Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law [Romans 13:8 NIV].
All of us are in debt! According to the Federal Reserve, the average credit-card debt of American households is $6,569. According to Bankrate, when mortgages, student debt, car loans, credit card debt, and other loans are calculated, as of September 2021, “consumer debt is at $14.96 trillion, with the average American debt among consumers at $92,727.” As scary as this sounds, we have an even more terrifying mountain of debt: sin-debt.
Nobody sins for free. When we do not love the way Jesus loves, our sin-debt ticks upward, moment by moment, day by day, month after month, until the years pass by, and finally, our consciences stagger under a life-threatening, soul-crushing weight of unpaid bills. Scary!
Why is sin so expensive? One of the costs of sin is that it offends God. God is our Father. He is deeply invested in us and cares about how we live. David recognized this. After committing adultery, he cried out, “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight” (Psalm 51:4).
The penalty for non-payment is not the poorhouse. We don’t get off that easily. Instead, we are condemned to death (Romans 6:23). Without someone stepping up to pay what we owe, we are “dead men walking,” only subsisting on death row until our sentence is carried out (Romans 7:24). Our sin and mess also grieve the Holy Spirit, who is working so hard to save us from the pollution of our bodies and the destruction of our relationships (Ephesians 4:30).
To make matters worse, sin cripples our faith, and the guilt we feel convinces us that God is no longer for us. In addition, sin severely wounds our conscience, making us spiritually dull and less sensitive to the cue-cards of the Holy Spirit. And finally, unresolved, unconfessed sin makes us unaware of God’s grace for a time. Just ask Jonah!
There is hope, however! Jesus paid our debt with His life. We have been taken from death row and released into the new life Jesus purchased for us. What should be our response to this mind-blowing, utterly undeserved gift of mercy and grace? We can begin by admitting the truth of our mess, asking for forgiveness and for help to be more and more like Jesus. Then we need to ask for help to learn to live in a state of constant gratitude. What Jesus did for us is enormous! Got praise?
Since we cannot pay God back, we can pay His love forward, which is now our “continuing debt” (Romans 13:8). You and I are neck-deep in an ocean of love and grace, so perhaps we can dip a cup into it and extend some mercy, forgiveness, and love to others. What is the evidence we are off death row? John writes, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14). When our love for others bubbles up out of a deep well of gratitude for God’s undeserved mercy, we begin to pay back the unpayable.
Prayer:
Oh, Father! What a precious gift of life and love you have given me! Remind me that I do not deserve this and can never pay You back. Teach me to live a life defined by gratitude, and from that gratitude and the ocean of Your grace, to give forgiveness, mercy, and love to others. Amen.
To fill your cup:
Luke 15:21
Proverbs 3:27
1 Timothy 1:5
James 2:8
Grow Anyway 