If one borrows money and they get behind the eight-ball, if you will, so they file bankruptcy, are they morally responsible to pay the borrowed amount back? I said if they did it with the intent of trying to rip someone off that was a sin, but I didn’t see how someone who innocently borrowed then got stuck like in today’s economy with job loss needed to pay it back. Another person brought up Matthew 18. The King forgave the debt. I said if the lender wished to forgive the debt, in part or in whole, then the person is not responsible morally. It would be a sin to not pay back 100%.<\/p>\n\t
The whole concept of debt is that once a debt is forgiven, it no longer exists. If it were otherwise, what would we do who have had the debt of our sins forgiven? “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord<\/em>” (Romans 6:23). Once our sins are forgiven, we do not have to continue to repay them.<\/p>\n The United States bankruptcy laws do make answering this question more difficult. There are different forms of bankruptcy, some block creditors from demanding payment but still leave the obligation in place. In these cases, the courts set up a payment plan which the creditors are forced to accept and the debtor is forced to pay through garnished wages. For this type of bankruptcy, a Christian must meet his obligation.<\/p>\n A Christian ought to be responsible for his obligations. He should not be incurring debt unless it is absolutely necessary because with debt comes a loss of freedom. “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender<\/em>” (Proverbs 22:7). He should take his commitments seriously. But sometimes things happen which are out of our control. We have to live with the consequences. While I discourage bankruptcy, when it is the best way to handle a situation, then we abide by the terms given.<\/p>\n So, no, if a bankruptcy completely dismisses a debt, then there is no requirement to pay back the debt. I think it is nice when a Christian is able to do it anyway because it shows an attitude of putting the needs of another person before their own, but it isn’t something that must be done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: If one borrows money and they get behind the eight-ball, if you will, so they file bankruptcy, are they morally responsible to pay the borrowed amount back? I said if they did it with the intent of trying to rip someone off that was a sin, but I didn’t see how someone who innocently…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[477,258],"class_list":["post-18752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-debt","tag-money-management"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35875,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-christians-use-the-bankruptcy-laws\/","url_meta":{"origin":18752,"position":0},"title":"Should Christians use the bankruptcy laws?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should a Christian use all the legal loopholes in or laws to avoid paying our debts? I personally think the bible teaches us to be honest, and when you use these laws to protect your assets you are cheating those you owe, or in some cases, you use them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3766,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-be-in-debt\/","url_meta":{"origin":18752,"position":1},"title":"Is it a Sin to be in Debt?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton An article in the paper caught my eye. \"For some Christians, it's a sin to be in debt.\" As I continued to read, the author admitted that only a few \"hardliners\" say owing money is morally wrong. The verses they used to justify their belief were\u00a0Romans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52564,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-remove-sin-by-myself\/","url_meta":{"origin":18752,"position":2},"title":"Can I remove sin by myself?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I want to know if I can remove the sin by myself or do I have to trust Jesus in order for this to work? Answer: When you sin, you put yourself into debt and into slavery. \"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38426,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/obligations-of-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":18752,"position":3},"title":"Obligations of Grace","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 18:21-35 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Every person is important! \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWell, of course!\u201d You might be thinking. \u201cI\u2019m glad someone sees my worth.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But Jesus told a parable - Matthew 18:12-14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When one person gets himself into trouble, it is God\u2019s will that he be rescued, if possible.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84951,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christians-and-bankruptcy\/","url_meta":{"origin":18752,"position":4},"title":"Christians and Bankruptcy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Art Cornell via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 1, March 31, 1989 On a recent visit to the Chapallear's home, I told Floyd I was working for a bankruptcy judge. He asked me whether I thought a Christian could file for bankruptcy. I thought for a moment and replied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36180,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness-is-unfair\/","url_meta":{"origin":18752,"position":5},"title":"Forgiveness Is Unfair","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Green \"Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, \"' do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times' \" (Matthew 18:21-22, ESV). Before we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}