Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Colossians Chapter 2. The name of the message is debt-free. Debt-free. I had Brother John
read that portion. It especially talks about that our
God has blotted out all our transgressions. And that portion ties so much
in, that he read over there in Isaiah, ties so much in with
what we're going to look at today. Now we live in a world where
debt is something that almost everyone deals with. Everyone. At some point in life, we all
deal with some form of debt. We can have debt from the doctor,
or debt from medical issues, or credit card debt, or if you
own a home, you're in debt. You can be in debt paying off
a car, So debt is something that we all know about. We all know
about. And people work hard to get out
of debt, and sometimes you get out of debt, and then some medical
issues come up, and then you're back into debt. But it happens,
doesn't it? But we all know what debt is.
We all know what debt is. And no one likes to be in debt.
No one likes to be in debt. You know that there's a debt?
that everyone on this earth owes and that no one can pay. Everyone. Everyone owes this debt. There's
not one person excluded. Everyone's in debt to God because
of our sin. Every single person on this earth
has broken the law of God. Everyone. The wages of sin is
what? Death. And we know the payment for our
sins, the soul that sinneth, it must die, scripture declares. You know that there are handwriting
of ordinances that are against us? That are contrary to us? in our natural state. Turn to
what? To Colossians chapter 2. Colossians
chapter 2. Starting in verse 6. As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him,
rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith as ye
have been taught, abound in therein with thanksgiving, Now God's
people, we're a thankful people. Like Brother John about reading
that scripture. Boy, we read those scriptures and we are just
so filled with joy. We are forgiven in Christ. We
are forgiven in Christ. Rooted and built up in Him again,
in Christ, established in the faith, and that faith is always
found in Christ as you've been taught. We've been taught. about
Christ by the Holy Spirit of God. We've been shown our need,
we've come to Him, and now the believer is growing, growing
in grace, and growing in the faith. And that faith, again,
is always centered around Christ, and we abound, again, with thanksgiving.
Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of man, and after the rudence of the world,
and not after Christ. Beware, folks, who want to yoke
you under bondage. That's what the scripture is
saying there. Beware of that. Be aware. Be on guard, because
people want to do that. They want to yoke people in the
bondage. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's speaking of Christ. And
look at verse 10 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
For ye are complete in him. That's in Christ. The believer
is complete in Christ. which is the head of all principality
and power. He's in absolute control. He's
over all. In whom also you are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands and put not the body of
the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. That
means we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. That's what
that's talking about. being regenerated by the Holy
Spirit of God, buried with him in baptism, wherein you also
risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead. The same power which raised the
Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is the same power that raises
us from our spiritual deadness. The same power, it's the power
of God. It's the power of God. And you, here's our natural state,
and you being dead, and that is graveyard dead. We're dead. It's lifeless. Dead. That's our
natural state. Spiritually. We're physically
alive, but we're spiritually dead. And you being dead in your
sins, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together, there's actually the new birth right there, with him.
Heaven what? Forgiving you all trespasses. Now note the word there, all.
All. That's a marvelous little word.
And in verse 14, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made an open show of them, triumphing over them
in it. Now note in verse 14 there the
words, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us. Blotting out there in the Greek
is one word. One word. Which literally means
this, to wipe away. To wipe away. To rub out. To expunge. or to turn one's
back on. This is speaking, beloved, of
the forgiveness that the believer has in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this is speaking
of. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us. Now sin in Scripture is frequently
accounted as a debt. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
6.12, and then we'll look at Luke 11.4. Matthew 6, 12 and
Luke 11, 4. Sin in Scripture is frequently
accounted as a debt. And the Scriptures proclaim this
truth. And we know that all are guilty
before God. All are guilty before God. Matthew
6, verse 12. And forgive us our what? Debts,
as we forgive our debtors. This is what we are to pray.
