The Debt Has Been Paid

   Deadlines can be motivating, especially when connected to penalties. Perhaps, that is why lines are so long as the time draws near for deadlines to expire. Death and taxes are two of life’s great certainties. In the rush of everyday life, both have a tendency to escape our notice. Delinquent taxes result in extra charges. However, once they are paid; there are little lasting repercussions other than that sinking feeling of having had to pay more than what was required. A lesson learned and life goes on as before except for a little more determination to do better next year.

Not so with death. Should the Lord tarry in His return, death looms on the horizon for each of us. The inspired writer says, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…” (Hb. 9:27). The time of our departure from this life is unknown to us. We are but a breath away from eternity. Because life is unpredictable, we cannot bank our hopes on a last-minute rush to the courthouse to pay what we owe.

Concerning our debt, we owe more than we can pay. We are sinners who fall short of the glory of God (Rm. 3:23). Because the wages of sin is death (Rm. 6:23); we owe a debt we cannot pay. We are helpless and hopeless apart from the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. His blood purchases our redemption through the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7). Through the power of His sinless life, Jesus serves as our merciful and faithful high priest making propitiation for our sins (Hb. 2:17). He pays the debt He does not owe.

This does not mean that we should “continue in sin so that grace might increase” (Rm. 6:1). Quite to the contrary, our union with the death of Christ changes our life completely. We are no longer slaves to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rm. 6:6, 11). In gratitude, we “obey from the heart” and offer our bodies as “living and holy” sacrifices to the Lord (Rm. 6:17; 12:1). In so doing, we abide in a continual state of preparation as we “walk in the light as He Himself is in the light…” (1 Jn. 1:7). Thus, we are delivered from “the power of death” to which we had been “subject to slavery” all our lives (Hb. 2:14-15). Yes, “God will bring every act to judgment” (Eccl. 12:14); but, in Christ, our debt has been paid. Praise God for the surpassing riches that are ours in Christ!

~Glen Eliot