When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
— COLOSSIANS 2:13-14 —
E. A. | Middle East
Debt is one word that we try to avoid being tied to. Being in debt is never pleasant; rather it is something we work to be free from. But then, consider a canceled debt. Those two words will bring joy and happiness to your life. In these verses from Colossians, Paul recounts that Christians were once in debt—the greatest of debts that deserved eternal hell. Transgressions, disobedience, and sin bring this debt on each of us and it is an amount we cannot repay. Without Christ, we would spend an eternity in hell settling our debt of sin, but the good news of the gospel is that it has been canceled. Consider the debt of the slave in Matthew 18:24 and you get a glimpse of the infinite debt we owe. Without Christ, we would spend an eternity in hell settling our debt of sin, but the good news of the gospel is that it has been canceled. How can this be? The debt is canceled because Christ Jesus paid it in full when He was nailed to the cross and died in the place of His own at Calvary. This is where we were forgiven. This is where our debt was paid. Imagine how a repentant criminal would live his life if he were forgiven in a court when he should have been punished for his evil deeds. In like manner, how ought a Christian live when the debt of his sin has been canceled? Live in thankfulness, rejoice in your salvation, forgive as you have been forgiven, and preach the gospel to those who are still in need of canceled debt.
