Spiritual Finance 101

Most of us are familiar with the terms ‘in the red’ and ‘in the black’ as they are used in finance. To be ‘in the red’ is to be running a deficit – to be spending more money than one is taking in. The United States government is currently ‘in the red’ by trillions of dollars. To be ‘in the black’ is to be without deficit. It means we are making a profit – bringing in more than we are spending.

All people start out spiritually ‘in the red’ with God. We all rack up a debt of sin that we cannot repay, and whether we recognize it or not we all spend a good part of our lives working like dogs in the attempt to repay that debt. We make a ledger of good and bad and try to keep the good out-weighing the bad. But however long the good column becomes, the Law of God will continually point out our failings and add more to the bad column. Paul’s description: “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.” (Galatians 3:23 ESV)

For some of us, the day comes when we realize that we will never get ‘in the black’ on our own. Someone presents the gospel to us and we realize that the only way to be ‘in the black’ with God is through Jesus Christ. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14 ESV) We accept that he has paid our debt, cancelled our deficit and given us a zero balance in the ledger. The grass seems a little greener and the sky a little bluer for a while as we begin to actually operate our lives to profit God. Then the first bill comes due and payable as our sin returns with a vengeance.

When this happens, many of us as Christians perceive that we are once again spiritually ‘in the red’. We feel that we are again underperforming and running a deficit with God. We do not live up to His standards and begin expending almost all of our energy trying to bring our faith back ‘into the black’. This has got to be one of the enemy’s greatest traps because there is no way we can move forward and create Kingdom growth so long as we are consumed with fighting this perceived deficit. This is exactly the reason he constantly accuses us of our wrongdoing – so that he can eat up vast amounts of time and energy by convincing us that we must work to be ‘in the black’.

Once we place faith in Christ, the scripture tells us that God sets our account ‘in the black’ to stay. Even if we go on a spending binge (with sin as the capitol) we run no deficit. Common sense will tell us that this is ridiculous – that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Our pride bridles against such a hand-out and wants to force us to enter everything in the deficit column of our ledger. But the more we enter in the loss column, the more God places in the profit column to balance the account again. “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21 ESV)

Why?

You see, God has called us for a purpose, and that purpose is to advance His Kingdom. He knows that we cannot and will not advance His interests as long as we are expending every ounce of our energy trying to get back ‘into the black’. I think about the Manhattan Project of World War II (the development of the atomic bomb). All stops were pulled out because the United States did not want the scientists worrying if they were spending too much in reaching their goal. The government was willing to pay any costs associated without hesitation so that the ultimate goal could be met. God has done the same for us. He doesn’t want us worried about where every spiritual penny is being spent – he doesn’t even want us wasting time with a ledger – so he has extended us endless spiritual capitol to use in attaining His goal. He has literally thrown the ledger out the window and told us that we are free to expend whatever we need to advance His Kingdom.

So God’s grace must abound more than our sin because we are sinners. And yet God has chosen us, as sinners, to bring Him glory in this world. To do so, we must be free people – constantly ‘in the black’. In Christ, God continues to pay our debt not so that we can sin more extravagantly, but so that we can operate unhindered in His calling. If you feel trapped ‘in the red’ today, that is merely a feeling. The truth is that God has put you, as a Christian, ‘in the black’ to stay. He has freed you so that you may serve him freely. That is the gospel truth.

God Bless.