The Record of Sin

There was a hardworking Englishman who was due for a holiday (or a vacation, as we call it). He loaded his car, a 1940’s Rolls-Royce, on a steady boat and set out across the continent to enjoy some rest from work. While he drove around Europe to experience its sights and sounds, he heard something rather unpleasant—an unusual ticking coming from the engine. He immediately contacted Rolls-Royce back in England and asked, “I’m having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?” Since Rolls-Royce valued excellency, they flew a mechanic to his location. That’s what I call customer service! The mechanic examined the engine and presumably made necessary repairs, then flew back to England to let the man continue his holiday.

As the story is told, the man began to question, “How much is this going to cost me?” When his holiday concluded, he wrote them a letter asking how much he owed. In no time he received a letter from their office that read: “Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce.”

There is a letter from God’s office that says the same thing about you, if you are a believer in 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). The Lord God cancelled and cleared the record of debt that stood against you by nailing it through the hands of His Son. Because of this, there is no record anywhere that you ever did anything wrong. On the cross, a marvelous exchange took place so that the record of your sins could be canceled. Namely, God credited your sin to Jesus and credited His righteousness to you. At Calvary, the Son of God made your record His own and gave you His perfect record in exchange.

Paul said it like this: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Similarly, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13a). The registry of your sin and guilt is gone. The only record that remains is the Book that contains the names of all those who are covered by the blood of Christ, the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 13:8; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27).

The question is: what is God’s file on you? Does God have a full record of your sin? Or have you had your record of sin removed by trusting in Jesus Christ?

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Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.