We often hear priests say, “Jesus paid for our sins.” Trusting that Jesus paid it all is at the foundation of our beliefs in life. It is based on the faith that God the Father sent Jesus Christ, His Son, to earth, was crucified and rose to life again to pay the debt for sin. This was His purpose. We have all sinned against God. Jesus was sent as our Redeemer. God proposes this gift for each of us and all we must do is take His grace and forgiveness. In doing this, we recognize that Jesus has taken on our debt and paid it all for us. This realization inspired one of the longest-standing hymns of all time – “Jesus Paid It All”.
Excerpts from the Song
“That Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.”
The lines tell us that we were bought with a price – Christ’s life. We were born out of his blood and suffering. He gave up His life for us. He faced death to give us life. In totality, our sins had to be paid for and He paid the price. As we live in freedom today after all that he paid only means our life is His. Are we required to pay the price for our life, too? Do we need to die and be crucified, too? Should we do the exact thing He has done for us to return the favor? Is it a favor? No. So, how do we go about living from there?
Reflection
Today, let us vow to live our lives glorifying God in whatever we do. Gratitude can be a helpful motivation when regarded rightly. Moreover, taking, for example, the story of the forgiven woman in Luke 7:36-50. It just means that our lives are not framed in a way that we need to pay back something of what we owe. Grace is grace because it is free, unearned, and abundant. Jesus had given us grace when He took the cross for our sins. We could never even begin to pay Him by dying on the cross, too. Herein lies Jesus’ beauty: He does not ask us to. Instead, He asks us to receive it as a free gift, like a child. For God, is a generous God.
Let us live for God now. We are not on our own. But, let us not think of repaying Him. More, let us think of it as the praise and worship of our lives.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:16-17
Below is a Joey+Rory rendition of “Jesus Paid It All” as your worship song to start the Lenten Season.
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