Many individuals and families in the West have debt. Some are even drowning in debt. Most own at least one credit card that is not paid off. Many who ‘own’ a house are still paying off the mortgage. Too many people have taken out loans for vehicles. And then there is the college/university debt that many in the West continue to pay off well after receiving the degree. All of this is looked at as normal by those Christians with whom I speak. But should it be normal? Should Christian incur debt? Let’s see what the Bible has to say on the issue.
Christians are not allowed to incur debt of any kind because Paul clearly commands that Christians are not allowed to owe anything to anyone, except love (Rom 13:8). Thus, any incurrence of debt is sinful for Christians.
Let’s first look at the Old Testament and then see what the New Testament has to say on the issue of incurring debt.
What the Old Testament Says about Incurring Debt
The Sinai Covenant Permits Lending to God’s People
There are a number of laws in the Sinai Covenant that permit God’s people to lend money to God’s people. One of the clearest is Exodus 22:25:
“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.”
EXODUS 22:25; also see Lev 25:35–37; Deut 15:8
The passage cited above along with Leviticus 25:35–37 and Deuteronomy 15:8 permits God’s people to lend to those who are God’s people, yet without interest. Although the above passages do not speak directly about borrowing, the fact that there is a law that encourages God’s people who are wealthier to lend money to God’s people who are in need suggests that it is ok for God’s people to borrow money and incur debt. To reduce the amount of debt that the borrower incurs, God does not permit his people to lend with interest.
The key question that must be asked of the above texts is whether or not they apply to Christians? The answer is a clear ‘no.’ The law about lending cited above in the three passages does not apply to Christians because it is a law for God’s people who are under the Sinai Covenant. Christians are no longer under the Sinai Covenant. Rather, we are under the New Covenant (Luke 22:19–20; Heb 8:1–13). Because Christians are under the New Covenant, any laws from the Sinai Covenant are not applicable. Thus, Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:35–37, and Deuteronomy 15:8 are no help in discerning whether or not Christians are allowed to incur debt.
The Sinai Covenant Forbids Borrowing from Foreign Nations
Although God’s people who are under the Sinai Covenant are allowed to borrow from one another, God strictly forbids his people who are under the Sinai Covenant to borrow from foreign nations.
“For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.”
DEUTERONOMY 15:6, emphasis added
God’s people who are under the Sinai Covenant are forbidden to borrow from foreign nations. Because this command is part of the Sinai Covenant, it too does not apply to Christians who are under the New Covenant.
What is important to notice, and will come up again later in this article, is that there is a distinction between lending and borrowing. God’s people are forbidden to borrow from foreign nations, but he permits them to lend to foreign nations. Thus, just because God’s people are forbidden to borrow and incur debt from foreign nations, does not mean they are not allowed to lend out of their wealth.
Borrowing is Enslavement
The book of Proverbs has one of the more famous saying about lending and borrowing:
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”
PROVERBS 22:7, emphasis added
Proverbs are observations based on an orderly and rational world that God created, but also on a fallen world, to enable a person to successfully navigate the world, resulting in peace and prosperity. Another way to put it would be to say that proverbs are general truths around which a person should organize his/her life in order to have peace and prosperity.
Thus, when Proverbs 22:7 says that the one who borrows becomes the slave of the one who lends, it is declaring how the fallen world in which we live operates. Someone who borrows from another, must work to pay off his debt, thus in effect becoming the slave of the one who lends.
The next question that must be asked is whether or not Proverbs 22:7 applies to Christians? Some will say it does not because it is in the Old Testament. However, not every Old Testament passage is about those under the Sinai Covenant. Proverbs is unique in that its instructions are not confined to a specific covenant in salvation history. Proverbs is not instruction based on one covenant or another. Instead, it is instruction based on how God has ordered the world since the foundation of the world and how the world works in its fallen state. Proverbs can, then, be applied to God’s people as long as the world as God created it remains. Thus, Proverbs can be applied to God’s people of any and every generation until the new heaven and new earth are created, which means Proverbs 22:7 is applicable to modern Christians.
Therefore, if modern Christians are to organize their lives according to the general truth that the borrower becomes the slave of the lender, then Christians should not borrow money and incur debt if they want to avoid slavery. Because Proverbs 22:7 is not a command, it is possible that a modern Christian decides slavery to the lender puts them in a better position. Thus, a Christian may enter into that slavery-like service knowledgeably and willingly if the New Covenant laws do not forbid debt.
What the New Testament Says about Incurring Debt
Christians Are Forbidden to Owe Anyone Anything Other than Love
Romans 12:1–15:13 is about how a person who believes in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and become God’s child should respond to God’s mercies. Thus, everything within Romans 12:1–15:13 is about Christians and for Christians, regardless of the age in which they live (for a better understanding, see my article on biblical application HERE). It is within Romans 12:1–15:13 that Paul explicitly forbids Christians from being in debt.
After commanding all Christians to submit to qualitatively (i.e., morally) superior government authorities (Rom 13:1–6), Paul commands all Christians to “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (13:7). Paul then expands the concept of owing with this important command:
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
ROMANS 13:8, emphasis added
The verb “owe” is in the imperative mood, indicating that it is a command. The command to owe no one anything is universal in three ways. First, the command is to all Christians; none are excempt. Second, the command is to be in debt to no one; there are no exceptions. Third, the command is to owe nothing (μηδέν), with the exception of love. Because of the universals of Romans 13:8, Christians are not allowed to be in debt since borrowing money means they would then owe money to the lender. Stanley Porter agrees with this interpretation:
“The Christian is not to be indebted to anyone—not just financially, which Paul has discussed in the previous section, but in any other way as well—apart from one area, the obligation to love.”
