LIVING DEBT FREE!

LIVING DEBT FREE!
Mary Ann Wray

Imagine this…you have a huge mortgage on your house of over $250,000.00. You become injured at find yourself unable to work any longer. Your small company pays no workers compensation, therefore, you have no benefits to cover you, your family or your mortgage. You find out you are able to draw Social Security but it’s minimal and won’t cover your expenses hardly at all. You panic but pray. “God make a way for me. I’m in deep trouble. I can’t work, I can’t pay my bills, I can’t provide for myself or my family. I’m broken and I’m broke, will you please help me?” All of a sudden an idea pops in your head. “Go to your mortgage bank holder and explain to them what has happened.” You figure that your credit score is decent, you’ve been responsible in your payments so maybe they’ll work out a suspension of payment or something so you won’t lose your house.

You nervously walk into the bank and ask to speak to the Mortgage Broker. You anxiously await his appearance, wringing your hands while praying for favor and mercy. The next thing you know, the manager walks over to you, greets you with a smile and a handshake and invites you into his office behind closed doors. He asks, “How may I help you, sir/ ma’am?” You begin telling your story hoping he has a heart. You pray he will allow you to at least be late on a few more payments and forgive the ones you’ve missed until you can figure things out and you can catch a break.

As you pour your heart out he calmly keeps his eyes on you with a smile, nodding in agreement with every word you speak. You somehow ‘know’ he is an understanding person and has a heart of compassion. After you finish presenting your case mentioning the fact that your life is broken in pieces, you end your plea with a question that identifies the real purpose of your visit… “Sir, despite my best efforts, due to this accident, I have failed to pay my mortgage and I am unable to continue to do so. Can you help me?”

The mortgage manager says he sees your predicament and your inability to fulfill your obligation. But he goes on to explain something you can’t believe you’re hearing. He tells you that a generous shareholder of the bank received a huge inheritance worth millions of dollars and has more than he can possibly spend. He’s a very aged man and getting prepared to leave this life. Therefore, he donated all of his inheritance instructing the bank to relieve anyone of their financial mortgage obligations if they would just simply ask. The banker continued, “Therefore, since you have asked for help your debit is canceled this very day. All we ask of you is that you maintain your home, and live in it responsibly. The bank will conduct a bi-yearly inspection to ensure you’re keeping the property up to code.”

Can you image the sense of relief and overwhelming gratitude you would feel in such a situation? Well, that is exactly what happened at the cross. Our Heavenly Father provided clemency for humanity through His only son, canceling our debt of sin if we only ask and continue in His Word. We see in Mark 1:1-11 that John the Baptist preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins followed by water baptism. He heralded and paved the way for the Messiah. When Jesus arrived on the scene he was baptized not to be forgiven of sins but to demonstrate and initiate his earthly ministry that was marked by the Power of the Spirit and the backing of His Heavenly Father. He was showing us that eventually we would receive a measure of the same Holy Spirit to do what He did and live like He did. Jesus himself preached exactly what John did concerning repentance and the forgiveness of sins, only now people would see the very One who would cancel their sin-debt once and for all at Calvary.

But there is a flip side to this. Imagine you’re the one whose mortgage had been canceled and someone owed you a large sum of money from your past and they suddenly appear at your house one day. A former co-worker you knew fifteen years before after she was laid off from work for being constantly late or absent altogether. However, she just got born again and filled with the Spirit and the Lord convicted her of the need to make restitution for certain things she needed to make right from her past. 

You barely recognize her because she looks aged and war torn since the last time you saw her. She explains what happened since then. She reminded you that she borrowed the money because her marriage failed and she needed the cash to start life over again. After her divorce from an unfaithful husband she continued to struggle financially and ended up selling her body for money. Her story gets worse. She entered the sex trafficking industry to help recruit others only so she could make more cash. By now she had two small children and was hooked on alcohol and cocaine. She lost the children to Child Protective Services. 

As you listen, you become disgusted and think how terrible of a person she is. Next she goes on to explain that in her broken state, someone witnessed to her about the love of Jesus and she repented of her sins. She entered a drug rehab program that was Christian based and the people there helped her get her life together and she was able to reenter the work force with her integrity restored. Next thing you know she goes on to explain that the Holy Spirit convicted her of repaying you the money and balled up in her tiny boney fist was a wad of $50 bills. She reached out her hand to yours and said, “Here is half of what I owe you and I promise to repay the rest.”

Your eyes light up because you can use that money to help yourself. However, instead of placing yourself in her situation you forget about your own mishaps and the debt cancelation you received through a generous benefactor. You take the money and tell her in a condescending tone, “I’m glad you saw the light and decided to pay me back. I’ll expect the rest as soon as you can.” She shamefully nods her head, gets up while thanking you and begins to leave the room. She turns back around and asks, “May I have another year to repay the rest?” You answer smugly, “Well, if it is going to take you that long, I will expect the balance with some interest of at least 3%!”

