面對永無止境的帳單和分期付款,不禁令人疑惑:哪一樣會先耗盡──帳單還是我們的帳戶?若有一天,我們告知所有的債務「全部付清」,那真可好好慶祝一番了!
全部付清不止意味著付款人有足夠的資本償還債務,它也是一項保證:受款人終於滿意了,今後他不能再多做索求,因為他已得了該償的價款。
幾個世紀前,人們用「成了」表示「全部付清」的意思。官吏會在稅單收據上寫「成了」,表示債主已完全履行義務。
大約兩千年前,也有一個人用這句話宣示一項事關重大的債務已被清償了。「耶穌說:『成了』,便低下頭,將靈魂交付上帝了。」(約翰福音19-30)
「成了。」──耶穌也在羅馬人的十字架上結束了背負世界罪債──你的罪和我的罪──的痛苦。「祂(耶穌)被掛在木頭上,親身擔當了我們的罪。」(彼得前書2:24)我們欠上帝的債太多,以至於自己根本無法償付。「誰能說:我潔淨了我的心,我脫淨了我的罪?」
(箴言20:9)因此,「上帝使那無罪的(耶穌)替我們成為罪,好叫我們在祂�堶惘足陘W帝的義。」(哥林多後書5:21)
耶穌基督付清了我們欠上帝的債,上帝也悅納了此舉。現在上帝唯一要求的是你承認所欠的債,並接受耶穌的代贖。這就是聖經所說的:信耶穌得救。
對所有這樣相信的人,上帝應許要宣佈他們的債務已「全部付清」,並要在他們的帳戶�埵s入耶穌基督的公義,及賜給他們永生!「信耶穌的人有永生,不信耶穌的人得不著永生,上帝的震怒常在他身上。」(約翰福音3:36)
你已付清了嗎?上帝非常愛你,甚至差祂的獨生子耶穌為你而死。也因著愛,上帝懇請你接受祂兒子的犧牲。你願意接受嗎?你可以得著寶貴的確據;你和上帝之間的債務已「全部付清」。
Paid In Full! In the never-ending procession of bills and installments, we often wonder which will be depleted first--the payment or our checking account. Those words--”Paid In Full”--declare that this time we’ve come out on top!
Paid In Full. Not only does it indicate that the payer had enough to cover the debt, it also assures us that the payee is finally satisfied. He can’t demand more later. He received exactly what was due.
Centuries ago “Paid In Full” was expressed as “It Is Finished.” Officials wrote that phrase across tax receipts to declare that the debtor had completely fulfilled his obligation.
And someone uttered those same words almost two thousand years ago to proclaim that a debt payment of infinite significance had been transacted. “Jesus said, ‘It is finished!’ With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30).
With “It is finished,” Jesus Christ ended the agony of bearing the punishment for the debt of the world─your sins and mine─on a Roman execution cross. “[Jesus Christ] bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Our debt to God was so great that we could never pay it off. “Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin’?” (Proverbs 20:9).
So, “God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
God is satisfied that Christ’s payment covered the debt you have with Him. Now all He asks is that you acknowledge the debt and accept the payment. The Bible calls that “believing in Christ” for salvation (Acts 16:30-31)
God’s promise for all who believe is that He will declare their debt PAID IN FULL, and He will also credit their account with Christ’s sinless righteousness and give them eternal life! “Whoever believes in the Son [Jesus Christ] has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36).
Is it finished…for you? God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you. And because of His love He pleads for you to accept His Son’s sacrifice. Will you, right now? You can have the wonderful assurance that, between you and God, your debt is PAID IN FULL.