Thursday, June 4, 2009

Double Life-Debts, Already Paid

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it." -- Psalm 24:1 (NIV)

"You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." -- 1 Cor. 6:19b-20 (ESV)

Who owns you? The Bible puts it simply: God owns you. If you're breathing right now, it is only because God is giving you breath (Daniel 5:23). He made each one of us individually (Psalm 139). Because He made us and sustains us, we owe Him everything: every thought, every moment, every word, every action.

But. But we rebelled. But we sinned and devoted ourselves to false gods and, worse, to ourselves. We were breaking our clear moral obligation, but God in His great mercy did not immediately condemn us to Hell. Instead, He sent His Son to take His wrath for our sin and to give us a new power to love Him.

So now "we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh" (Romans 8:12). We, if we are Christians, owe God doubly for our lives. We have, in effect, two infinite life debts to pay. We have been and are and always will be the recipients of amazing grace from the Lord. We are morally required to praise Him.

Yet we cannot praise Him enough: what are we to do? We must remember the Gospel: that God has not bypassed moral requirements but has instead satisfied them in Christ. We owe God and we should continue to live our whole lives in praise to Him. But we may do this secure in the knowledge that God's grace not only makes us morally responsible, but also satisfies the responsibility. Praise be to the Lord!

1 comment:

Ben said...

Nothing better than talking about Saving Grace! Great post! How great we sinned and how much greater His grace is!!
Amen
Praise the Lord!