Now the Lord, people say the Lord's Prayer, this is the model
prayer. The Lord's sinless. He's telling us this is how we
are to pray. But look at that, and forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors. We're in debt for a while. And
look at verse four in Luke chapter 11. Again. And forgive us our sins,
for we forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Now think of this. If our debt is not forgiven by
God through Christ, then we will perish in our sins and spend
an eternity in hell. And this is true of everyone. He must be born again. And the
Lord said, except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish. Let's go back to our text and
note the latter part of verse 14. Let's just read the whole verse.
"...blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross." And in verse 15, "...and having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Now take note here, the text
proclaims that the Lord for His people took out of the way the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. That was against us. During Paul's day, during the days of Paul, writing
this book, they would have a debtor's bond. They would have a debtor's
bond. Just as when you sign papers
today for a house or a credit card, you know, you got a sign
for it, they did the same thing below. The same thing. Saying that you are obligated
to pay the debt that you incur. And the debtor bond for our sins,
it says here, for God's people is taken out of the way. taken
out of the way. Just as when the debt would be
paid in full in the past, they would cancel or tear to pieces
the debtor's bond. That's what they used to do.
They would either just shred it right there in front of them,
or they would cancel. So that, now let this just sink
in, so that there is no more memorial of it. There's no memorial
of it. No evidence of that debt, because
it's been paid in full. It's been paid in full. It's
never to be spoken of again. My, my. So Christ, when he died on Calvary's
cross, the sinless one, dying for the sin debt of his people,
before God and before his holy law, he paid in full all that
was demanded. All of it. That's why the scripture
says, and ye are complete in him. When our Lord cried, it's finished,
it's really finished. See, religion says, oh, it's
mostly finished. No, now the rest is up to you. No, it's finished.
It's finished. Salvation's complete. Salvation's
accomplished. Accomplished. None but Christ could put this
great sin dead of ours away. You and I can't put away our
own sin-debt. No one on this earth could put away their own
sin-debt before God. No one. No one. But Christ, for
His people, He put away our sin-debt. He took the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, it says right here. That was contrary
to us. And it was contrary to us, beloved,
because none of us could satisfy the demands of that debt. You see how we're mercy beggars,
beloved? You see how we're poor, bankrupt sinners before God? We could not pay that. We could
not pay the debt that we owed. Hebrews 10, if you want to turn
there, Hebrews 10 verses 7 to 10 says this. Then said, I know
I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me to do thy
will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst thou pleasure therein, which are offered by
the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by which will we are all sanctified
through the offering of the body of Christ. Jesus Christ once
for all. He came and took the handwriting of ordinances that
was against His people. Against me. And if you're a believer,
against you. It was contrary to us, beloved.
It was against us. It condemned us. And He took
it away, beloved. Nailing it to His cross. What
a Savior. What a Lord. My, what a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ, our Lord. And note, it says He took it
out of the way. took it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross, and having spoiled princes and principalities and
powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it. And in order for our sin debt
to be paid in full, beloved, it took Christ's perfect life,
it took His sacrificial death as our substitute to accomplish
this, to pay our debt in full. It took the shedding of His precious
blood. It took Him dying upon the cross
for us. My, what a Savior. And the result
is of the death of Christ, those who rest and trust in Christ
by faith alone have the debt of all their sin paid for. Paid
for in full. They are debt free when it comes
to their sin. Just let that sink in, boy. We who are the redeemed of the
Lord are debt-free when it comes to our sins. Now, that does not
give us a license to go out and to live a crazy life. I like
what Brother Neil said at his mother's funeral yesterday, and
I'm going to use that, Brother Neil, when you said, if we obey
the Word of God, it'll save us from a lot of trouble. I like
that. Because that's true. That's true,
beloved. And we bow our knee to what the
Scriptures say. We bow our knee to what it says. Oh my. Oh my, what a Savior we
have. Turn over to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. Look at this
in verses 1 to 5. Luke chapter 13 verses 1 to 5. There were present at that season
some that told Him of the Galileans whose blood-potted head mingled
with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans,
because they suffered such things? I tell ye, Nay. Look at this.
