What difference does it make?

What difference does it make? This is a question that someone has asked me on more than one occasion. Often it is in regards to my Christian faith. Think of all that Paul has said in the first 11 verses of Romans 8. He has told us that, if we are in Christ, we are not condemned before God. He has made a distinction between those who walk according to the flesh and those who walk according to the Spirit of God. All of this has been instructive for us as we’ve considered who we are as believers in Christ.

But what difference does it make? Do we simply take this knowledge, tuck it away, and go about our lives? I don’t think that we can or should just tuck it away. This kind of knowledge is supposed to have an impact on how we live.

We have to get the order straight though. Martin Luther wrote, “Our good works do not generate righteousness, rather our righteousness in Christ generates good works.” In understanding this order, though, we recognize that professing faith in Jesus Christ calls us to live a certain way.

This is exactly what Paul goes on to explain to us in Romans 8:12, “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.”

But why this language of debt? I don’t know about you but I don’t like being in debt. When I was younger, I often found myself in the situation of spending more money than I had at the time. Whether it was a nice dinner out, a trip with my new wife, or something we wanted for our apartment, there was always some reason to justify spending the money. The feeling it left, though, was not good. As they say, “the payment goes on after the thrill is gone.” The debt that is owed must be paid.

Paul is saying something very profound. You see, because of our break with sin – we are not obligated to the flesh. Sin, you see, is no longer our master. Paul roots this in Christ’s death and resurrection in Romans 6:10-13. Because Christ has died – and we have died with him – we are no longer enslaved to sin and death.

Will we still sin? You bet we will! Will we die? If Christ doesn’t return, then yes we will. But are we enslaved to sin and death as though they are our master and have the final say in our lives? Absolutely not! When we are lowered into the grave, it is in hope of the resurrection. When we wrestle with temptation and sin – and repent – it is a reminder that we are redeemed and that we belong to a different master.

You might be inclined to think, because we have a different master, that we’ve just exchanged one set of debts for another. In other words, you might think that Paul’s sentence is incomplete. Paul meant to go on and say that we are debtors to the Spirit now that we are no longer debtors to the flesh.

While it is true that we serve God, I don’t believe we do so out of a debt that we owe him. First, I don’t believe this is the case because we are children of God. There is no language of our owing God anything. In fact, just the opposite is true. Paul will go on to say that we are heirs (Romans 9:17). How can we owe anything? We have everything in Christ.

The second reason I think that seeing ourselves as debtors to God is wrong is due to what it would mean. When you are in debt, you are not free. When you are in debt, you are trying to buy your way out. Neither of these pictures is appropriate when we think of our relationship with God, who has given us everything. We are set free for freedom.

Moreover, how could we ever repay God for our salvation? The infinite, eternal, and almighty creator of all things sent his Son to die the death of a sinner so that sinners could forever live in his presence. There is no payback for that. There is not some accountant in heaven who is crunching numbers, comparing our sins to our good works. And praise God that there isn’t! Not only is our salvation by grace alone but our walking with God is also by grace alone. We have no other hope.

Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.