If Doctor Jesus took a look at our lives, what would he see? Would he pick up our bedside chart and smile? Or would he frown and order treatment for gospel debt? After we become Christians, our appreciation of God’s holiness generally increases. In addition, as we travel farther down the road of Christian maturity, we understand more and more of our own sinfulness. Before we come to Christ (an event that required the ABC’s, which I promise I’ll get to soon!), we appreciate neither our sinfulness nor God’s righteousness. At the time of our salvation, what we understand about the gospel perfectly bridges the gap between our sin and God’s holiness. At that point in time, we see the sacrifice of Christ as completely sufficient to pay the penalty for our sin and place us in right standing with our Holy Father, providing access into all the benefits of sonship. As we grow in our Christian faith, our knowledge of our own sin and God’s holiness increases. As long as our understanding of the gospel grows, no problem. But . .  . This is real life, so there’s always a but, isn’t there? When our understanding of the adequacy of the gospel doesn’t keep pace with our appreciation for God’s holiness or our own need, gospel debt results. If we could graph gospel debt, it would look like this: Imagine one line increasing from left to right with time, representing our understanding of God’s holiness. A second line, sinking away from the first, descends across the page, representing our increasing appreciation of our own depravity. Draw a cross between the two divergent lines so that the top and bottom of the cross just touch the two lines. With the cross in that position, it fully fills the gap between our depravity and God’s holiness. If, however, our vision of the cross (in effect, the size of the cross in our imagined diagram) doesn’t keep pace with our understanding of God’s holiness or our own depravity, the size of the cross isn’t large enough to fill the gap. Any space between the top of the cross and the line representing God’s holiness or any space between the bottom of the cross and the line representing our own depravity represents gospel debt. Whenever we resort to false gospels to make up the gap, we’re acting out of a gospel debt.[ 4] False gospels? What am I talking about? Anything we do to try to make up the gap. Remember what the gap is made of: the vast difference between our purity and God’s. The point isn’t that the gap hasn’t been perfectly bridged by the cross. It’s that experientially our perception of Christ’s sacrifice doesn’t continue to bridge the gap. How do I try to bridge the gap? I can resort to two tactics. Either I try to downplay my own sinfulness, or I make myself look better than I really am. The self-deceit is subtle. We slip into gospel debt almost as easily as we breathe. One minute we’re serving Christ out of proper motive (a   love for him or for the lost); the next, we’re seeking the admiration of men. This is the essence of pride, a false gospel seen on our imagined diagram above the inadequate cross. And our ability to downplay our own sinfulness is just as prevalent. Even the child-molester-murderer on Death Row plays this little mind game in an attempt to justify himself. At least I admit I’m bad. Those Christian hypocrites don’t even see their problems. This is the gospel debt represented on our imagined diagram as the area below the inadequate cross, between the bottom of the cross and a line representing our depravity.

Kraus, Harry (2012-08-14). Breathing Grace: What You Need More Than Your Next Breath (Kindle Locations 518-548).  . Kindle Edition.


The reality of God’s provision in the cross is that it dwarfs the chasm between our sin and God’s righteousness. When we are living in gospel debt, it’s not because the cross is inadequate. It is because our perception or experience of the cross is inadequate. Unfortunately, most of the church lives out most of its life experiencing grace debt. In truth, we can’t live a life completely free of gospel debt all the time. But . .  . (Don’t you love it when a but is finally positive?) . .  . don’t be discouraged. Remember what I said about a vital sign trend being more important than a single value? Well, that’s true for our spiritual lives as well. We mess up. We’re human. But don’t despair. The trend is what is important. And that’s what this book is all about: diagnosing and treating gospel debt, so that our spiritual vital sign chart will reflect more and more time recognizing the adequacy of God’s grace and less and less time wallowing in gospel debt.


Kraus, Harry (2012-08-14). Breathing Grace: What You Need More Than Your Next Breath (Kindle Locations 551-559).  . Kindle Edition.

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