But except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. They were
no more sinners than anyone else, beloved. Because we're all sinners. And the Scriptures declare that
we are all guilty before God. And if one doesn't trust and
rest in Christ, they're going to perish in their sins. Our
Lord made it real clear there, real plain. Nay, but except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or these eighteen upon
whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye they
were sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you
nay, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. See the
word sinners there in verse 4? In the Greek it means owner.
Owner. A person indebted in the Greek.
Figuratively a delinquent. morally a transgressor against
God, a debtor, a sinner. You see all, all are debtors
before God. Everyone. And a debtor is obliged
to pay the debt that they owe. The whole of it. So for the sinner
the only payment due, the only payment due for our sin is condemnation. And we cannot pay the debt for
one of our sins. But our text in Colossians proclaims
that the debt of every believer in Christ is, that every believer
in Christ owed is totally forgiven in Christ. In Christ. Paid in full. Paid in full. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
has what? He has paid our sin debt. He has purchased us. with his own precious blood. Again, what a Savior. What a
Redeemer. Just how much are the beloved
of God forgiven? Over in Matthew we see a parable
about forgiveness. Turn there if you would. Matthew
18. Where our Lord, after telling Peter And us, as we read the
scriptures, that we should constantly forgive one another. Our Savior
gives us a parable about forgiveness. Matthew 18, we'll read verses
21 to 35. And we'll see that we all have
a debt which we all owe to God. It is because of our sins, beloved,
but oh, the forgiveness the believer has in the Lord Jesus Christ.
All our sins are washed clean by the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 18, we'll read verses
21 to 35. Then came Peter to him and said,
Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive
him? Tell seven times, he asked. Jesus saith unto thee, I say
not unto thee, until 70 times, until, or seven times, but until
70 times seven. We are to be constantly forgiving
one another, constantly. Because when we consider the
great debt that is being paid for us, the great forgiveness
that we have, we are to be constantly forgiving one another. What's
the scripture say? Love covers a multitude of sin. That's what the scripture says,
isn't it? Love covers, we don't expose the sin of our brothers
and sisters, we pray for them. Love covers a multitude of sin. Love, a multitude of sin. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven
likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his
servants. And when he had began to reckon, one was bought unto
him, which owed him 10,000 talents. Now that's as much as we could
never pay. It's a huge sum. It's a huge sum. But for as much
as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold and
his wife and children and all that he had in payment to be
made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then
the Lord of the servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him,
and forgave him the debts. But the same servant went out
and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him a hundred pence,
and laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay
me that thou owest. And the fellow servant fell down
at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and
cast him into the prison till he should pay the debt. So when
his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry,
and came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord,
after that he called him and said unto him, O thou wicked
servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have
had compassion on thy fellow servant? Even as I had pity on
thee, and his Lord was wrath, and delivered him to the tormentors,
till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall
my heavenly Father do unto you. If you from your hearts forgive
not everyone their brother, their trespasses. Everyone is brother,
their trespasses. So we have looked at how today,
how sin is a debt. We see there that this man was
forgiven a debt that he could never pay. The believer in Christ has been
forgiven a debt that we could never pay. Never. Never. We need to constantly
remember that, don't we? We need to constantly remember
that. Let's go back to Colossians chapter
2. This is a debt we couldn't pay, but we've seen over in Colossians
2 that Christ paid the debt that we owed in full. And the Father
has freely forgiven His people in Christ. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. In having spoiled
principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it. Beloved, He is ready and willing
to forgive guilty sinners of all their debt. He grants forgiveness
to all who seek it by faith in Christ. The scriptures declare
if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And
to be cleansed from our sins by the blood of Christ means
to have our sins forgiven, forgiven. and the basis upon which he grants
this forgiveness is the satisfaction of his law, this being God, of
his law and his justice by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ
in our place. See, the debt has to be paid,
doesn't it? God can't just wink at it. It's got to be paid. That's why you always hear me
say, it'll either be paid in the sinner or in the substitute. It's got to be paid, love. It's
got to be paid. And I ask you who are the redeemed
of the Lord, is not our God merciful? When you consider the great debt
that we've been forgiven, is not our God merciful? Is not
our God so compassionate that he's, as Brother John wrote,
blotted out all our transgressions? It should make us want to shout,
beloved. What a great God. What a great God. What great
forgiveness. What great grace and mercy has
been bestowed upon us. Sinner friend, we who are safe
sinners tell you to beg for mercy from God. Beg for mercy from
God. Seek Him. Seek Him. Seek ye the Lord while
He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous men his thoughts, and let them return unto the
Lord. And he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for
he will abundantly pardon." And the believer can look at what
we've read in Colossians and say, oh my, how I've been abundantly
pardoned. Abundantly pardoned. The good news of the gospel is it creates,
one commentator said, a debt-free community. I like that. A debt-free community. The church,
which speaks of the church. The called-out ones from the
world who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And they
are fully and freely forgiven all our sin-debt in Christ. He
has blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way nailing
it to His cross. This is what the Lord's done.