Stanley Porter, Romans, 251–52
In sum, Christians are not allowed to incur debt because they would then owe money to the lender.
Lending is Not Borrowing
After hearing my thoughts and interpretation of Romans 13:8, that Christians are not permitted to be in debt, some of my students object by quoting Matthew 5:42:
“Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
MATTHEW 5:42
Matthew 5:42 is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount discourse. In it, Jesus teaches his disciples how members of the Kingdom of Heaven should live their life. Since Christians are members of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are directly applicable.
Matthew 5:42 is part of his discourse on bearing wrongs done to you, not retaliating, and not employing the principle of Lex Talionis (5:38–42). We know that Matthew 5:38–42 is one unit and that the contents of 5:38–42 are all directly related because Jesus begins each new unit in chapter 5 with the phrase “it was said” (ἐρρέθη), usually accompanied with “you have heard” (see Matthew 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, and 43). Discerning that Matthew 5:42 is part of 5:38–42 is important for understanding verse 42 and is worth looking at in its entirety:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
MATTHEW 5:38–42, emphasis added
Matthew 5:38–42 is about putting aside the principle of Lex Talionis taught to God’s people in the Old Testament (Ex 21:22–25; Lev 24:17–23; Deut 19:16–21). The principle of Lex Talionis is that you do to others as they have done to you. If a person blinds your eye, you blind them; if a person knocks out your tooth, you knock out their tooth. Jesus, however, teaches a different approach to those who do evil to you, who wrong you, who demand of you, and who beg of you. Rather than getting even, the citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven (i.e., Christians) must not resist, take the wrong, and not retaliate. Jesus concludes this portion of his discourse by saying if someone begs from you or seeks to borrow from you, Christians must not refuse.
What should be noted about Matthew 5:42, however, is that it is not about borrowing; it is about lending. Nowhere in Matthew 5:38–42 does Jesus say to take from anyone; rather, Jesus says to give and to give more than was askedwithout asking for anything in return. This passage should remind us of Deuteronomy 15:6 (expounded upon above in this article), which tells God’s people to lend to foreign nations out of their abundance, but to never borrow. Like Deuteronomy 15:6, Matthew 5:38–42 is not about God’s people lending to God’s people or in this case Christians lending to Christians, but about Christians responding to non-Christians, those who hate us, do evil to us, and take advantage of us. Thus, Christians cannot use Matthew 5:42 like Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:35–37, and Deuteronomy 15:8 (expounding upon above) because Matthew 5:42 is not about lending to Christians.
In sum, Matthew 5:42 is about lending to non-Christians; it is not about borrowing. Further, as seen in Deuteronomy 15:6, just because God’s people are permitted to lend, does not mean that God’s people are permitted to borrow. Lending is not the same as borrowing; lending is not borrowing. Thus, Matthew 5:42 does not contradict Paul’s command in Romans 13:8 to “owe no one anything, except to love each other.” Christians may lend, but they may not borrow and incur debt.
Summary and Concluding Thoughts
Christians are not allowed to incur debt of any kind because Paul clearly commands that Christians are not allowed to owe anything to anyone, except love (Rom 13:8). Thus, any incurrence of debt is sinful for the Christian.Although some use Matthew 5:42 to say that since Christians are allowed to lend, they must surely be allowed to borrow, this rationale is flawed. Lending is not the same as borrowing as seen in Deuteronomy 15:6 where God allows his people to lend to foreign nations, but refuses to allow them to borrow. Further, Matthew 5:42 is not about lending to fellow Christians, but outsiders.
The instructions in the Old Testament about borrowing and incurring debt are for those under the Sinai Covenant, not Christians who are under the New Covenant. Thus, these are not applicable to Christians. The book of Proverbs, however, warns all people who inhabit this fallen world of the dangers of borrowing—it enslaves you to the lender. As such, it would be unwise to borrow money from anyone and incur debt.
Many Christians living in the West may be thinking to themselves that not owing anyone anything, except love, and not incurring any debt is both extreme and impossible. How can anyone live in a western world without credit cards or loans or mortgages? My answer is threefold. First, it most certainly is extreme, but Jesus calls us to live extreme lives for him. The entire Sermon on the Mount is extreme to the utmost. You may recall that Jesus also says “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). Christians are not to live like the world or for the world. Rather, we are to live like disciples of Jesus, like members of the Kingdom of Heaven; we are to live for God and his Son Jesus. This requires living a radically different life than non-Christians, and living a life as outlined in Scripture.
Second, it is possible to live in the West without incurring debt. Yes, we may not have all the luxuries as those who take out loans, use credit, and incur debt. But it is still manageable. The simple truth is that Christians should not spend money they don’t have. If you are never able to save up money for a house, then rent for the rest of your life (renting is not borrowing; renting is paying upfront for the use of a house or apartment). Don’t take out school/student loans, either save the money prior to enrolling, work while studying (i.e., pay as you go), go to a cheaper college/university, or don’t go to college/university at all!. It is true you may not have lots of nice things; you may be poor; your life may not look as flashy as everyone else’s, but this is the life God has called you to in Christ—a life of owing no one anything, except love.
Third, my second point is easy to swallow when we remember that this pre-resurrection life is temporal and that we Christians will inherit the world along with Jesus:
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
ROMANS 8:16–17, emphasis added
Christians need not worry about owning land or a house or having lots of things now because when Jesus returns, we will inherit the world with Jesus. What Christians should focus on in this life is the Kingdom of God:
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
MATTHEW 6:31–32, emphasis added
So, let us seek the Kingdom of God instead of incurring debt!