(Romans 8:12-14) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
I came across this the other day. It really did something for me. I thought maybe I would share it. It’s from the book When the Holy Ghost is Come by Commissioner Brengle of the Salvation Army.
During the American Civil Ware certain men committed some dastardly and unlawful deeds, and were sentenced to be shot. On the day of the execution they stood in a row confronted by soldiers with loaded muskets, waiting the command to fire. Just before the command was given, the commanding officer felt a touch on his elbow and, turning, saw a young man by his side, who said, ‘Sir, there in that row, waiting to be shot, is a married man. He has a wife and children. He is their bread-winner. If you shoot him, he will be sorely missed. Let me take his place.‘
‘All right,’ said the officer; ‘take his place, if you wish; but you will be shot.’
‘I quite understand that,’ replied the young man; ‘but no one will miss me.’ And, going to the condemned man, he pushed him aside, and took his place.
Soon the command to fire was given. The volley rang out, and the young hero dropped dead with a bullet through his heart, while the other man went free.
His freedom came to him by blood. Had he, however, neglected the great salvation and, despising the blood shed for him and refusing the sacrifice of the friend and the righteous claims of the law, persisted in the same evil ways, he, too, would have been shot. The blood, though shed for him, would not availed to set him free. But he accepted the sacrifice, submitted to the law, and went home to his wife and children. It was by the blood; every breath he henceforth drew, every throb of his heart, every blessing he enjoyed, or possibly could enjoy, came to him by the blood. He owed everything from that day forth to the blood, and every fleeting moment, every passing day and every rolling year but increased his debt to the blood which had been shed for him.
Paul said (Galatians 2:20) The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I have to admit, I never realized the extent of my debt to which I owe. Somehow, the great salvation that Jesus has purchased on our behalf is viewed as something to be waited for; something in the future. And it is. But it’s not. Forgive me for being so unspiritual. But, I’ve heard it and even sung it, but I don’t think I’ve truly grasped it.
Every moment of my existence now I owe him. By all rights, I should be in hell. I should be dead; not just spiritually but physically dead as a door nail. But no. I got saved. God has given me a new life; another chance, so to speak, to live to the glory of Himself. He has provided another opportunity and a new and living way that I can actually live and not fall short of the glory of God. And it began the moment I got saved.
This passage spoke to me because the man that was set free had to choose to go back to his wife and children and live right now. Now why is this significant? Well, he was already a husband and father, and now he was to go back to being a husband and father. But now, he is afforded this opportunity by the blood of that righteous man. I’ll tell you what comes to mind. (2 Kings 6:5) But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
I got saved as a church member. No doubt some of you have also. I was already going to church. I was giving and tithing. I was faithful. I worked hard for the church. I preached. I had turned from much worldliness. I wasn’t at the bar, or the honky-tonk, or anythng like that. But I was lost. I’m not saying that I was good or anything righteous. I’m just saying I was already in church. Now the bible says (2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Now what was this supposed to mean for me? I’ll be honest with you: Things for me just didn’t change much. I didn’t start going to church. I didn’t join the choir. I was already doing this stuff. So understanding the newness that Paul wrote about has been difficult for me, to say the least. (Romans 7:6) But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
And I know people in my condition will say It’s just different now. And I can relate and say the same thing. But for me, it’s been hard fought. Before I got saved, I loved the church, I loved the brethren, and I loved the house of God. So the newness in all this for me has been a relearning of things I thought I already knew. So that’s why this fella on death row has really spoke to me. He was to go back to do the same things he’d done before, but now because of the circumstances, his heart will be different toward the work. I want to thank God for the wonderful, blessed circumstances to which I take this very breathe.
When someone is brought under Holy Ghost conviction, he is transported to the eternal trial of man; to a place called Calvary; a place where he can be set free. I often consider those three hours of darkness as Christ hung on the cross, and I remember the fearful darkness that God had let me see in my own soul. And I remember what my wife said of her conversion: I was in outer darkness. I think that darkness that overtook the world between the sixth and ninth hour on that dreadful day is a type of Holy Ghost conviction because it was in those hours that the bible says (Matthew 27:51) And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; The way to the holiest of all was opened up in those dark hours. That’s the only time you can get in. You’ve got to come to the trial.
You must see the writing on the wall. (Daniel 5:25-27) And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Belshazzar came to the trial. Or maybe the trial came to him. And he didn’t make it past the night. Oh, but our circumstances are different. I was finished? Yes. I was found wanting? Yes. But someone more righteous that I took my place. I came out of that trial a free man; a freedom provided by the precious blood of Christ.
I still attend an old-fashioned Independent Baptist Church, and much of my circumstances have remained the same. I still have to live in this flesh. The devil is still there. Temptations are still there. The world is still there. Responsibilities are still there. Bills are still there. Trials, sorrows, and difficulties are still there. But I can say with honesty and excitement: (Galatians 2:20) The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Do you see what I’m saying? That guilty man had a responsibility to his wife and to his children. His indictment did not change his responsibilities; nor did the trial; nor did his guilt; nor did his freedom. Let me say this too: His propensity to fail his wife and children didn’t change either. But the circumstances in which he now addresses those responsibilities have changed. He should never have seen his wife’s lovely face again. Never would he hug his dear children. But now, every breathe, every moment, every experience, every vision, every thought, every sound, every everything has been purchased by the blood of that righteous man.
I don’t feel like I’m conveying adequately what I’m thinking. Let me try one last time. It’s not so much that my circumstances have changed, but that every circumstance that I have the privilege to now experience I am now allowed by the mercy of Jesus Christ. And in that respect, all things have become new. Praise His holy name! So, I am a debtor. O my soul! The debt is growing every second I contemplate this.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,
Bind my wand’ring heart to Thee
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