A debt is owed, and payment must be made. A wrong has been committed, and punishment must be given. Sometimes the debt or wrong done is not too much, and can quickly be taken care of. Other times it is a larger debt or crime committed, and to pay that off might take months or even years to accomplish. Then there is a debt, a penalty which is so high that it is impossible to pay, but which, even so, must be paid. We might think that we are good and responsible people, we would never get into such trouble. However, I’m here to say that we, each one of us, already have. We each have a sin-debt that we owe, and which we have no humanly way possible to pay, but which must be paid. What are we to do, then? Our Scripture today will give us an answer.
Each one of us has sinned. I have, and you have. Even if we have never murdered, committed adultery, or stolen anything, we have each told lies, and likely have had unkind thoughts towards others. They are sins, and any sin will keep one out of heaven because God is all holy. A holy God cannot have sin in His presence. As the Bible tells us, the wages or penalty of sin is death, eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23). The payment for sin is the shedding of blood, for without that there can be no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). However our blood is tainted with sin. What can we do?
In the days of the Old Testament, the Law of Moses required that people bring an animal sacrifice to the Temple for their sins. That was done repeatedly, year after year, because that sacrifice was insufficient. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin (vs. 4). This ritual was a shadow, pointing to what was to come with the ultimate sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus. The Law and the priests were not created to be a solution to the problem of sin, but only a shadow of what was to come. They temporarily atoned for sin, but they didn’t prevent it.
Our sin debt is still owed, and we still have no way to pay it. But look! As we continue to read in our Scripture we see that the Lord Jesus came into the world to pay that debt, to offer Himself as the sacrifice (vs. 5-10). He had no sin in Himself to atone for, His Blood was not tainted with sin. Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all, unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament. Through His obedience to the Father by offering Himself, all who believe in Him are sanctified and perfected. Jesus died at Calvary to pay the price of every sin. As believers, our sins are thrown into the deepest sea, never to be remembered (Micah 7:19). We are blessed by God’s gift of mercy, which allows us to place our sin into the cleansing pool of Christ’s righteousness, so that we emerge sanctified by His holiness.
Through trusting in what Jesus has done on our behalf, we can find forgiveness and the power of God to resist sin (vs. 14-16). We have been moved from death to life by Jesus’ sacrifice. Now we are no longer viewed by God as sinful, but as His redeemed children. We have been completely forgiven (vs. 17-18). That does not mean that we will never sin again, but it is an assurance that those sins are covered once and for all by Jesus.
As we conclude our Scripture, we have a call for all believers to approach God’s throne with boldness, not shame (vs. 19-23). Our status before Him is secure through the cleansing work of our spotless High Priest. True holiness is not a matter of physical appearance, but of being “clothed” with righteousness. This is only possible if we clothe ourselves with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which happens when we accept Him as our personal Savior. We can come into God’s presence with confidence if we draw near through the Blood of Jesus.
In closing, we can rest, knowing that our debt has been paid, our penalty covered, through the shed Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you haven’t already, I pray that you would ask Jesus to be your personal Savior, and apply His Blood to yourself. Then you will have access to the Father, and may come into His presence through Jesus.
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