Over and over we hear it referred to in the line of our Lord's words, ".... Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's ...." (Luke 20:25) without really thinking about this being only half of His statement in that verse. The question had arisen as to whether God's people should pay taxes to Caesar, as the ruling government was Rome, or not. An examination of the currency used for trade revealed that it was issued by the Roman government and that it bore Caesar's picture and his inscription. "And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's." Strange how we can so conveniently and simply just ignore that second part and think nothing of our responsibility to render unto God the things that are God's. Now, as to the responsibility to pay our due taxes, Scripture is plain that it is our duty to do so (Romans 13:1-7).

We jokingly say "There are two things you cannot avoid in this life, death and taxes" (actually they don't necessarily occur in that order though). However, the Bible would warn us that the two things we cannot avoid are death and judgement. We read, "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement" [Hebrews 9:27] (and, actually, even that order can be reversed). We spend more time and effort, more care and concern, seeking to satisfy our Caesars than we do the eternal God, before whom we all must stand one day. Some people seem to make it a life's work attempting to defraud the government and cheat on taxes and some have even been able to avoid much of their due taxes. However, in the judgement before God, every debt will be paid. Jesus made it clear that the person is a "fool" who is merely rich in the things of this world and is not rich toward God, in His "Parable of the Rich Fool" (Luke 12:16-21).

The Bible makes it clear that our real indebtedness is sin against God. As descendants of Adam we are all born with a nature that is corrupted by sin and, since Adam, we have each added his/her own personal sins to the original debt. In God's time He will judge and put away all sin from His creation altogether, and will recreate all things in total sinlessness. All those who have been reconciled to God through the pardoning of their sins will have a part in this new creation of God. God's gracious plan for reconciling us back to Himself is the Gospel message of the New Testament.

Christians who are blessed with earthly riches are admonished in Scripture with a charge: "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" [1 Timothy 6:17-19].

In the words of the apostle Peter, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee..." [Acts 3:6], we have a clear explanation of How to be Saved available for you and a simple presentation of Your Choices to help you in understanding your destiny. However, the bottom line is that it's all between God and you (yourself alone). We offer our Ministerial Services for Prayer Requests, Counsel or Consultation. We also welcome your Praise Reports of what God has done and is doing in your life.