Work Debt Versus Faith Credit

January 14, 2015 Year B

Now to the one who works, pay is not considered as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness. (Romans 4:4-5. HCSB)

Jesus did the work of salvation. He died on the cross for everybody’s sins. So He is owed a payment. God knows this and paid Him with a bodily resurrection. The work that Jesus did was for everyone’s sin. So He can ask for everyone to pay Him. What is the payment for sin? Life.

Yet the beauty of salvation is that we give our life to Jesus – we call Him Master for paying our sin debt. At the same time, we get this gift of righteousness. We are credited righteousness which is our ticket to heaven. This is a faith credit. We didn’t do the work of salvation. We didn’t pay for sin. All we did was trust Jesus that He paid the debt. We get a faith credit. However, we don’t have to pay it off. Unlike any normal credit card, we do not do work to pay for salvation. Instead, we do work as a referral.

Application: I can enjoy righteousness because of Jesus’ work of salvation. I need to do my best referring others to Jesus for the best credit service.

Prayer: God, please help me get better at sharing the Gospel with people who need to hear about Jesus. Help me not to do it out of obligation but because I am happy for what Jesus did for me.