Debt canceled!

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24).

To understand Christ is to understand forgiveness. Jesus came into our world to do many things—teach us about God, show us how to love, and defeat Satan on our behalf. But His primary goal was forgiveness—The Son of God suffered and died so that we could receive the wonderful blessing of gracious mercy.

Forgiveness is best understood in economic terms. When forgiveness happens, debt is canceled. Repayment is waived; the penalty for default is rendered null and void. Forgiveness goes against our sense of fairness. We are raised to believe that debts should be paid in full. It seems irresponsible to let a debtor off the hook.

Each of us instinctively looks out for number one. When someone hurts you, you want to receive compensation. Our judicial system is built on the principle that the injured party should get restitution for being victimized. If your spouse cheats on you, you deserve a divorce settlement. If someone commits murder, the victim’s family deserves the satisfaction of seeing the killer pay with his life.

The idea of getting compensation for wrongs committed is part and parcel of our relationships with each other. If a friend betrays your trust, you expect her to work hard at getting back into your good graces. If your boyfriend acts like a jerk, you expect him to make it up to you with an expensive or thoughtful gift. And the worse that you’ve been hurt, the greater the compensation you feel entitled to receive.

How wonderful for us that Jesus doesn’t behave this way. All of us have insulted Him with our lack of proper respect, our disregard of His teachings, our flouting of His laws, and our stinginess with giving time for worship, prayer and Bible study. We deserve God’s angry punishment, not His forgiving love. Thankfully, the Son of God chose to cancel our debt; He did this by paying the price for our sins Himself as He suffered on the cross. Jesus demands nothing in return for His mercy, and this goes against everything we were raised to believe. No wonder that so many have a hard time understanding our Lord the Savior!