For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

If you were in deep in debt for ten million dollars and someone wrote you a check for the full amount, you would be thrilled but not out of the woods.

After all, even after your debt was relieved, with no other funds added, you would still have an empty balance in your bank account. That’s the way lots of Christians feel, when they only consider half of the gospel.

The first half of the gospel promises that the debt of our sin was fully paid when Jesus died on the cross. He became sin for us, taking the penalty for our sins on himself. That’s great, but we can still feel guilty that our sin caused his suffering, and there is another problem: you and I continue to sin.

God’s standard for yesterday, today, and tomorrow is, “Be holy, for I am holy.” That means every day that we are not perfect, we accumulate new debt. And, even if Jesus cancels that, we still only have zeros to our name in our spiritual account.

That’s why we need the second half of the gospel. Jesus not only paid for our sin, he provides his righteousness for us. Paul writes that Jesus provided so that “in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus gives what God requires, making us rich in his righteousness even as he forgives our debt.

Praise God that your debt is paid and your spiritual bank account is overflowing with grace.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for both halves of the gospel: for paying my debt in full and for providing Jesus’ righteousness in abundance. I need both. I praise you for such rich grace.