Christ Church Leavenworth
WLC 141: Rendering to Everyone His Due
August 24, 2025
Rendering to Everyone His Due
INTRODUCTION
This morning we are continuing our study of Q141 of the WLC which asks, “What are the duties required in the Eighth Commandment?” The eighth commandment, as you recall, is “Thou shall not steal” and the duty associated with it that we will be focusing on this morning is “rendering to everyone his due.”
The text provided by the Westminster divines regarding this duty is Romans 13:7 which says, “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.”
PAYING OUR DUES
We owe everyone something, but we do not owe everyone the same things. We owe certain things to certain people and we owe certain amounts of certain things to some that we do not owe to others. King Alfred the Great summarized it well this way, “Give not little to whom you should give much, nor much to whom little, nor nothing to whom something, nor something to whom nothing.”
If we do not render a man what or how much he is due, we are stealing from him. Theft is not just taking what isn’t ours, it is withholding what ought to be given. In fact, our word “ought” comes to us from an Old English word “agan” (ah-gahn) which means “to owe,” the past tense of which is “ahte” (A-H-T-E). Thus, whenever you ought to do something, it is because you “owe it.” Moral obligation is a duty.
And we are, by God’s design, an indebted people. We are born with bills with pay. We owe our parents for bringing us into the world and we owe our God for life, breath, and everything else. And all of that before we even take our first steps.
So, if we are to “render to everyone his due,” we must consider the various duties and debts that God has placed in our accounts. Any one of these could warrant its own exhortation, but in the interest of time and in an effort to render unto you what you are owed, that is, an exhortation and NOT a second sermon, I will only briefly review but a few of our many dues and duties.
VARIOUS DUTIES AND DUES
Fathers, you owe your children provision. (2 Cor 12:14) If you do not provide for them, you are stealing from them and you are worse than an unbeliever. (1 Tim 5:8) You also owe them discipline, instruction, and a Christian education. (Eph 6:4) If you do not take the time to train them in the way they should go, you are a thief. If you do not give your children encouragement, you are robbing them. (Col 3:21) You owe them good language. Your sons need to know you’re proud of him. Your daughters need to know you think they are beautiful. They only have one dad. Do not deprive them of a father.
Mothers, you owe your children a well managed home. (1 Tim 5:14) If you are too busy with outside engagements to keep up with your domestic duties, you are robbing your people. (Titus 2:5) If you are short with your people because you are worn out from being kind to strangers, you are a domestic terrorist. (Pr 14:1) You cannot be everything to everyone, but you are everything to your littlest ones. You owe them the best of your good works. (Pr. 31:27-28) They only have one mom. Do not be the one who steals her from them.
Parents, you owe your children marital unity. (Eph 6:1) When a child hears, “Honor your father and mother,” he should not have to ask, “Which one?” You owe your children a united front. They deserve a stable home where mom and dad are on the same team. So, do what it takes to get on the same page and then stay on it. Do not let your selfishness steal your children’s sense of security.
Children, you owe honor to your parents, (Eph 6:1) If you do not honor your parents, you are stealing from them. God picked them out for you. (Acts 17:26) When you honor your earthly father and mother, you honor your Father in Heaven. (Eph 3:14) If you withhold honor from them, you are stealing from them and you are robbing God. (Dt 27:16)
Husbands, you owe your wife love and attention. (Eph 5:33) If you do not take the time to love your wife, you are stealing from her. You owe her your affection. There is a kind of attention she can only lawfully get from you. Do not rob her of it. If you are giving that kind of affection or attention to other women, you are robbing your wife. You owe her love that takes the initiative, pursues, and lavishes. You owe her that kind of care and concern. (Eph 5:25) Just as you seek to meet your own needs, you must seek to meet hers (Eph 5:28) You must understand your wife. You owe her your ears. Hear her out or God will stop listening to you. (1 Peter 3:7)
Wives, you owe your husband respect. (Eph 5:33) If you do not honor him as your head, you are stealing from him. You owe him your loyalty. (Eph 5:22) There is a kind of help he can only get from you. Do not rob him of it. If you are too busy helping others to have time to ask him what he needs, you are robbing him. You owe him your allegiance. (1 Peter 3:1, 5) You owe him submission and obedience (Eph 5:24, Col 3:18) You owe him your affection. Do not withhold from him the comfort only you can provide. (Pr 5:19) You owe him a good reputation. (Pr 31:23)
