The Greatest Debt

According to news reports, the U.S. national debt is at a 53-year high as of September 2008. The total national debt is estimated at over 10 trillion dollars! This high national debt can create a sense of uncertainty and fear as questions are raised about the future. How can such a high national debt ever be repaid?

But you know what? There’s something far worse than national debt—it’s spiritual debt. The debt each person owes to God is the greatest debt of all: we owe God more than we could ever, ever pay! He created us and the world we live in. He gave us life—the air we breathe, the food we eat, the place we lay our head at night. The ability to live and learn and laugh and love.

He also gave us some simple rules to follow, Words to live by, standards to live up to.

But in our selfishness, our pride, our laziness, our greed we have failed—every one of us. We’ve broken the rules, ignored his guidebook (the Bible), and fallen hopelessly short of his perfect standard. The Bible says that “none is righteous, no, not one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23).

And we’ve found that there’s a huge price to pay. Not only does our sin bring us misery in this life, but it also threatens to separate us eternally from God—to keep us from experiencing his glorious presence in the life to come: “The wages of sin is [eternal] death” (Romans 6:23).

With each selfish act, each unkind thought, with each less-than-honest word, we get deeper and deeper in debt. The Bible says that clearing this debt is “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9). No amount of good deeds can offset that.

BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS…

So, could you use some good news right about now? Well, because of Jesus, our enormous eternal debt has been… paid! “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…he saved us…not by works done by us…but according to his own mercy” (Romans 5:8, Titus 3:5).

That’s right– our debt has been canceled! Jesus gave his life to satisfy our debt. Our salvation cost him everything, but to us it’s free. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Then God raised him back to life! In the words of an old song, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain; he washed it white as snow.”

Do you accept God’s conclusion that you are a sinner condemned to an eternity without God? Do you believe Jesus received the punishment for sins that you deserved? Will you accept God’s offer of forgiveness of your sins? All you have to do is believe—and receive it—in His name. “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

The Bible gives assurance that we can have certainty despite any national economic circumstances. If we trust that God is in control, and have confidence that the greatest debt of all has already been paid, then we can have peace in all circumstances. The Bible says:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

The good news is that nothing in creation—including the most enormous national debt—can separate us from God’s love. If you accept that Jesus is the only way to cancel your debt of sin and reconcile you to God, tell him in words like these:

Lord Jesus, I want forgiveness of my sins. I want to know that I can have peace in any economic circumstance. I want more in life. I believe that you died for my sins, and conquered death, so that the greatest debt–my debt to God for my sins– would be paid. I want to have eternal life and a personal relationship with you. Amen.