Jesus Christ is our Savior. He paid for our sins by dying on the cross for all of us. By doing so, He paid our debt for sin so to speak. None of us can enter heaven with our sins, and Jesus made it possible for us to leave them behind.
Jesus described this relationship in a parable to the Apostle Peter. He said:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who had loaned his servants money. He looked at his records to see what they owed. One of his servants owed 10,000 talents, a sum so large that there was no hope that the servant would ever be able to repay the king in a lifetime.
According to the justice of the law, the king ordered the man, his wife, his children, and everything he owned to be sold. This money would go towards his debt.
The servant was filled with grief at his fate, and begged the king for mercy.
The king was filled with compassion at the pitiful servant. He forgave the entire debt and showed mercy to the servant.
The servant went home. On his way he met another servant who owed him 100 pence, about 100 days’ pay. The first servant was angry and treated the second servant roughly while demanding repayment.
The second servant pleaded, ‘Please, give me time and I will pay you everything back!’
But the first servant wouldn’t listen and threw the second servant in prison until he could repay the debt. The news of the first servant’s actions traveled to the king. The king had the first servant brought back.
‘I forgave you your debt when you asked,’ said the king. ‘Why didn’t you have compassion on your equal?’
The king then gave the servant to be imprisoned until he repaid the impossible debt.”
We are all in the shoes of the first servant. Each of us has sinned. We need the grace of God to be forgiven. None of us can repay God for the mercy of His grace, and so we are indebted to Him. Although we cannot repay Him, He asks us that we love our neighbors and keep His commandments. This certainly does not repay the debt of Jesus’ life given for our sakes, but it does show our gratitude for that precious gift and our commitment to God.