The impossible debt is already paid

Aren’t you grateful that you can know for sure that you are right with God? What if God ran eternity the way the IRS ran the government?

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. (Romans 5:1)

We’re rapidly approaching tax season. If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, the first quarter of a new year is all about taxes. Until you get your taxes paid, you are in debt. That’s just the way it works.

There’s a lot of stress and pressure involved with making sure you pay the right amount, and I for one tend to stress out about it. I hate math. I’m not good at numbers. And there are a lot of uncertainties when it comes to paying my taxes.

It’s ironic that we say death and taxes are all we can actually count on, because even though we will always pay taxes, we never know how much until the last second!

Aren’t you grateful that you can know for sure that you are right with God? What if God ran eternity the way the IRS ran the government? Could you imagine? You get to heaven and have to wait in horrifically long lines with perpetually grumpy angels that spend all their time sorting through PDF forms that may or may not need a signature just to find out if you paid enough to walk through those pearly gates.

No, thank you.

Scripture tells us over and over again that we have been made right with God through our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus makes us right. Jesus makes us holy. Jesus makes us enough. And because of that, we can have peace with God.

Peace between us and God is a priceless gift. Remember, we were his enemies. We’d been born spiritually bankrupt, thanks to our first ancestors. We had no currency that could pay what our first parents owed, let alone the spiritual debt we incurred with our own lives. It was an impossible debt.

Fortunately, we have an God who does impossible things. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are debt-free. We are right with God. So we don’t have to worry that He’s going to demand payment on that impossible debt. He already paid for it.

Questions for Reflection

• What does being “right” with God meant to you?

• What does “spiritual bankruptcy” mean?

• If you could put a price on peace of mind, what would it be?

Weekly Memory Verse