ, another form of κοινόω) a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles (κοινοῖ, another form of κοινόω) a person.[10]  The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile (κοινοῖ, another form of κοινόω) a person.[11]  Jesus wasn’t talking about disease here.  For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.[12]

This knowledge wasn’t from yehôvâh’s omniscience but from  Ἰησοῦς’ personal experience.   Ἰησοῦς knew (ἐγίνωσκεν, a form of γινώσκω) what was in man (ἀνθρώπῳ, a form of ἄνθρωπος).[13]  God made the one who did not know (γνόντα, another form of γινώσκω) sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.[14]  The things that defile a person are already inside a person.  These are the things that defile (κοινοῦντα, another form of κοινόω, or ‘make common’) a person (ἄνθρωπον, another form of ἄνθρωπος); it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles (κοινοῖ, another form of κοινόω) a person (ἄνθρωπον, another form of ἄνθρωπος).[15]

So are we all common, defiled, profane?  Certainly not, Lord, Peter protested to the voice which commanded him to slaughter and eat in a trance as he prayed, for I have never eaten anything defiled (κοινὸν, a form of κοινός) and ritually unclean![16]  In his trance Peter didn’t believe Jesus’ teaching, There is nothing outside of a person that can defile (κοινῶσαι, another form of κοινόω) him by going into him.[17]  The voice didn’t chide his unbelief but said simply, What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean (κοίνου, another form of κοινόω)![18]  We take this to mean that all foods are clean.[19]  But Peter said, God has shown me that I should call no person defiled (κοινὸν, a form of κοινός) or ritually unclean.[20]

Macedonia and Achaia are pleased to make some contribution (κοινωνίαν, a form of κοινωνία) for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem,[21] Paul wrote the believers in Rome.  I think it’s important to consider the origin of the poor among the saints in Jerusalem:  All who believed were together and held everything in common, and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need (χρείαν, a form of χρεία).[22]  At first this economic system worked amazingly well (Acts 4:32-35 NET):

The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common.  With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all.  For there was no one needy (ἐνδεής) among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds from the sales and placing them at the apostles’ feet.  The proceeds were distributed to each, as anyone had need (χρείαν, a form of χρεία). 

They sold land and houses, assets that could be leased or rented, believing, This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven[23] soon, in their lifetimes.  I’m not suggesting they acted contrarily to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but that prompting may have been unique to their time and circumstances.

Jerusalem was destroyed in the lifetimes of many of them, and whatever lands and houses remained went to their Roman conquerors.  Israel had a penchant for arbitrary law (Judges 21:5, Ezra 10:8, Acts 9:1, 2 NET).  Converting lands and houses to cash may have been the only way for believers in Jerusalem to “keep” them.  [Y]ou accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession,[24] the writer of Hebrews acknowledged.

The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, probably by design, kept the Jerusalem church from becoming a popular, bandwagon-style movement (Acts 5:11-13 NET):

Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things.  Now many miraculous signs and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles.  By common consent they were all meeting together in Solomon’s Portico.  None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high honor.

The More and more believers in the Lord [who] were added to their number, crowds of both men and women,[25] were drawn by Jesus, I trust, rather than the glitz and glam of the moment.  But it didn’t keep pace apparently with the conversion and spending of assets: If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food,[26] was James’ concern in the Jerusalem church.  At the Jerusalem Council when James, Cephas, and John, who had a reputation as pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, Paul wrote the Galatians, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.  They requested only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.[27]

For [Macedonia and Achaia] were pleased to [make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem], and indeed they are indebted (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης) to the Jerusalem saints.[28]  For if the Gentiles have shared (ἐκοινώνησαν, another form of κοινωνέω) in their spiritual things (πνευματικοῖς, a form of πνευματικός), they are obligated (ὀφείλουσιν, a form of ὀφείλω) also to minister (λειτουργῆσαι, a form of λειτουργέω) to them in material things (σαρκικοῖς, a form of σαρκικός).[29]

This debt and obligation stem directly from, To [Israel] belong the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.  To them belong the patriarchs, and from them, by human descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever!  Amen.[30]  Still, Paul called this debt and obligation καρπὸν (fruit): Therefore after I have completed this and have safely delivered this bounty (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός) to them…[31]  And so I take it for granted that he intended this debt and obligation to be dispatched by love empowered by the fruit of the Spirit much as I wrote elsewhere on the spiritual gift of contributing[32] (μεταδιδοὺς, a form of μεταδίδωμι).

