Paid in Full: When Our Debt Could Never Be Paid
There are some moments in life when justice and mercy seem to stand on opposite sides of the courtroom.
In 1780, George Washington faced one of those moments. During the American War of Independence, a young British officer named John André was captured behind American lines. He had been wearing civilian clothes and carrying maps and other incriminating documents. He was guilty, and Washington had the responsibility of signing his death warrant.
It was a painful responsibility. Washington reportedly carried out his duty with great reluctance. Justice demanded a sentence, even though he took no pleasure in carrying it out.
That story gives us a small glimpse into the problem we face before God.
The Problem: We Are Guilty
The Heidelberg Catechism begins its section on deliverance by asking how we can be delivered from God's just judgment.
That question is important because we often think about salvation in terms of the things Jesus saves us from: the brokenness of the world, our suffering, temptation, the power of Satan, and the consequences of sin.
All of those things are true.
But the Catechism begins somewhere deeper: we need to be delivered from God's judgment against our sin.
That is not a popular message in our culture. We would much rather hear that God loves us than hear that we are guilty before him.
Yet the Bible does not separate God's love from his justice.
Ezekiel 33:11 tells us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He desires that sinners turn from their ways and live. At the same time, God is perfectly just. He cannot simply overlook sin as though it never happened.
This leaves us with an uncomfortable question:
If God records our sins, how can any of us stand before him?
Psalm 130 asks the same question:
“If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”
The answer is obvious.
No one.
1. Payment Must Be Made
Romans 2 confronts one of our most dangerous spiritual tendencies: comparing ourselves with other people.
It is easy to look at the world around us and see its brokenness. We see people making choices that we believe are clearly wrong, and we can quickly become thankful that we are not like them.
But Romans 2 turns the mirror toward us.
Paul addresses the person who judges others while practicing the same things himself. Suddenly, the distance between “them” and “us” disappears.
We may not commit the same sins that we criticize in others, but our hearts are still filled with things such as envy, covetousness, deceit, gossip, and disobedience.
The problem is not simply that some people are sinners.
The problem is that all of us are sinners.
Jesus says that people will give an account even for every careless word they speak. Revelation describes the books being opened and people being judged according to what they have done.
There will be no argument before God's throne.
We will not be able to say, “But I was better than my neighbor.”
We will not be able to present our charitable giving, church attendance, morality, or good intentions as evidence that we deserve God's favor.
If God were to mark our transgressions, who could stand?
Nobody.
Payment must be made.
2. Payment Cannot Be Made by Us
Here is where the situation becomes even more serious.
We not only have a debt—we cannot pay it.
In fact, the Catechism says that we daily increase our debt.
That is such an important truth because our natural response to sin is often: I'll fix it.
We imagine that if we try hard enough, behave better, pray more, or clean up our lives, eventually the balance will be brought back to zero.
But Scripture gives us a much more serious picture.
Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. The servant owes his king an enormous debt. When the king comes to settle the account, the servant says, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.”
But he cannot.
He is bankrupt.
His promise to repay the debt is not a solution. It is an illusion.
And isn't that often how we respond to God?
When we sin, we may avoid God instead of running toward him. We may try to make ourselves feel better by doing something good. We may tell ourselves that we will do better next time.
But none of those things erase what has already been done.
We cannot pay our own spiritual debt.
And neither can another human being.
Every person has their own debt before God. No ordinary human being can carry someone else's debt because they are already guilty themselves.
An animal cannot pay it either. No creature can bear the weight of humanity's sin.
So what kind of Savior do we need?
We need someone who is truly human, so that he can stand in our place.
But we also need someone who is truly God, because no ordinary creature could bear the weight of God's judgment.
That means the solution cannot come from us.
God himself must provide the Deliverer.
And that is exactly what he has done in Jesus Christ.
3. Payment Has Been Made
This is the good news of the gospel.
The Judge stepped down from the bench.
God became man.
Jesus Christ came into the world to make the payment that we could never make ourselves.
This is why the cross is not merely a demonstration of God's love. It is also the place where God's justice and God's love meet.
When Jesus died on the cross, God's wrath against sin was satisfied.
And at the very same time, God's love was displayed in the most extraordinary way.
Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
That is what makes the gospel so amazing.
Christ did not die for people who had already cleaned themselves up.
He did not wait until we became worthy.
He died for sinners.
He paid the debt of people who could never pay it themselves.
And then Jesus cried out from the cross:
“It is finished.”
Those words are not the cry of defeat.
They are the cry of completion.
The work was accomplished.
The debt was paid.
The price had been fully satisfied.
It is like receiving a statement that says:
PAID IN FULL.
There is nothing left to pay.
Nothing left to add.
Nothing left for us to accomplish.
Our salvation does not depend on how well we can repair the mess we have made. It depends on the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Stop Trying to Fix the Debt
One of the most powerful lessons from this sermon is that we need to stop approaching God with the attitude, “I’ll fix this.”
When we sin, our instinct can be to hide from God until we feel worthy enough to return.
But God does not tell us to clean ourselves up before coming to him.
He calls us to repentance.
Romans 2:4 asks:
“Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”
God's patience is not an invitation to postpone repentance forever.
His kindness is calling us home.
He gives us time not because he expects us to eventually pay the debt ourselves, but because he calls us to turn to him and receive his forgiveness.
There is a beautiful difference between trying to make things right ourselves and coming to God because we know we cannot.
The gospel tells us to stop pretending that the debt is small.
The debt is enormous.
But Jesus has paid it.
Looking in the Mirror
Romans 2 gives us a mirror.
When we look into it, we should not use it to compare ourselves with the people around us. We should allow it to show us our own hearts.
That can be uncomfortable.
But it can also become deeply comforting when we remember what comes next.
The Christian does not look at the mirror and say, “I am good enough.”
The Christian looks at the mirror and says:
“I am a sinner, but Christ has paid my debt.”
That changes everything.
It frees us from pride because we know we have nothing to boast about.
It frees us from despair because our salvation does not depend on our ability to become perfect.
And it gives us a reason to worship because the One who judged us is also the One who came to save us.
Dawn Has Broken
Psalm 130 gives us the picture of a watchman waiting for the morning.
The night seems long.
The darkness seems endless.
But eventually, morning comes.
The psalmist was waiting for the day when God would redeem his people from their sins.
For us, that day has already dawned.
Jesus Christ has come.
The cross has been accomplished.
The debt has been paid.
The grave has been conquered.
The One who will one day judge the world is the same One who gave himself as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.
That is the wonder of the gospel.
Payment had to be made.
Payment could not be made by us.
Payment has been made by Jesus Christ.
So when we come before God, we do not come presenting our own record.
We come trusting in Christ's record.
We do not come claiming that our debt is small.
We come rejoicing that it is paid in full.
And that is why there is hope for guilty sinners like us.
Not because we have finally become good enough.
But because Jesus has done what we could never do.
It is finished.
Paid in full.
And because Christ has paid our debt, we can once again be received into God's favor.
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