1 Peter 2: 24 NKJV
I got a call some time ago from someone claiming that I owed over three hundred dollars in federal taxes. Worst off, if I did not resolve this matter immediately, I would be subject to prosecution. As my heart raced I began to wonder if I had indeed paid that debt. However, a quick search of my records revealed that the debt had been paid. Of course, knowing this made dealing with this scam call a whole lot easier. However, for that brief instant I doubted what I knew was true. I also began to think of another debt we know has been paid but yet continue to believe otherwise. That is the debt of our old sin nature. Rarely does a day go by where I am not reminded of this debt in my own life. Either through the doubts of those around me, or from my own realization of the price Christ Jesus gave up for us all. How great a burden must that have been to carry? I can barely handle the memory of my own transgressions, yet Christ took that debt of all mankind upon Himself upon that cross. He did this, for me. He did this, for you. Yes, I admit that there are time where I forget the debt of my own past has been paid in full. It is in these moments where I am reminded how great of a burden it must have been. All the bad I had ever done, to myself and to others. All gathered together and laid upon the shoulders of one man. It is Christ who accepted this burden on our behalf {2 Corinthians 5:21}. The debt has been paid in full. Or has it? I often hear christians talking of how they continually pray seeking Gods forgiveness for any sins they may have done. What? Do you believe that the debt is paid in full or don't you? I believe that continuing to hold fast to the belif that we continue to sin does a disservice to all Christ has accomplished. Do you trust in Him or not? That is the question we should be asking ourselves.
21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5: 21 NKJV
One of the huge reasons I left the institutional church centered around what I saw at the time as the hypocracy of its teaching. One easter sunday as we sat in church celebrating the risen savior, the pastor asked his congregation to come forward to lay at the altar any sins we felt needed to be laid to rest. Huh? Here we were on easter celebrating the fact the Jesus was risen! Risen from the grave after He gave Himself for the forgivensss of our sin debt. Now we were piling on His accomplishment many more sins which I'm guessing we thought that escaped Jesus' crucifiction. Tell me how that works. If Jesus indeed took our sins upon Himself, how then do we continue to have sins to offer up? As I said, do we believe in the works of Christ or don't we? Not only that, but the apostle Paul tells us in Romans that we are now DEAD to those sins which once haunted us {Romans 6:6-11}. So, are we now to ressurrect that which is dead? Are we to breathe new life into that which Jesus bled and died to put to death? Trust me, there is absolutely nothing we can do to undo what Jesus has done on our behalf. Simply because we refuse to accept the fact that He put to death our sin nature does not mean that it never happened. All this means is that you have failed to realize what Christ has done for you. The truth is the truth. Jesus DID perish on the cross that the sins of mankind would be put to death. Nothing can ever change that. Not even a scam phone call.
6For when we were still without strength, 4in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5: 6 - 8 NKJV
~Scott~
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