“LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear” (Psalm 10:17). “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:3-5).

Jesus, the LORD God, came to the world, being born of the Holy Spirit and women, to set us free by paying the price for our slavery to sin. Jesus came to buy back our freedom and return us to our rightful state. Our part is to believe and to love. “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23). God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price, to die, for out sin. The price for our sin is death and Jesus dies to cover the cost. That is the simple gospel truth.

We no longer sacrifice animals as a sin offering,”by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22). The same Jesus that quoted Hosea, “if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7), died to show us mercy. Hosea wrote, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). Someone once said that mercy is not getting what you earned for yourself and grace is getting what someone else earned. In Jesus we have God’s mercy and grace. Jesus took what we deserved (what we earned) and God gave us what Jesus earned and what Jesus had before He came to earth, eternal life with God; reunited with God as a Child of God. Jesus is/was our sacrifice for all sin forever. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets.

What do we owe in return for God’s mercy and grace. Nothing! When a debt is paid in full, there is nothing more owed. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23). So why are we told to pay a price. The price is really no price at all, but to turn away from the sins of the flesh; we might consider not sinning as suffering and paying a price – it is no price at all, but true freedom. Jesus bought us back from sin and from the master of sin; if we give in to our flesh and sin we give ourself back to the master of sin and are no longer free. Also, if we attempt to break free separated from Jesus by keeping laws and traditions, we never can pay the price. When we accept Jesus, the price is paid, and once the price has been paid there is never a need to pay it again.

Our part is to believe and to love one another. Believe that Jesus is God’s Son “and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2). When you walk in love you, “glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). Your body and your spirit is God’s, we are only stewards of our own body and spirit. “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). “And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’” (Matthew 22:20-21). Your body and your spirit are God’s; render therefore to to God the things that are God’s. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’ (Genesis 1:26).

Let no man or women tell you that you owe them a price for the love of God, that came in the form of Jesus Christ. Let no man or women tell you that you owe them what is God’s. Let no man or women tell you that you must pay them anything for salvation. “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Give to God what is God’s already, your body and your spirit. Let no one say to you that giving does not start until you have given out of a commandment. “I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:7-9). Give then out of the purposes in your heart. Delight in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Plant a seed of love and love will grow; plant a seed of law and law will increase and no man will be saved by law. Jesus, the LORD God, came to the world, being born of the Holy Spirit and women, to set us free.

© 2005, Tim D. Coulter Sr.