Promote him before others and God will promote you. (Pr 31:31)
Spouses, you owe each other your bodies. (1 Cor 7:3, Heb 13:4) Husbands, you owe your wife access to your muscles. If she is a godly woman, you are the only man whose strength she can look to. Wives, you owe your husband access to your body. If he is a godly man, you are the only woman for whom he has eyes. If he doesn’t get to see or hold you, he won’t get to see or hold anybody. Do not rob each other. Be generous. You owe each other regular intimacy. (1 Cor 7:5)
Young men, you owe everyone self-control. (1 Tim 5:1, Titus 2:6, 1 Peter 5:5) If you are spending your strength on self-interest, you are stealing from the rest of us. You are the strongest people in the world. Put it to use for the glory of God and the good of your neighbors. Be strong, but be under control. Be as strong on the inside as you are on the outside. You owe us that. You must not spend your strength on strange women or foolish pursuits. (Pr 7:26, Pr 31:3, 2 Tim 2:22) You owe older men humility, older women charity, younger women security, and younger men fraternity. (1 Tim 5:1)
Young ladies, you owe everyone modesty (1 Tim 2:9-10, Titus 2:5) If you are flaunting your beauty or using it for self-interest, you are robbing the rest of us. You are the most beautiful people in the world. Put it to use for the glory of God and the good of your neighbors. Be beautiful, but adorn it with good works. Be as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. (1 Peter 3:3-4) You owe us that. Stay pure and do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. (Song of Solomon 2:7, 3:5, 8:4) Be as terrible as an army with banners, hard to catch, a wall, and not a door. Do not rob your parents of peace. (Song of Solomon 6:10, 8:10)
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of the duties of sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, in-laws, elders, deacons, members, employers, employees, citizens, soldiers, governors, judges, juries, teachers, students, rich, poor, strong, weak, sick, healthy, loud, quiet, fast, slow, etc…
The point is this: regardless of who you are, you owe someone something and God calls you to pay your debts and leave no outstanding balances. Rom 13:8-9, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
So, pay what you owe. You likely owe someone something. You have been stealing and now you feel the weight of it. Do not let it end with a vague sense of guilt. Make a plan to pay what you owe. Do not withhold anything to whom you owe it. (Pr 3:27) Begin by confessing to God this morning and then make haste to make it right with the one you have been robbing. (Matt 5:25)
Perhaps you were reminded of something this morning that someone owes you. You’ve been neglected, underpaid, cheated, or undervalued. If that is the case, they may owe you, but you owe them something – forgiveness, and perhaps a direct conversation (Matt 18:15, 22) If someone has withheld what they owe from you, you will not balance the accounts by withholding forgiveness from them. So, if that is you this morning, confess your bitterness and be forgiven by God of your debts and then go out and extend that forgiveness to your debtors.
CALL TO CONFESSION
Since we so often withhold what we owe or pay less than we should, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess our sins, whether they be these duties or others. So, if you are able, please kneel with me and confess your sins, first privately and then corporately using the prayer found in your bulletin.
CORPORATE CONFESSION
Gracious Father, if You were to mark iniquities, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared. Called by You to the throne of grace, and confident in our great High Priest, we bow before You and confess that we have sinned against You and been unfaithful to Your holy covenant. Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately sick, so that we often do what we hate, and neglect what we love. Out of our mouths we both praise You and curse our fellow men. You promised mercy to our fathers through the seed of the woman. Turn our hearts again, Father, to consider Jesus, who crushed the serpent’s head, and saved His people from their sins. Forgive, cleanse, and restore us for His sake. Amen.
DECLARATION OF PARDON
Arise and hear the Good News! The assurance of pardon today comes from Php 3, which says, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”
The only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. We bring our baggage and Christ gives us His blessing. We bring Him our unpaid dues and fines and He says, “It is finished!” Those were the last words He said on the Cross before He died. In Greek it is just one word, tetelestai and it means, “paid in full.” In other words, Christian, all of your debts have been satisfied in Christ and in Him, God is satisfied with you. In Jesus Christ, your sins are forever, fully, and completely forgiven… THANKS BE TO GOD!
Now let us ascend to the presence of God in all worship and praise.
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