He has canceled out the certificate of debt, beloved, consisting of decrees against
us, which was hostile to us. And
He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. For from Him and through Him
and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.
Oh, we need to glorify our God for the great redemption we have
in Him. We were once debtors to the law.
We were once debtors to the law, but in Christ we're justified.
The debt is paid, beloved. Paid. Therefore, there's no debt
to be paid because Jesus paid it all in the place of His people. Our sin debt has been satisfied
in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. Our debt is graciously forgiven.
And oh, is this not grace? Because we don't deserve this,
do we? There's not one of us who deserves to be forgiven.
Not one of us. Oh, but the mercy of God, the
grace of God in Christ. Our debt is graciously forgiven
on the account of and the merit of Christ alone. And the forgiveness of our debts
cannot be based on our merits because we have absolutely no
merit at all. Brother Tim James used to say,
no merit, no merit, no merit. That's our state. That's our
state. That's our natural state. No
merit before God. God our father is only satisfied.
Before we go, what can we do to in our natural state? All
we can do is rack up more debt. That's all we can do in our natural
state. Just keep racking up more debt, because we're sinners by
birth, nature, and choice. Oh my. And our great God is only
satisfied in the work of Christ and Christ alone, which he has
done. And the believer is fully forgiven
for Christ's sake. And the payment made for our
sins is what? The precious, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And think of this. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquity, if the Lord should mark iniquity, who should stand? No one. Because we're all guilty
before God. That's what the scriptures declare
in Psalm 130, verse 3. If thou shouldest mark iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand? My. So the forgiveness of our
sins, the forgiveness of our sin debt is based solely on Christ
and Christ alone, on His merits. Our sin is imputed to Him and
His perfect spotless righteousness is imputed to us by grace alone,
through faith alone. And we should be well reminded,
we should always remember that we have built up again in our
natural state an infinite treasure of wrath. That's what we built
up in our natural state. And all the wrath that was due
my sins. And if you're a believer, all
the wrath that was due your sins, because it is due, isn't it?
It must be satisfied, was poured out on Christ. Hmm. My. And he did that because he
loves us. Because he loves us. Oh, my. We're born into this world spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins, and by means of regeneration
God makes us alive with Christ, heaven forgiving us all transgressions. And again the same power that
raised Christ from the grave raises dead sinners to life,
to spiritual life. He made you alive together with
Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions. Let's look at
the verses again. We'll read verses 13 to 15 again.
And you, being dead in your sins, in the
uncircumcision of your flesh. So there we are in our natural
state with no hope. We can't do anything, beloved.
