Debt on SermonAudio

The sermon emphasizes that salvation through faith in Jesus Christ creates an unpayable debt that is best honored by a consistent, visible testimony of life. It argues that while words are important, the daily conduct of a believer speaks louder and serves as the primary witness to the world, laying up eternal treasures rather than temporary earthly gains. The message encourages believers to remain steadfast in their faith, relying on the unchanging nature of God's Word and the power of prayer to overcome spiritual battles and reach others. Through personal anecdotes of divine intervention and the enduring impact of a faithful life, the speaker urges the audience to prioritize obedience and devotion, ensuring they are prepared to stand before God with a life that reflects His glory.

This sermon explores Colossians 2:11-15 to explain how God has accomplished the believer's separation from the power of the sin nature. The message argues that this spiritual circumcision is not a physical act but a judicial reality achieved through identification with Christ's death and resurrection. It addresses the human tendency to rely on personal effort, often termed the 'Jesus-plus' mentality, by emphasizing that the Christian life is lived by faith in what Jesus has already done. The text highlights that Christ's work on the cross canceled the debt of sin and disarmed spiritual authorities, thereby freeing believers from the dominion of darkness. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a posture of trust, asserting that believers are to depend on Christ's finished work rather than their own ability to produce righteousness.

The sermon centers on the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18, emphasizing that the debt of sin is unpayable by human effort and is only resolved through the immense sacrifice of Christ. The speaker argues that since God forgave an infinite debt at the cost of His life, believers are obligated to extend that same grace to others, regardless of the magnitude of their own offenses. This message challenges the doctrine of eternal security by asserting that a refusal to forgive from the heart can separate a believer from God's love. The tone is pastoral and convicting, urging listeners to overcome pride and actively seek reconciliation with those they have wronged, while also praying for the salvation of lost loved ones.

Salvation has always been a gift of God. It cannot be earned. No man is capable of meeting God's righteous demands on his own. Abraham chose to believe God and God rewarded him with His righteousness.

Wednesday Evening October 7, 2026

Our third message in this series about salvation is going to deal with redemption. Redemption has the idea of procurement by payment of ransom. The world is a slave, a slave to sin, we are all born in the bondage of sin. In essence we are born dead. Without hope, and without the ability to change our own destiny. In our lost condition we are in bondage to our master, that master is sin. The devil holds us in bondage and moves us and makes us into what he wants before salvation. There is a great debt that is owed on your account and my account. A debt that cannot be paid by us. Jesus in His love stepped up to the auction block and has redeemed us, He has paid, in full, the debt I owed. And has purchased my salvation and made it fully available to me.

Jonah 3:5–10 shows a city that believed a bare word of overthrow, stopped its violence, and was spared. The sermon presses the difference between cheap repentance, true (imperfect) repentance, and the false demand for perfect repentance, and why greater light after Christ makes refusal heavier than Nineveh's or Sodom's. Nineveh heard five Hebrew words of coming ruin and no promise of pardon. From the greatest to the least they fasted, put on sackcloth, and, by the king's decree, called on God earnestly (with force) that each might turn from his wicked way and the violence in his hands. Even the beasts were covered and denied food and water. They did not wait for a softer message or a fuller creed. They credited the God who had spoken, hoped that the One who warns before he strikes might still relent, and actually ceased the evil. God saw their deeds—that they turned—and did not bring the calamity he had declared. That turn did not purchase mercy. A city of blood does not put God in its debt by fasting. "Who knows?" is the speech of men with no claim. God does not change, lie, or learn something new; the relation of the sinner to his settled word changes. To the impenitent the true word is overthrow; to those who believe him and drop the violence, the true word is spare. He appointed both the warning and the mercy that meets repentance. Faith and the turn are his gift through the word, not a wage that moves an undecided God. Cheap repentance keeps the sin and offers only "I'm sorry." True repentance is still spotted—it can still say "who knows" until the gospel teaches it to say "I know"—but it is actual: the hand releases what it held.