Waving Student Debt Is Not Equal To The Work On The Cross

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Welcome to the Friday update on the Pastor's Voice. I'm Reuel Sample. The news this week has been the forgiveness of student debt and student loans through the Biden administration. We're not going to get into the politics of that. But what we are getting into is this continued idea that forgiveness of student debt is the same thing of forgiveness of sins on the cross. Over and over again, I have seen on Facebook and other social media that we as Christians should be for this whole idea of the forgiving of student debt because Jesus forgave our debt on the cross.

Comparing those two things is a horrible idea. What Christ did on the cross is not just forgive our sins, forgive our debt. He wiped them clean by taking them all on Himself. On that cross. Jesus was the laser focal point of the wrath of God, the entire wrath of God. And as Saint Augustine put it, only God in Jesus could withstand the entire wrath of God placed upon him. And thus set us free in Jesus. We are free of our sins. The debt has been paid. There is nothing left of the debt that has been paid. What we owe Jesus is our faithfulness and our obedience.

Forgiveness of student loans is not the same. It can't be. All this is is a transference from those who owe it to other people who don't owe it. Now, there could be made a metaphor there because Jesus didn't owe a thing, but that's where it ends, because those who don't owe the debt are still going to have to pay for it. Those who went to trade school, those who went to the military, those who found other means of supporting themselves, those are the ones who are going to have to pay for this debt. It's not wiped clean. It's just transferred.

And so we have to be very careful when we hear those arguments that we don't buy into them, because it's very easy to do that. There is no wiping clean of our debts, as in Jesus. It's just simply a transference.

So what does the church have to do? First off, we have to protect against teachings like this, and we have to come back with the true teaching of what Jesus did on the cross. But even farther than that, we have to help our kids stay out of debt. We have graduates that are that are coming out of colleges and universities, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. We have to make sure that we help our kids not get there by perhaps finding better ways to get an education, to understand that sometimes trade school is the best way. Or the military or a smaller college. We also have to help them find career choices and and disciplines that will actually help pay the bills after they're out of college. We have to help them find ways to get jobs that will help them pay off their bills. There is nothing wrong with Christians helping Christians get employment. And churches should find ways to help people who are in debt. Either through budget management or helping them get the funds. Churches can always find creative ways. In faith there is nothing that Jesus cannot do.

And so my two words for Friday are guard against this false teaching that one forgiveness of sins equals the forgiveness of debts. It does not. And two Churches need to find a better way to keep our children out of this massive debt that drags them down for years.

For the Pastor's Voice, I am Reuel Sample.

Reuel Sample
Reuel SamplePodcast HostThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Reuel Sample is the host of The Pastor's Voice Podcast. He has a Bachelor Degree in Sociology and Business Administration from Grove City College, and an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has served as a church pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is a staunch churchmen - which is why he criticizes it so much. He is an avid sailor and wood worker. He is blessed to be married to his wife Pam. They make their home in Wilmington, NC.

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