All we can do is rack up a great sin debt. And you, being dead
in your sins, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, heaven forgiving you, All trespasses. All trespasses. Oh, mercy. Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. In having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them, openly triumphing over
them in it. The law of God pointed its finger at the sinner and
said, you are guilty. And that's everyone in our natural
state. or all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Even if you don't think you're
guilty before God right now, if you're dead in your trespasses
and sins, you are guilty before God's law. Guilty. The wages of sin is death. However,
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the law is fulfilled,
and believers are found in Him. Again, the law was like a certificate
of debt, a document acknowledging that a debt had to be paid. It must. It must be paid. A certificate of debt in those
days was written on a piece of papyrus with an ink of soot mixed
with gum and diluted with water. And one commentator brings forth
that ancient ink did not have the acid in it to bite into the
paper. And the writing could be sponged
off or wiped out forever. And the certificate or bill of
debt was like a bill of indictment. And Jesus took it away. He took it away. He took away the certificate
of debt for his people. How? By dying as our substitute
on Calvary's cross. By giving his life before the
law and justice of God for us. By nailing it to his cross, the
scripture says. He paid the debt, and the slate
on which the certificate of debt was written is what? Wipe clean.
Wipe clean. The idea is like taking a wet
sponge and cleaning the writing off a writing slate. It's gone. It's gone. Blotting it out. Wiping it out. God did not cancel
the debt. No, it's paid in full. It's paid. Demands of it are paid. He didn't
just wink and say, well, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna let it
go. No, it had to be satisfied. It had to be satisfied. And it's
satisfied in Christ for His people. And so there are therefore no
charges against us. Our charge sheet is absolutely
clean. Clean. The indictment against
us has been wiped out. Erased. Never to be bought before
us again. Never. It's just another way
of saying there is now There is therefore now no condemnation
to those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but
after the spirit. Same thing. Blotting out. No
condemnation. And again, that condemnation
there means judgment in Romans chapter 8. He's taken it out
of the way. He's nailed it to his cross.
The Lamb of God has bore all our sins away, just like the
scapegoat. They're gone. And one commentator
brings this wonderful fact forth. The perfect tense emphasizes
the permanence of the removal of the certificate or bond, which
has been nailed to the cross with Jesus and paid in full,
never to be presented again. My. Oh, this is mercy, beloved. This is mercy. Think of the list
of vile sins which we've committed on that certificate of death.
Think of how it was impossible for us to pay the debt in our
natural state. Think of how we were guilty before
God in our natural state. But God, by His mercy and grace,
sent His Son to this earth to wipe out our sin debt. Wipe out
the sin debt of His people forever. Forever. And only the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ is all sufficient to take away the sin
debt of all of God's people, all the elect of all the ages.
The certificate of debt we owed is wiped clean forever. Forever. So the question comes
forth then, for we who profess to be Christ, since we have been
forgiven of our great sin debt, ought we not to be ready to forgive
one another? Absolutely, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. both our reasonable
responsibility and our great privilege to forgive all offenses
committed against us. Why is it our reasonable duty?
Because we are forgiven by God for all our offenses. All of
them. And what a blessed privilege
we have in forgiving one another. We're closed with Ephesians chapter
4. Let's turn there. Ephesians chapter 4, starting in verse 17, and we'll
read to verse 32. This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. verse
19, who being past failing have given themselves over into lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness. And remember that
was our state too. Never forget the rock you were
hewn from. That was our state. But ye have not so learned Christ.
If so, be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him
as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put off the Put off concerning
the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore put in the way lion,
speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members
one of another. Be ye angry and sin not. Let
not the sun go down upon your rise. either give place to the
devil. Let him that stole, steal no
more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands, the things
which is good, that he may have to give to them that need it.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but
that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath in anger, in clamor, in evil
speaking, be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgive one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." And oh, what a great forgiveness. The handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, that was contrary to us, beloved. in Christ
has been wiped out. What a great forgiveness the
people of God have in Christ. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
again for the honor and privilege of being able to gather together.
We pray that we would take the things that we've heard today
and studied in your scriptures and that we who are your people
would marvel in this wondrous forgiveness that we have in Thee,
O Lord. We pray, Lord, that if there's
any who are listening or will listen who are your lost sheep,
O Lord, oh, may it be the day that you give them life. Oh,
may it be the day that you give them ears to hear and eyes to
see, that they, just as we, have a great sin debt, and it must
be paid. It must be satisfied, oh Lord.
We love you and praise you. We thank you for your goodness
and mercy. We praise you for allowing us to gather together.
In Jesus' name, amen.