Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Debt, Enmity and Crime (Romans 5:6-11)

"For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom. 5:10).

To realize our need for the atoning work of Jesus Christ, we need to understand sin and its various dimensions, namely, that sin is a debt, that it is enmity against God, and that it is a crime.

God, as our Creator, has the right and authority to impose obligations on His creation, and this is just what He did to Adam and Eve. He issued a command that they were obligated to obey. They did not have the freedom to ignore this command, but they were, by the sheer fact that they were creatures made by God’s hand, obligated to obey that command. When they failed to keep that obligation, they incurred a debt, just as when we fail to keep an obligation, be it financial or otherwise, we incur debt. Adam and Eve, and with them the entire human race, became indebted to God. But, because we are now sinners and unable to keep the law of God, we are unable to pay back the debt. That is why we need Christ. He is our surety, the one who pays our debts in our place.

Not only is sin a debt, but it is enmity against God. We are by nature—by our sinful nature, that is—enemies of God. By transgressing His law, we have violated God, offending Him. Therefore, the necessary role that Christ plays in our redemption is one of mediator, reconciling man to God, healing the broken relationship created by sin. This is a point many in the church fail to realize, especially when they do evangelism. They tell unbelievers that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life, when in fact God hates workers of iniquity, is angry at sin, and is estranged from man because of sin. What is needed is reconciliation, and that can only be achieved through the Mediator Jesus Christ.

Sin is also a crime. It is more than a state of being; it is a legal matter, a transgression of the law of God. God is our governor or judge, and we have broken His law; we have committed a crime. A penalty must be paid for justice to be maintained. In redemption, that penalty is paid by Jesus Christ. He laid down His life as a substitute payment to God on man’s behalf. As we learned yesterday in our study of the vicarious atonement, the penalty for sin is death. Instead of man suffering the penalty for his crime, Jesus took his place and died on the cross in order to satisfy divine justice.

Why is the atonement necessary? Why do you fail to grasp the seriousness of your sin? Admit today that you are a wicked sinner in need of God’s grace. Thank Him for salvation in Christ and His atoning work on the cross.