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There’s an old, popular saying about what we give God in light of what he gave us. I’m sure it has many forms, but I often heard it go something like this, “Jesus has given his life for you, now you give your life for him.” The idea is that if Jesus was so devoted to us, we ought to be so devoted to him. 

I may have made this up by way of my own misinterpretation of what Christian leaders said to me over the years. But, I grew into this understanding nonetheless.

After receiving a Bible degree, well over a decade of hands-on, full-time ministry, and many studies, conversations, and meditation, I have yet to find this idea in the Scriptures. 

MOCKING GOD’S GIFT

Here’s the sticking point for me.

This line of thinking or interpretation ends up falling flat because of the necessary conclusions and consequences.

You, just like me and everyone else, end up living your days inside the tension of believing you owe God instead of trusting him. No matter how you dress it up, making the Gospel, the church, or belief about our devotion to Jesus is to mock him. 

You, just like me and everyone else, end up living your days inside the tension of believing you owe God instead of trusting him.

While the whole world judges one another based on our devotion to people and causes, Jesus judges us based on his devotion to us. While the world divides over who and what we’re devoted to, Jesus is delighted in his devotion to us.

We may have innocently concluded that we ought to love Jesus because of how he loved us, but we would do well to press further in. 

A life lived and motivated by “shoulds” and “oughts” is no life of freedom. Exactly how is believing that you owe your life to God since he gave Jesus anything other than a rejection of the perfect gift he’s given you?

In my understanding, a debt that has been paid is no longer due. A true gift is not presented with the expectation of reciprocation. The gift is free, or it is no gift.

…a debt that has been paid is no longer due.

THE FALSE GOSPEL OF PAYING GOD BACK

The idea that we owe God anything is one of the false gospels shrouding the true Gospel. And it is deep within the blood and bones of every person. It’s what led Adam and Eve to eat of the tree God said they didn’t need or want.

Death comes from distrusting God and taking things into your own hands. And it’s a living death. They didn’t fall over dead when they stopped trusting God, but their life became a difficult journey of death.

But I’m telling you to resist and forget all of it.

Nothing about the freedom God gave us through Jesus is dependent upon you. The only way to be left out of the promise of heaven is to believe the lie that God is expecting you to make amends. Disbelieving the Gospel is persisting in the belief that he doesn’t have you covered.

The only way to be left out of the promise of heaven is to believe the lie that God is expecting you to make amends.

When you take Jesus at his word, you begin to see the folly in your attempts to justify yourself, your faith, and your salvation through works, worship, and obedience. You slowly start to see clearly again as the illusion of a demanding God melts away. You gradually learn to trade the mythological god and his religion of doing good for the reality of a love that will never let you go in the face of Jesus Christ. 

You trade your toil for trust. You accept your acceptance and doubt your doubts.

YOU ARE NOT IN DEBT TO GOD

The crux of the issue is whether you believe that life is a never-ending conquest of sin, or if it is the radical freedom of living as an heir with Christ. Do you accept or reject the vision of God that requires you to meet conditions to gain or maintain your good standing in Christ?

The crux of the issue is whether you believe that life is a never-ending conquest of sin, or if it is the radical freedom of living as an heir with Christ.

Will you forever balk at the absurdity of a Gospel that is not only offered to every person everywhere but is also already enacted and verified on their behalf? Or will you persist in the insanity of trying to hide from God and others?

Will you always insist that God needs you to do something so he can keep loving and accepting you? Give up. Stop.

You don’t owe God, and you don’t owe your life to Jesus Christ or to the world he already reconciled. Even if you did, you could never hope to be any more effective than Adam and Eve were, or Israel after them, or the New Testament Church.

All of these wrestled with insufferable trust issues. Every attempt at getting it together failed miserably, and the call has always been to trust and rest in the mystery of God’s provision instead.

You don’t owe God, and you don’t owe your life to Jesus Christ or to the world he already reconciled.

THE FREE GIFT OF GOD 

Either you (and everyone you’ll ever meet) are already included in the unbelievable truth of the Gospel, or we’re all finished. Insofar as it depends on us, we’re left out.

But, the testimony of Jesus is that God is delighted to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32) and to save, not judge, the world (John 3:17).

…the testimony of Jesus is that God is delighted to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32) and to save, not judge, the world (John 3:17).

“Would you say, then, that he who so lavishly sends the Spirit to you, and causes the miracles among you, is doing this through your practice of the Law or because you believed the message you heard?” (Galatians 3:5, NJB).

Because you believed the message Jesus declared, of course. In light of what is needed and the quality of our performance, any other conclusion is silly. 

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