Paid in Full
By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.
1/30/2022
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)
If you have ever purchased a car on credit, you are familiar with the concept of installment plans. You know how it works. You pay a certain amount of money up front and then so much a month until you eventually own the car. These days, most installment plans like car loans and mortgages, are paid via electronic funds transfer. Back in the day, however, an installment loan came with a payment booklet. Each page showed the monthly payment, principal and interest, balance owed, and the number of remaining payments before the loan was paid off.
Having to mail a payment coupon each month to the bank along with your check made it easier to remember that the thing you were purchasing did not actually belong to you just yet. After a long time, and a series of repeated payments, the debt was erased, and the house or car was yours. Installment-buying means the item is not yours until the final payment is made.
Many people have the mistaken notion that salvation works like that. They are trying to be saved on the installment plan. They think that they must pay for their sins by offering God some kind of pledge or promise up front, followed by a certain amount of good works every day/week/month. They seem to have the idea that God will erase some of the debt of their sins each time they do something good.
I hope none of you has that idea, because if you do you will never be saved. Your sin debt cannot be paid with installments of good works over time. The Bible says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us” (Titus 3:5). “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
God settles our debt instantly when we trust in Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and give us the free gift of eternal life. Eternal salvation happens immediately, not over months and years as we return the payment coupons. For example, when God saved Abraham, He said that Abraham’s faith was “reckoned to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). That means that when Abraham believed, his faith was put on his account as payment in full for his sins.
God settled Abraham’s account all at once. God did not hand Abraham a book of payment coupons the moment he believed. The instant he believed, God fully and forever settled his debt of sin, and God does the same with anyone and everyone who receives His payment on their behalf by faith. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1). “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
2,000 years ago, there lived a group of people who had become experts on the erroneous "installment plan road to heaven." The Scribes and Pharisees lived their lives according to a 613-installment legal code that said as long as they kept making the payments of good works, they would be first in line to enter the Kingdom of heaven. They were dead wrong.
The problem with this line of thinking is that the payments never end. There is no last page in the coupon book. You can never do enough good works to meet the standard of perfection that heaven requires.
That is why the Gospel is such good news. It pays a debt we can never pay on our own. The moment we believe the Gospel, our debt is paid in full, and we are saved instantly and eternally. Is your sin debt paid in full? Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died and rose again for your sins? If so, stop trying to pay for something you already own. Rest in the assurance of your salvation.
1/30/2022
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)
If you have ever purchased a car on credit, you are familiar with the concept of installment plans. You know how it works. You pay a certain amount of money up front and then so much a month until you eventually own the car. These days, most installment plans like car loans and mortgages, are paid via electronic funds transfer. Back in the day, however, an installment loan came with a payment booklet. Each page showed the monthly payment, principal and interest, balance owed, and the number of remaining payments before the loan was paid off.
Having to mail a payment coupon each month to the bank along with your check made it easier to remember that the thing you were purchasing did not actually belong to you just yet. After a long time, and a series of repeated payments, the debt was erased, and the house or car was yours. Installment-buying means the item is not yours until the final payment is made.
Many people have the mistaken notion that salvation works like that. They are trying to be saved on the installment plan. They think that they must pay for their sins by offering God some kind of pledge or promise up front, followed by a certain amount of good works every day/week/month. They seem to have the idea that God will erase some of the debt of their sins each time they do something good.
I hope none of you has that idea, because if you do you will never be saved. Your sin debt cannot be paid with installments of good works over time. The Bible says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us” (Titus 3:5). “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
God settles our debt instantly when we trust in Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and give us the free gift of eternal life. Eternal salvation happens immediately, not over months and years as we return the payment coupons. For example, when God saved Abraham, He said that Abraham’s faith was “reckoned to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). That means that when Abraham believed, his faith was put on his account as payment in full for his sins.
God settled Abraham’s account all at once. God did not hand Abraham a book of payment coupons the moment he believed. The instant he believed, God fully and forever settled his debt of sin, and God does the same with anyone and everyone who receives His payment on their behalf by faith. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1). “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
2,000 years ago, there lived a group of people who had become experts on the erroneous "installment plan road to heaven." The Scribes and Pharisees lived their lives according to a 613-installment legal code that said as long as they kept making the payments of good works, they would be first in line to enter the Kingdom of heaven. They were dead wrong.
The problem with this line of thinking is that the payments never end. There is no last page in the coupon book. You can never do enough good works to meet the standard of perfection that heaven requires.
That is why the Gospel is such good news. It pays a debt we can never pay on our own. The moment we believe the Gospel, our debt is paid in full, and we are saved instantly and eternally. Is your sin debt paid in full? Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died and rose again for your sins? If so, stop trying to pay for something you already own. Rest in the assurance of your salvation.
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