For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
—Romans 3:23-24
The easiest way I know to understand what Christ did for you and me is to picture two bank ledgers. At the top of one is the name of Jesus Christ. At the top of the other is your name.
Open Jesus’ book and the record is perfect. Not a single mark, not one imperfection, no debt to be paid. He is pure, perfect, and righteous, the God-Man who never once sinned against the Father.
Now open your book. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The page is covered with marks of imperfection. Read down to the bottom line and you find a terrible word: bankrupt. Every man and woman ever born is drowning in spiritual debt, and there is no payment we can make to clear it.
But watch what happens to your bank book of sin when you come to Christ. It is cleared. When Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and you come to Him for forgiveness, He takes your debt and removes it, gone, forever.
And that’s only half the miracle. This passage gives us one of the great words of the faith: justified. To be justified means that in the sight of a holy God, all your sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven. It has been described this way: just as if I’d never sinned. When God looks at your account, He doesn’t see your sin. He sees the righteousness of Christ. He sees Jesus.
Do you know what grace is? It’s a five-letter word, and it’s spelled J-E-S-U-S. We are “justified by his grace as a gift.” A gift. Not earned, not deserved, not worked for. You cannot purchase what is already free, and you cannot repay what was given out of love.
And notice the little word that joins these two truths: “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Redemption is the picture of a slave being purchased and set free, a prisoner released from bondage. The reason your debt could be cleared is that Someone paid it. Jesus took your bank book of sin and signed His own perfect record over to your account.
Where did all that sin and debt go? I don’t fully know. But I know it’s gone, and your record is clean.
If you’re in Christ today, stop carrying a debt that’s already been paid. Praise God that your account is settled, your record is spotless, and the righteousness on your page is the righteousness of Jesus Himself.
WHEN YOU COME TO CHRIST, HE CLEARS YOUR DEBT OF SIN AND CREDITS YOU WITH HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
