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Unable
To Pay
There
was once a benevolent medical doctor who would often
check his books for debts that had NOT been paid. Sometimes he would place a RED
mark through those debts and write:
“Forgiven, unable to pay.”
The patient was
released from the debt, and the doctor absorbed the
loss himself.
Now
it happened that the good doctor died, and his widow
tried to collect those debts that were STILL
outstanding. Appearing
before a judge, the widow was asked if she had any
proof of the debts.
She replied, “Yes, I do.”
Then she handed the doctor’s books to the
judge.
Seeing
the RED marks
through the unpaid amounts, the judge asked the widow
if the writing was that of her husband.
When she responded affirmatively, the judge
said, “Then no court in the world would give you a
judgment against THESE people when your husband, with
his own pen, has written, ‘Forgiven, unable to
pay.”
You
and I have a tremendous debt that we owe!
It is the debt of SIN
(cp. Matthew 6:12).
The debt is SO GREAT that there is NO way that
you or I can repay that debt. We could NEVER
do enough work to pay off the debt.
Our salvation (or redemption) is “not of
works lest any one should boast” (Ephesians 2:9).
However,
the GOOD NEWS is that when we obey the Gospel, Jesus
Christ, with His own BLOOD,
writes upon the record of our debt:
“Forgiven: unable to pay.”
When you and I place our faith
in Jesus (Hebrews 11:6), repent
of our sins (Acts 17:30-31), confess
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), are
baptized for the forgiveness of our sins
(Acts 2:38), and follow Him
as a way of life (1 John
1:7),
then Jesus absorbs the debt Himself, and releases
us through forgiveness.
These are NOT works to try to EARN our
salvation, but conditions of acceptance of His
salvation by His grace (Ephesians 2:9).
In
the words of a beloved song:
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.’
Christ Jesus PAID the debt that I could NEVER pay!
Have
YOU recognized the immense debt that you owe to God?
Have you been
trying to “pay
it off ”
yourself?
Submit your life to Him, and allow Jesus
-- the Great Physician -- to write across
YOUR debt: “Forgiven,
unable to pay.”
Have
YOU obeyed the gospel? (click
here)
God
bless you!
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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