The Debtor’s Trap

What is your instinct when someone does something nice for you? Most of us instinctively think we need to do something to pay them back: we receive a gift – we need to reciprocate a gift, we’re invited to dinner and had it paid for – we need to return the invite and generosity … and the bigger the gift the bigger the feeling of indebtedness to the generous giver. This is because our hearts are hard-wired towards “works”, and the concept of grace is an unnatural heart response. 

So, what’s the big deal you ask? John Piper says it best, “The only debt that grace creates is the ‘debt’ of relying on more grace for all that God calls us to be and do.” When we take the grace poured out to us through Jesus Christ and think we must do something in response, we have turned grace into a business transaction. Ok, so we say thank you Lord and then act obediently? Well, hold on a minute. While gratitude is at the heart of worship, Piper again warns, “Gratitude is never set forth in the Bible as a primary motive for Christian living.” And while obedience flows from a heart of love for our Lord, again hear Piper’s warning – “If we see acts of obedience as installment payments, we make grace into a mortgage.” If the grace of the Father poured out through the sacrifice of the Son is indeed FREE (which is the very meaning of grace), then we must never view it as something to be repaid. Don’t fall into the debtor’s trap! 

 What motivates Christian living then? What should fill my heart and drive my doing? The simple answer – Faith. We believe that moment by moment Jesus is enough, Jesus satisfies, Jesus loves me, and all other things are anti-gods vying for my heart affections that must be resisted or put in their proper place. “When the Bible focuses on our being in debt to God it has reference to our sin that needs to be forgiven, not our obedience that needs to be paid.” (John Piper – Future Grace)