ALL Paid

Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

(Romans 8:33, NKJV)

A lady gave her friend a beautiful handbag which we all thought was great.  For the giver, it was a real pleasure to have purchased the handbag for her friend.  As the handbag changed hands, the recipient was pleasantly surprised and expressed her gratitude to her friend with lots of “thank you”, tears and different words/actions which showed her overwhelming joy. This extravagant expression of joy went on for quite a while and I found myself wondering what level of gratitude she felt.  I was challenged on how I communicate my thanks when one does me good.  Some of us do not know how to express ourselves enough, words seem to fail.  For others, there is almost a sense of shame and disbelief in accepting a present, suggesting that they are not worthy of the gift.  some Psychologists will tell us that how we respond when we have been honoured or gifted, speaks to our sense of self-worth and confidence.  That could be an area of study for self-awareness and personal growth.

Beloved, our reference verse refers us to the gift of God that we receive through Christ our Lord.  By the gift of God, we stand justified so that none can accuse us.  This is the gospel of Jesus Christ and a stumbling block to many.  The fact that we have freely been forgiven and justified in Christ, goes contrary to what we know in the natural.  It is almost unheard of that one could be accorded a gift of absolute worth when they have not earned it, and so the free gift of God can only be received by revelation of the Holy Spirit.  We have learnt to accept that nothing comes free and so even when we look at righteousness, we see it through our veiled eyes.  Most times we tend to live in the consciousness of our sin, keeping in mind where we have failed and blaming ourselves for where we think we should have done better.  This cycle of thoughts and beliefs lead us to a defeated life.  The guilt of all this follows and dis-empowers our walk of faith, suggesting that we are not good enough in anything we do, least of all, good enough to be accepted by us.  Glory be to God that we are not justified by our strength or ability but by the undeserved mercies and love of God over us (Romans 8:14-17).  It is true that we have no righteousness of our own, we are unclean and even what we think is good, is like filthy rags before the Lord (Isaiah 64:6).  Brethren, if it was not for God reaching out to us we would all be lost.  God is so gracious that He allowed us to know and believe that all who receive Jesus are children of God, not born of the flesh but by the blood of Jesus (John 1:11-13).  This supernatural birth and status is what separates us from our sins, and we become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).  I am grateful to God who took the sacrifice of Jesus to pay/cover all my past, present and future sin, setting me free.  It is liberating to walk in the revelation of the word of God that when the Son of God sets us free, we are indeed free (John 8:36). 

The mystery of the blood of Jesus is the basis of our salvation.  Songs have been sung about this, that no mountain is too high for the blood to reach, there is no stain too dark to be cleansed and Andre Cloutch gave us a the melody of the blood which never loses its power.  The blood of Jesus is forever fresh, always powerful and its efficacy can never be denied.  Oh what power we walk in!!  May we not be ignorant of this great love of God for us, that made Him reach down to us.  No wonder Paul prayed that we may truly grasp the depth, width, breadth of God’s love for us (Ephesians 3:18).    Beloved, our security, our strength, our confidence, our victory and our hope for eternity is only by the blood of Jesus -which paid our debt in full.

Thoughts:

Have you received the freedom of debt paid?

How has this revelation influenced how you live?

Where have you struggled in accepting this gift of God?