Scripture: Romans 1:14 (ESV) – “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”
The apostle Paul begins his monumental letter to the Romans with a surprising confession: “I am under obligation.” Other translations render it, “I am a debtor.” What compels this mighty apostle, this fearless missionary, to speak of himself as owing something—not to God, but to people?
This verse isn’t about guilt. It’s not about religious duty in the way we often use the word. Paul isn’t talking about repaying a debt for salvation—as though grace were ever earned—but rather expressing the holy urgency of someone who has received a treasure so immense, he cannot keep it to himself. He owes it forward. He is bound by the gravity of grace.
Think of it this way: if someone entrusted you with life-saving medicine and told you it must be delivered to a village sick and dying, you would carry it with a deep sense of obligation. You didn’t create the cure, and you don’t own it—but you are responsible to deliver it. That’s the burden Paul feels. That’s the burden we all inherit when we have truly encountered the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Notice how Paul frames this obligation: to Greeks and to barbarians, to the wise and to the foolish. In other words, everyone. The gospel is not a tribal truth. It does not belong to the educated or the cultured, the elite or the moral, the “in crowd” or the likable. Paul is showing us that no cultural, intellectual, or social barrier is reason to withhold the good news. The gospel breaks our prejudices. It destroys favoritism. It compels us to go where we might never naturally go—to people we may not naturally understand—because grace has no borders.
So what does this mean for us today?
It means we are not spectators in the mission of God. We are participants, bearers of the message, stewards of mercy. You don’t need a pulpit to be a preacher; you just need a heart awakened by the gospel and a willingness to love your neighbor enough to speak truth in grace. Every Christian carries a divine obligation—not born of guilt, but of gratitude. Not driven by fear, but by joy.
Is there someone today you’re “obligated” to love enough to speak truth to? Someone outside your comfort zone, your cultural group, your circle of understanding? The gospel does not wait for perfect circumstances. It moves through us because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good—and others need to know that too.
Let the grace you have received fuel the grace you give. You owe the world not your opinion, not your performance—but the beautiful news of a crucified and risen Savior.
Prayer:
Lord, awaken in me a holy obligation—not out of guilt, but out of gratitude. Help me see others the way You see them: as souls worth loving, worth reaching, worth dying for. Let the gospel burn in me so brightly that I cannot help but share it. Break down the walls of fear and prejudice in my heart, and send me to whomever You choose. I am Yours. Amen.
Reflect:
Who in your life might be waiting for the truth you carry?
What barriers—internal or external—are keeping you from sharing the gospel freely?
How might your view of “obligation” change if it were shaped by grace rather than guilt?
Grace received is grace owed—not to be earned, but to be shared.
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