Good days are measured by two factors. How much work did we get done? How fast did the time fly?”
–Stephen Bly (One Step Over the Border)
“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
–Romans 13:8 (NKJV)
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“He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed someone to wash my sins away.”
–Ellis J. Crum
The Bible speaks in many places concerning debts. Debts to others, debts because of loans or bills, and that debts are to be paid back in full. However, there is a debt we could never pay back, a debt that we could not even pay–that is the debt of justice. It was/is impossible for us to pay that debt, the debt of God’s justice. We all have broken His commandments and therefore are debtors to His justice which we are not able to pay. We need someone to pay that amount for us. Let me borrow from Charles H. Spurgeon, “But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God’s justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt His people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love.”
However, we are still debtors. Spurgeon continues, “I am a debtor to God’s grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt already paid… we are debtors to God’s justice no longer.” Stop, think on that, praise the Lord for that. We are debtors to His grace and mercy. We cannot fathom that, we accept it. We do not deserve it, but He loved us and paid our debt. WOW!
But there are still debts that we owe. Borrowing again from Spurgeon, “What a debtor thou art to divine sovereignty! How much thou owest to His disinterested love, for He gave His own Son that He might die for thee. Consider how much you owe to His forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts He loves you as infinitely as ever. Consider what you owe to His power; how He has raised you from your death in sin; how He has preserved your spiritual life; how He has kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on to your way. Consider what you owe to His immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed once. Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God. To God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast–yield thyself as a living sacrifice, it is but thy reasonable service.”
As Christ has forgiven us, we are to forgive others. Remember the words from the Lord’s Prayer, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12, NKJV) Hmmm, do we really want to pray that? Do we really mean that when we pray? What would it be like if God forgave us the same way that we forgive others? Ah, but that is the subject for another Echo. Right now, consider the debt you have. Paul writes, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:12-13, NKJV) No longer, get that–no longer are we debtors to the flesh, that debt has been paid by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. However, we are to put to death the deeds of the flesh. We are to give our bodies, our lives, as living sacrifices to the Lord (Romans 12:1-2) .We are debtors to Him–“to obey Him with all our body, and soul, and strength.” (Spurgeon)
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“He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed someone to wash my sins away.”
–Ellis J. Crum
The Bible speaks in many places concerning debts. Debts to others, debts because of loans or bills, and that debts are to be paid back in full. However, there is a debt we could never pay back, a debt that we could not even pay–that is the debt of justice. It was/is impossible for us to pay that debt, the debt of God’s justice. We all have broken His commandments and therefore are debtors to His justice which we are not able to pay. We need someone to pay that amount for us. Let me borrow from Charles H. Spurgeon, “But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God’s justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt His people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love.”
However, we are still debtors. Spurgeon continues, “I am a debtor to God’s grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt already paid… we are debtors to God’s justice no longer.” Stop, think on that, praise the Lord for that. We are debtors to His grace and mercy. We cannot fathom that, we accept it. We do not deserve it, but He loved us and paid our debt. WOW!
But there are still debts that we owe. Borrowing again from Spurgeon, “What a debtor thou art to divine sovereignty! How much thou owest to His disinterested love, for He gave His own Son that He might die for thee. Consider how much you owe to His forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts He loves you as infinitely as ever. Consider what you owe to His power; how He has raised you from your death in sin; how He has preserved your spiritual life; how He has kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on to your way. Consider what you owe to His immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed once. Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God. To God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast–yield thyself as a living sacrifice, it is but thy reasonable service.”
As Christ has forgiven us, we are to forgive others. Remember the words from the Lord’s Prayer, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12, NKJV) Hmmm, do we really want to pray that? Do we really mean that when we pray? What would it be like if God forgave us the same way that we forgive others? Ah, but that is the subject for another Echo. Right now, consider the debt you have. Paul writes, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:12-13, NKJV) No longer, get that–no longer are we debtors to the flesh, that debt has been paid by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. However, we are to put to death the deeds of the flesh. We are to give our bodies, our lives, as living sacrifices to the Lord (Romans 12:1-2) .We are debtors to Him–“to obey Him with all our body, and soul, and strength.” (Spurgeon)