I’ll write more on that in subsequent essays.  Here, I want to address two different but related issues: 1) I don’t think the communal economy of the Jerusalem church is normative, and 2) I think the debt and obligation to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem was as temporary as that unique situation.  I consider Paul’s own example (Acts 20:33-35 NET):

“I have desired (ἐπεθύμησα, a form of ἐπιθυμέω) no one’s silver or gold or clothing.  You yourselves know that these hands of mine provided for my needs (χρείαις, a form of χρεία) and the needs of those who were with me.  By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help (ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι, a form of ἀντιλαμβάνομαι) the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive (λαμβάνειν, a form of λαμβάνω).’”

And I consider Paul’s teaching (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12; Ephesians 4:28 NET):

Now on the topic of brotherly love you have no need (χρείαν, another form of χρεία) for anyone to write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.  And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters in all of Macedonia.  But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, to aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you.  In this way you will live a decent life before outsiders and not be in need (χρείαν, another form of χρεία).

The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good (ἀγαθόν, another form of ἀγαθός) with his own hands, so that he may have something to share (μεταδιδόναι, another form of μεταδίδωμι) with the one who has need (χρείαν, another form of χρεία).

And I consider Paul’s understanding of the one new man (Ephesians 2:11-22 NET):

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands – that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees.  He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.  And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.  In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

And so I find it extremely difficult to believe that the Holy Spirit intended to re-divide this one new man into a permanent working-class of Gentiles supporting a permanent leisure-class of descendants of Israel because Paul wrote the saints of Macedonia and Achaia that they are indebted to the Jerusalem saints.  For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to minister to them in material things.[33]  I believe that debt and obligation were superseded, once the Jerusalem church was scattered (along with its unique economy), by: Owe (ὀφείλετε, another form of ὀφείλω) no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.[34]

[1] Romans 12:13 (NET)

[2] 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NET)

[3] Acts 2:44 (NET)

[4] Acts 4:32 (NET)

[5] Hebrews 2:14a (NET)

[6] Acts 21:27 (NET)

[7] Acts 21:28b (NKJV)

[8] Genesis 4:7, 8; Genesis 6:5-8; Genesis 9:24-27; Exodus 20:4-6; Exodus 32:1-4; Matthew 5:17-20 NET

[9] Exodus 32:14 (NET)

[10] Matthew 15:11 (NET)

[11] Matthew 15:18 (NET)

[12] Matthew 15:19 (NET)

[13] John 2:25b (NET)

[14] 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NET)

[15] Matthew 15:20 (NET)

[16] Acts 10:14 (NET) Table

[17] Mark 7:15a (NET)

[18] Acts 10:15 (NET)

[19] Mark 7:19b (NET)

[20] Acts 10:28b (NET) Table

[21] Romans 15:26 (NET)

[22] Acts 2:44, 45 (NET)

[23] Acts 1:11b (NET)

[24] Hebrews 10:34b (NET)

[25] Acts 5:14 (NET)

[26] James 2:15 (NET) Table

[27] Galatians 2:9, 10 (NET)

[28] One might argue that they (we) were (are) more indebted to those in Israel who rejected Jesus.

[29] Romans 15:27 (NET)

[30] Romans 9:4, 5 (NET)

[31] Romans 15:28 (NET)

[32] Romans 12:6-8 (NET)

[33] Romans 15:27b (NET)

[34] Romans 13:8 (NET)