Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Saturday, March 2, 2013

The Debt we Owe


Saturday, March 02, 2013, 7:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:

Near the Cross / Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane

Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me…
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 18:21-35 (NASB):

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Our Debt

We, as humans, are born with a sin nature and thus with the propensity to sin. The scriptures teach us that all have sinned, and thus we all come up short of attaining God’s glory. We all like sheep have gone astray, and each one has gone his own way. No one is righteous in his own self or in his own merit. No one can earn his own salvation. No matter how many good things we do, we will never be good enough. We will always come up short. Our sins, thus, separate us from our God. Our debt resulting from our sin is HUGE! And, we have no way of repaying this debt. The result is death and eternal separation from God and eternity in hell. [See Romans 3:9-26; Eph. 2:8-9; and Isaiah 53:1-12]

God’s Mercy

God caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Jesus Christ. He became our perfect Lamb sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. This was God’s plan for our redemption. Jesus Christ was “pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (Is. 53:5).

He was crucified on a cross for our sins, although he had done no wrong. When he died our sins were crucified with him, and when he was buried, our sins were buried with him, but when he arose from the grave, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could live victoriously over sin and so that we could walk with Christ in righteousness and holiness, though not with a righteousness of our own making. This righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ is for all who believe in Him; for those who put their trust in Him as Savior and Lord (master) of their lives. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

Repentance

We must humble ourselves before God and call upon him for mercy. We must confess our sin and acknowledge our inability within ourselves to be able to satisfy this debt. In other words, we must acknowledge our need for the Savior, and for what he did for us in dying for our sins so that we can go free from slavery to sin, free from hell, and free to walk in God’s righteousness and holiness. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must negate his self-life, he must willingly and daily forego (die to) his former life of living for self pleasure and sin, and he must follow our Lord Jesus Christ in obedience and surrender to his will for our lives (see Luke 9:23-25). This is what it means to believe.

The Apostle Paul, God speaking through him, said that the way in which we come to know Christ is by dying to (forsaking; taking off) our old way of living for self and sin, by being transformed in heart and mind (the working of the Spirit of God within us), and by putting on our new self in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Eph. 4:17-24). As well, he said in Gal. 2:20 that when we come to Christ, we, i.e. our self-life is crucified with Christ and that “I”, “you,” “we” no longer live. In other words, our self life is crucified with Christ and we no longer live for self, but for God, who loved us and who gave himself up for us. Now Christ and his life should be on the throne of our lives and his life should be lived within and out through our lives. We are, thus, his representatives (his ambassadors) to this world for the gospel. Now we live by faith in Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness

When we come to Jesus Christ on bended knee (in humility), admitting that we have sinned and that we need the Savior to save us from our sins (from slavery to sin daily), and we turn from our sins, and we turn to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ, he forgives us of our sins and he cancels the debt that we owe. He does this because he loves us so very much!

Yet, do we so easily forgive others their debts against us? I mean, when others sin against us, and they come to us asking for mercy, do we easily and readily release them from their debt against us? Or, do we refuse to forgive? Or, maybe we think we have forgiven, but we are still holding what we believe is their sin against us to their account. To forgive means to no longer hold on to bitterness, anger, resentment, or a feeling of “pay back,” but we release the offending party from his debt, just as Jesus did for us, only our debt was much greater by far, and a perfect and holy God, who never sinned, was willing to die for us so we could go free. If Jesus did that for us, how can we not forgive others who have sinned against us, or even who we think may have sinned against us? We must forgive, because Jesus forgave us. If we don’t, the Lord Jesus may visit us in divine discipline and correction.

Awaken the Dawn / An Original Work / January 15, 2013

Based off Psalm 57 (NIV 1984)

O my God, have mercy on me!
In the Lord, my soul takes refuge.
In the shadow of Your wings, Lord,
I find shelter till the storms pass.
I cry out to my God Most High.
He fulfills His purpose for me.
He sent His Son to die for me,
So I could be saved.

I am in the midst of lions;
Men whose teeth are spears and arrows;
Whose tongues are sharp; words accusing.
They spread a net, my feet to catch.
They dug a pit, in hopes I’d fall.
O God, be exalted o’er all.
Let Your glory shine to all men,
So they may be saved.

Steadfast is my heart, O my God;
I will sing of all Your wonders.
Awake, my soul! Sing praise to God!
Early I will rise and praise Him!
I’ll praise God among the nations;
I will sing among the peoples.
God’s love reaches to the heavens,
So we may be saved.


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