What does the Bible say about debt?
“Today, I want to sit with you and unpack something heavy: Jesus paying our debts. We’ll also discuss financial debts. Most of us don’t fully grasp the massive price He paid for us. Don’t just read the article and glance at the verses—I encourage you to be still and take it all in. Worship Him as you reflect on the gospel of redeeming grace!
Financial debt
The first group of verses relates to owing money and the weight of financial debt. I know that sinking feeling all too well, like a knot twisting in my gut when everything keeps stacking up. It’s tempting to take on more than you can handle, but I’ve learned the hard way that stretching too thin brings a world of hurt. You don’t want to find yourself scraping by, wrestling with one tough payment after another, wondering if the light at the end of the tunnel will ever show up.
1. Proverbs 22:7 (NIV) – “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”
2. Romans 13:8 (ESV) – “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
3. Psalm 37:21 (NASB) – “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.”
4. Proverbs 22:26-27 (NKJV) – “Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts; if you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?”
5. Deuteronomy 15:6 (KJV) – “For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.”
6. Proverbs 11:15 (ESV) – “Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.”
7. Deuteronomy 28:12 (NASB) – “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.”
8. Ecclesiastes 5:5 (NKJV) – “Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.”
9. Exodus 22:25 (KJV) – “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.”
10. Nehemiah 5:10-11 (NIV) – “I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
11. Luke 6:34 (NLT) – “And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.”
12. Proverbs 17:18 (ESV) – “One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.”
Sin debt
“We’ve all sinned before a holy God, and God is just in punishing us. Every sin you’ve committed came at a cost. Have you ever stopped to consider this? Jesus died for it—He died for all of it. Being fully God and fully man, He paid what you and I could never pay, and He liberates the sinner. The blood of Christ sets us free, and this should lead you to praise His name.” Take a moment to praise God for removing your sin debt.
13. Matthew 6:12 (NLT) – “And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.”
14. Colossians 2:13-14 (NIV) – “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
15. Luke 7:41-42 (ESV) – “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
16. Romans 6:23 (NASB) – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
17. Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV) – “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
18. Psalm 32:1-2 (KJV) – “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
19. Ephesians 1:7 (NLT) – “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.”
20. 1 John 2:1-2 (NIV) – “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
21. Matthew 18:26-27 (ESV) – “So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
22. Psalm 130:3-4 (NASB) – “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.”
23. Romans 3:23-24 (NKJV) – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
24. Luke 11:4 (KJV) – “And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”
25. Hebrews 9:22 (NLT) – “In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”