“We tend to focus on the penalty being paid, which is wonderful beyond words.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Location 498). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Now that is an awesome thing.  The Bible says that the soul that sins must die. That is the penalty.  But then it also says, that God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whosoever believes on him will not perish but have eternal life.  And that is great news because we all have sinned so we all deserve death but that is not the whole story.

Mark says, “At Calvary’s cross, Jesus broke the chains, broke the curse, and broke the code. It’s history’s greatest accomplishment, but sometimes we shortchange it. My sin debt is paid in full, and I’m fully forgiven. But that’s only half the gospel— the glass-half-empty gospel. We tend to focus on the penalty being paid, which is wonderful beyond words. But the righteousness of Christ has been credited to your account. So the glass isn’t half empty; it’s full of the righteousness of Christ.”

He goes on, “This half-empty mindset causes us to focus on forgiveness, but Jesus didn’t die on the cross just to forgive you. His aim is much higher than that. He died to change you. And He didn’t die on the cross just to keep you safe. He died to make you dangerous— a threat to the enemy. He died so that you could make a difference for all eternity.”

Now to me that is also great news.  “He died so that you could make a difference for all eternity.” 

He concludes this chapter by saying, “When you’re confessing, God is editing. And it’s not just our sin that is edited out. It’s His righteousness that is edited in. What’s left is a human highlight reel that would make SportsCenter proud.”

So why not start confessing so he can begin editing?