“[God] having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Col 2:14) NLT

It was recently reported that the UK debt to GDP ratio is 103.7%. The nation is also dealing with a ‘cost of living’ crisis. Our incomes are increasingly struggling to keep up with our outgoings. The usage of food banks has increased, and debt consolidation companies have lots of business.   Governments borrow money to try and lessen the financial burden by ploughing money into trying to support households and companies. Still, the debt continues to grow, and the load increases, affecting inflation. Monetary/financial debt certainly seems to be tightening its grip. But did you know the bible also talks about humanity’s standing before God using debt language?

In the Epistle to the Colossians, writing to Christians, Paul explains that while on the Cross, Jesus “cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col 2:14).

Why did Jesus come into the world? To cancel the charge of our legal indebtedness. Our legal indebtedness to whom? To God. But what kind of debt is Paul referring to? It cannot be monetary debt. It’s important to note that God is wholly self-sufficient and not dependent on anyone or anything. All that we have and are, as well as everything in creation, belongs to him. The Bible says: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25).

The debt Paul writes about is our moral indebtedness to God. How are we morally indebted to God? We are morally indebted to God because we are guilty of sinning against him. All sin is an affront to a holy God! But why does this matter? It matters because God is our creator and the Lord of all creation. And why did God create us? To Enjoy Him in fellowship, to serve and love him above all things, and glorify him forever. God says in Bible that we are to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Failing to do what God has required of all humanity is a sin. The failure to love God is at the heart of all sin. Why do we fail to keep God’s commandments? Because by nature, we don’t love God, which is displayed in our rebellion against Him and his word.    This rebellion is pictured in scripture as a moral debt humanity cannot pay.   The only way a moral debt can be forgiven is if the offended forgives the offender. But because God is Holy and Just, the offence must also be punished.

So what has God done? Has he left as we are? No. Instead, he has initiated a rescue mission in the person of His only begotten Son, Jesus. The moral debt, which is ours, was laid upon Jesus upon the cross, and if we trust in Him alone for salvation, God promises to wipe out our moral debt based on Christ’s death. He also promises to break the power of sin; by giving those who trust in Jesus the gift of the Holy Spirit; and giving us new hearts to love him and his word. That doesn’t mean we will cease to be sinless and fully love and obey God all the time, but it’s the begging of a glorious work in which God transforms us daily more into the likeness of his beloved Son. The truly remarkable thing is that the very moment we believe and trust in Christ, the burden of our sin debt against God is cancelled because Jesus paid the whole debt at Calvary by bearing our sins in his body on the tree. My question to you is will you receive the salvation paid for by Jesus at the cross? Will you be free of your debt today?

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Cor 5:21)

Pastor Davies

Union Croft Independent Chapel, Ambler Thorn.