Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 3:10,23
The soul that sinneth, it shall die.
As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one…for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): The debt of sin is a very great debt; and some are more in debt, by reason of sin than others [but] we are all debtors; we owe satisfaction, and are liable to the process of the law.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Every sinner is insolvent―and is become a bankrupt, and has nothing to offer by way of compensation; nor has he any righteousness to answer for him, nor any works of righteousness which deserve that name: and if he had, these are nothing in point of payment: for a debt of sin cannot be discharged by a debt of obedience; since God has a prior right to the latter; and in paying it, a man does but what is his duty. Sin being committed against an infinite God, contracts the nature of an infinite debt, which cannot be paid off by a finite creature. Christ only was able to pay this debt, and He has done it for His people; and without an interest in His blood, righteousness, and satisfaction, every debtor is liable to be cast, and will be cast, into the prison of hell, there to lie till the uttermost farthing is paid, which will be to all eternity.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Even eternal torments can never satisfy eternal justice, or cancel the infinite debt of sin.
JOHN GILL: We see what a sad condition sin has brought men into―it has reduced them to want and beggary; it exposes them to a prison; to the just resentments of their creditor; to the wrath of God, and the curses of the law; and what little reason there is to think, yea, how impossible it is, that a man should be able to merit anything at the hands of God, to whom he is so greatly indebted: he must first pay his debts, which is a thing impracticable, before he can pretend to do anything deserving the notice of God.
WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): Consider the manner how the debt is paid. When the sinner is damned, it is in a poor beggarly way by retail; now a few pence, and then a few more. He is ever paying, but never comes to the last farthing, and therefore must forever lie in prison for non-payment. But, at Christ’s hands, God receives all the whole debt in one lump, so that Christ could truly say, “It is finished,” John 19:30.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): The death of Christ was the payment of my awful debt—if I am in debt and unable to discharge it and another comes forward and pays my creditor in full, and receives a receipt in acknowledgment, then in the sight of the law, my creditor no longer has any claim upon me.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): If the debt was paid, then surely a full receipt was given!
A. W. PINK: His resurrection was God’s receipt for the same; it was the public acknowledgement that the debt had been cancelled.
C. H. SPURGEON: Jesus has paid our debts and, therefore, we are out of debt! He has taken “the handwriting of ordinances which were against us and nailed it to His cross,” Colossians 2:14—there is the receipt for all our debts, fastened up before Heaven and Hell upon the cross of Christ! “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again,” Romans 8:33,34. Is not that answer enough for all the charges of Hell? Let us put together two or three texts and drink in their sweetness. “Once in the end of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,” Hebrews 9:26. Get hold of that. Sin is put away forever—think how David puts it: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us,” Psalm 103:12.
WILLIAM GURNALL: We see also from hence, how much the saints are obliged to Christ Jesus, and how thankful they should be to Him.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Whatever debt of sin any man may owe, it shall be forgiven him.
C. H. SPURGEON: When God forgives, He means it, and the offense is gone forever! He cleans off the record. It is all gone, every trace of it. Do you remember the story of Martin Luther when Satan came to him, as he thought, with a long black roll of his sins? To the archenemy Luther said, “Yes, I must admit to them all. Have you any more?” So the foul fiend went his way and brought another longer roll, and Luther said “Yes, yes, I must admit to them all. Have you any more?” Being expert at the business, Satan soon supplied him with a further length of charges till there seemed to be no end to it. Martin waited till no more were forthcoming and then he cried, “Have you any more?” “Were not these enough?” said Satan. “Yes, that they are,” said Luther, “But write at the bottom of the whole account, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin!’” Brothers and Sisters, this was a receipt in full, stamped in such a manner that even Satan could not question the correctness of it!
WILLIAM GURNALL: Yea, still more: Christ hath not only discharged the old debt, but by the same blood hath made a new purchase of God for His saints―and that for no less than eternal life, which Christ hath paid for, and given every believer authority, humbly to claim of God in His name. See both in one place: “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified,” Hebrews 10:12-14. He not only crossed the debt-book for believers, but perfected them for ever; that is, made as certain provision for their perfection in glory, as for their salvation from hell’s punishment. From which He exhorts them to “draw near in full assurance of faith.”
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): All that believe in Christ with the heart, by His merit and mediation shall be absolved, and shall not come into condemnation. “By Him all that believe are justified from all things,” Acts 13:39.
MATTHEW HENRY: Every sin we commit is a debt to God…There is an account kept of these debts, and we must shortly be reckoned with for them―these accounts will be called over, and either passed or disallowed, and nothing but the blood of Christ will balance the account.
WILLIAM GURNALL: But think, O sinner, what thou wilt be able to say and do, when God comes to reckon with thee, and thou hast nothing to pay, nor any to pay for thee, or be thy surety.
R. BEACON (Circa 1857): Death is the debt of sin.
RALPH ERSKINE (1685-1752): Everlasting death, and damnation.
D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): A debt you cannot pay.
CHARLES SIMEON: And this debt―must be paid.
