A debt-free life. We all know the crushing, suffocating weight of debt. When you owe someone something you cannot pay, it dictates how you live, how you sleep, and how you see your future. If you owe money to someone, their presence is uncomfortable. If you come across an opportunity to travel or enjoy a restaurant meal and, by chance, you meet that person, shame will control you. Debt is directly related to shame. God desires to remove all spiritual shame from the believer and replace it with “double honor.” Isaiah 61:7 7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. The root of shame goes back to the Garden of Eden. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (which represents living under the Law) opened humanity's eyes to their nakedness, producing shame. Shame produces feelings of inferiority, guilt, and ultimately, fear. Shame prevents people from approaching God with boldness, stepping into leadership, or exercising faith to receive God's blessings. This shame immediately leads to fear and fear to shame. I was talking to my niece Nataly, who is a sweet little girl, and she is afraid of dogs. We noticed that because yesterday we had my cousin’s dog around us for a family celebration. As people were trying to convince her that she did not need to be afraid of the dog, I noticed not only fear but also shame about that fear. It is a vicious cycle that pulls us down. But the ultimate fear and shame is the fear of facing God, which is expressed by the fear of death. The Bible teaches of the ultimate debt, the ultimate payment, and the absolute freedom that belongs to the born-again believer. The Problem of sin For centuries, humanity lived under a shadow of a debt it could not pay. We see the origin of this problem in Genesis 3. When Adam sinned, a fundamental fracture occurred in the human spirit. Genesis 3:8-10 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Mankind was plunged into spiritual death. From that moment forward, iniquity—a bent toward self and away from God—began to grow like a terrible weed, wrapping itself around the human heart. From sin to iniquity. The spiritual degradation from a single, isolated act of missing the mark (sin) to a deeply ingrained, habitual pattern of inner corruption and willful rebellion (iniquity). Imagine a car hitting a pothole. The tires stay functional, but the wheels suffer permanent damage. This impacts the suspension and handling, making the car bent and misaligned. The driver can still operate the vehicle but must remain alert to its tendency to drift sideways and veer outside the lanes. Constant vigilance is necessary because the car's usual straight path is compromised. Iniquity is essentially the tragic downward shift from committing a bad action to developing a twisted, hardened character. From the fall in Genesis 3 to the problem of wickedness in Genesis 6. Genesis 6:5 5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The problem of evil grew so dark that it created blindness to our own condition. The human heart became so saturated with darkness that, without divine intervention, humanity was completely blind to its own depravity and utterly incapable of fixing it. Jeremiah 17:9 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?’ The unregenerate human heart is not just broken; it is an active deceiver. It lies to us. It tells us we are good enough, strong enough, and righteous enough on our own. It masks our spiritual sickness with pride. (Mark 2:17) 'And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”’ I am reminded of a story about a grandmother who absolutely refused to go to the doctor. She used to say that every time she went to the clinic, she would come back with a new disease. In her mind, the problem was not her aging, decaying body; the problem was the doctor and those pesky lab results. If she just avoided the doctor, she could pretend she was perfectly healthy. Isn't that the exact problem with the human heart? We run from the truth because we are terrified of the diagnosis. Many people refuse to allow the light of the Gospel to touch their lives because they know, deep down, it will reveal their true spiritual condition. John 3:19-20 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. We are examining the issue of sin, which in theology is known as Hamartiology. This branch studies the doctrine of sin, derived from the Greek word hamartia, meaning "to miss the mark." It explores the origin, nature, extent, and consequences of sin. The Light is no longer a threat; it is a deliverance, it will bring relief. That is when sanctification starts. It is simply the Holy Spirit continually shining the Light of Christ into our daily lives, not to condemn us, but to apply the healing power of His finished work to our minds and actions. Everything that has light grows and flourishes. I talked to the pool maintenance manager this week. I asked how I could get rid of the persistent algae growth in my pool. He said, until Florida continues to be the Sunshine State, you can’t get away from growing algae. Because the light brings life, not death. The Mirror: Law For a long time, there was no written law. Sin was a deadly disease, but it had not yet been codified into a legal framework. Then, God gave the Law to Moses. Why? God gave the Law to reveal our desperate condition. Think of an MRI machine at a hospital. If you are sick, an MRI is incredibly useful because it provides a clear picture of the tumor. It reveals the exact nature of the problem. But an MRI machine has absolutely no power to cut the tumor out. It can only show you that you are dying. (Romans 5:20) 'Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,' The Law was never given to cure the disease of sin; it was given to diagnose it. We all went from being simply infected with sin to being active, willful lawbreakers. Yet, in His infinite mercy, God ensured that wherever sin was exposed, His grace would flood. (Romans 3:20) 'For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.’ We see this when the rich young ruler came to Jesus. Jesus was using the law properly. Matthew 19:16-22 16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The blindness was so great that, as it is still among the religious circles nowadays, the young man thought he was righteous because of his outward behavior. I believe age is also a factor. Remember, the first to leave the challenge to cast the first stone at the adulterous woman if they were without sin was an elderly man. John 8:7-9 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus applied the true, heavy standard of the Law to the young man, revealing his absolute spiritual bankruptcy. 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. The Law was not given to bring righteousness; it was given to destroy our self-righteousness so we would look for a Savior. (Romans 7:10) 'The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.' The Law was holy, righteous, and good, revealing God's perfect standard. However, because of the indwelling disease of iniquity, mankind was completely unable to keep it. Instead of bringing the Law diagnosed our fatal spiritual condition, provoked our sin into active transgression, and brought the legal penalty of death if used wrongly, it can be deadly. The law was meant to completely destroy any reliance on self-righteousness, pointing out that life can only be found in God's grace and the finished work of Jesus Christ. Until Christ (Galatians 3:24) 'So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.' The Law turned our sin into literal transgressions; it gave the enemy a legal demand over humanity. Pastor John Warton wrote in his book about Job. Satan impugns the character of both Job and God by his accusation that Job only reveres God for the benefits he
