Debt (NKJV)

Are you in debt? According to the statistics, it’s likely that you are. Whether we view debt as a burden or as an investment in our future, most of us have experienced the crushing feeling of living under a burden of debt. Let me share with you an amazing story about a man who owed more than most of us can imagine, yet had it all forgiven … down to the very last penny! His story is found in the Bible, where Jesus valued the debt at “ten thousand talents” (Matthew 18:24). Because one talent was equal to 6,000 days’ wages, the man would need to work six days a week for 192,000 years to repay what he owed. At today’s minimum wage, the debt calculates to roughly 3.5 BILLION dollars! Who could ever repay such a debt? And what lender can afford to just forgive it? Jesus used this story to illustrate the greatest act of pardon we can ever encounter: the forgiveness of our sins. Because of our sinfulness, we owe God a debt that we simply cannot repay. Even if we work our hardest—doing good, praying, going to church—our debt far exceeds anything we can earn. The Bible summarizes our condition as: “dead in trespasses and sins … having no hope and without God” (Ephesians 2:1,12). Have you ever realized the enormous weight of the burden of sin that you carry? Thinking about our sin can cause many of the same emotions and responses as thinking about our debt—stress, anxiety, depression, frustration, fear, shame, denial, etc. But Jesus has good news for us! We can experience the same abundant forgiveness as the man in the story. So, how can we be released from our debt of sin? Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth and lived a perfect, sinless life. He was therefore uniquely qualified to pay our sin debt, which He did on the cross: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  When we turn to God, putting our trust in the payment that Jesus has made through His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, God applies the full worth of His Son to our account. By trusting Jesus, we “receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith” (Acts 26:18). Will you turn your sin debt over to God today? “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).