Pretty appalling example isn’t it? Let’s go on…Somehow the mortgage broker hears about this incident and calls you back to the bank. He reminds you of the debt forgiveness he showed you and was disappointed that you were not willing to forgive this ex-prostitute her debt. He goes on to tell you that she was the daughter of the benefactor of the bank and when he heard that you were not willing to forgive his daughter her debt to you he became angry and demanded that the bank reinstate the mortgage on your house with additional interest dating back to the payments you couldn’t make.

You see friends, this is exactly how the Father views our heart and life every time you or I refuse to forgive someone of their sins and injustice against us. Jesus said, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6: 14-15

In other words, even though you or I experienced great grace and forgiveness from the Father after repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus as our Savior, the Father reinstates our sin debt against us if we won’t forgive anyone who has wronged us not matter who it is or how many times they’ve done it. How foolish we would be not to forgive and by not doing so, take back upon ourselves the penalty of our canceled debt through an unforgiving heart.

Jesus gave us another somber truth about debt cancelation in a passage that is not really used within the context of unforgiveness. I believe the Lord gave me some insight into the following passage…“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7: 21-23

Before sharing the insight of this passage let’s revisit the Lord’s Prayer found in Luke 11 where Jesus taught us to pray in the same manner. The next thing Jesus said we must do after praying “Your Kingdom Come Your Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven,” was “AND forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” There is a direct correlation between forgiveness and doing the will of God. Forgiveness is what brings His Kingdom to the earth. That’s why the Father sent Jesus to the earth-to reconcile man back to the Father through His eternal sacrifice so that we may experience His forgiveness of our sins by grace through our faith in Him. It’s a free gift!

I believe what the Lord clearly showed me today in Matthew 7:21-23, is that the qualifications for entering into the Kingdom of Heaven has nothing to do with spiritual gifts and exercising our authority over demonic power. He welcomes us to His Kingdom by doing His will. Conversely, He sees those who refuse to forgive others their trespasses as “evil doers”. In the King James Version, verse 23 says, “I NEVER knew you. Depart from me you that work iniquity.” (Caps for emphasis)

Let’s break down each word in that verse to get a better understanding of its meaning and what Holy Spirit is drawing out of it. When Jesus said, “never” the word here is oudepote meaning ‘not at any time.’ What would cause Jesus to “turn” on his flock by separating them to His left declaring that He never knew them at any time? What about the word “knew”? It is the Greek word ginōskō which suggests complete physical intimacy between a husband and a wife. It speaks of oneness and Holy unity. And what about the words “you that work iniquity?” The word work is ergazomai where we derive the term ‘ergonomics’. It suggests to be engaged in or with: commit, do, labor for, minister about, trade by work. And lastly the word ‘iniquity’ is the Greek word anomia meaning illegality, that is, a violation of law or (generally) wickedness: iniquity, transgress (ion of) the law, unrighteousness.

I believe what Jesus means here is that when we transgress in the area of forgiveness we place back upon ourselves our original state of iniquity through our own fleshly work of disobedience. Therefore, when we stand before Him in a state of unforgiveness He has no remembrance of ever knowing us because all He can see is the iniquity we have put back upon ourselves through a self-righteous attitude and refusal to forgive someone their debt to us.  He no longer sees a canceled debt for our sins because it no longer exists.

Dear friends in Christ, we HAVE to ‘let go’ of past hurts and debts of anyone who has broken trust, abused or mistreated us and taken things again and again without ever repaying. It may seem way too hard but it is the only way the Father allows us entry into His Eternal Kingdom.  It’s not spiritual gifts He sees when we stand before Him; it’s spiritual fruit-the fruit of agape love and forgiveness. He never asks us to DO anything that He won’t empower us to do by His grace. If you are willing to take the step of forgiveness His grace enables you to do so, the same way Jesus released forgiveness to those mocking Him while He hung on their cruel cross. He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He is our supreme example. We MUST follow it if we want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus told Peter, not to forgive seven times, but forgive seventy times seven. Seven is the number of perfection but when multiplied by ten it represents completion. 

Until we are made complete: body, soul and spirit, either at our death or at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are commanded to forgive the same way we want the Father to forgive us every time we mess up. It’s a spiritual law He’s emplaced; if is broken there are consequences. It’s the same as deliberately breaking the law of physics by jumping off a bridge and expecting to fly. Gravity shows us differently! Let’s pray today to release our debtors the same way the Father releases us-even if we have to do it 70X7!