I love the old song we used to sing in the ’70’s, “He Paid a Debt.” It goes like this:
“He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
‘Amazing Grace’ the whole day long.
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.”
It’s true. He paid the debt for our sins: the wages of sin is death, so He died our death so we could live. Jesus wants us to remember that His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us. By His stripes we are healed. By His blood we are cleansed from all our sins. This is the New Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant, the true Lamb of God had not come to take away sins; so instead of a cleansed conscience, they had a reminder of sins year after year.
“But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:3-4)1
If we were indebted to God, it would be like having insufficient funds in the bank when we go to cash a check. Here’s a simple definition of “insufficient funds”: “NSF occurs when an account cannot provide adequate funds to satisfy the demand of a payment.”2 Imagine you want to pay off a debt, and you give your creditor a check for the amount of the debt, but there aren’t enough funds in your account. When the creditor goes to cash the check, the bank teller will get an error message that says “insufficient funds.”
“A reminder of sins” is like the bank saying that the funds were insufficient to satisfy the demand of the payment, and the creditor isn’t satisfied. It means the debt is still on the books. Consciousness of sins says that the cross of Jesus didn’t pay the debt and the Father has rejected the blood of His Son. It’s like saying the spotless Lamb of God was not perfect and still has a spot on Him! This insults both Jesus and God the Father!
The blood of bulls and goats only offered short-term relief, but couldn’t fix the problem. Many Christians today believe the blood of Jesus has only cleansed our past sins, and we must be forgiven as we go. However, that’s no more effective than the blood of bulls and goats and will keep us constantly focused on the flesh.
The blood of Jesus gives us eternal redemption and the freedom to live with a perfect conscience before God. Yes, the news seems to good to be true, but it’s true. He wants us to have a sin-free consciousness. When our minds aren’t on sin, we might just find it easier to set our minds on things above.
(from pages 302-303 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
2Definition of insufficient funds, Investopedia, website:http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/insufficient_funds.asp, accessed on 6-11-14
