The gospel changes lives when you get the gospel, when you get it, when you cherish it,

when you love it, when it grips you, when real, authentic, saving faith in the gospel of free

and sovereign grace that goes on and on and on, and on, lavishing itself on you, when you get that,

and that's your treasure, everything changes in your life.

Is the gospel solely meant for non-Christians, or does it also pertain to believers?

That's the question that John Piper answers from Romans 115 in this episode of Light and Truth.

This sermon was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church on June 7, 1998.

Would you focus with me now on verse 14 for a few minutes?

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,

both to the wise and to the foolish, or like the King James version has it more literally,

I am dead her. I'm going to use that translation because I think the word

debtor, which is where I want to hang about 10 minutes worth of my thinking, I think that word

stirs up a lot of very, very important thinking for us. I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians,

both to wise and to foolish, so my question first of all is, what's the debt?

What does he have to pay to the barbarians? What does he have to pay to the Greeks, the foolish,

the wise, so that the accounts are settled? And I think verse 15 gives the answer. You see

the connection there, so or thus, since I am a debtor to them, so from my part, I am eager to

preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome, so the debt seems to be the gospel.

I owe the gospel to Greeks and barbarians and

wise and foolish everywhere, including among the Romans, including the Roman Christians.

Now I think this word debtor makes us ponder how you get into such a debt, how do you get into

such a debt to barbarians and cultured Greeks and everybody else? And how do you pay it off?

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