As a young believer, the subject of restitution troubled me a lot. I read books of "hell returnees" and listened to legalistic counsel that troubled my heart on the subject. I remember asking a brother what a believer should do If he had cheated in exams at one time or the other. He responded by saying the believer should return the certificate and start all over again. My mind raced back to my O'level exams.
I sunk into depression and Satan used that occasion to attack my mind. I stopped seeing God as loving and forgiving. All I knew about God became coloured. Satan began to tell me salvation requires I right all my wrongs. How do I do that? No man on earth can and ever will. That period, I felt the burden of guilt in my life. My prayer life was affected badly because I did not know If God heard me. Words became very heavy for me to speak in prayers.
My liberation came when I began to search for scriptural knowledge on the subject. The truth liberated me and that same liberty is what I intend to achieve through these teachings provided you follow systematically and check all scriptural references. If you cherry pick, you'll miss out on crucial details.
Previously, I said that restitution is not abolished under grace. I gave new testament references on the subject from the gospels into the epistles. However, the mistake some of those who built a pharisical doctrine on restitution often make is that they present restitution as a criteria for salvation or as something to be done to perfect salvation. Neither of these positions are correct.
The bible says, God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; IT IS A GIFT FROM GOD. [9] Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it (Eph 2:8-9, NLT).
If restitution is a criteria for salvation, then it becomes works. That is, man will boast about earning his own salvation whereas salvation cannot be earned, It is a gift from God to mankind. God knows we cannot undo every sinful thing we have done, that is why he made provision for the total cleansing of our sins on the cross.
Hebrews 8:12 says, "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins"( NLT). This is awesome, isn't it?
For those who see restitution as a completion/perfection of salvation, Colossians 2:10 says, "And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority" (BSB). Our perfection or the completion of our salvation is not in restitution but in Christ.
When a man comes to know the Lord genuinely, restitution is no longer a criteria for his salvation but a fruit of his salvation IF led by the Spirit to do it.
Even in the old testament, the very act of restitution alone was not enough to atone for sin but sacrifice. In the old testament, even after a thief had restituted, he was required to bring a ram without blemish for atonement before receiving forgiveness (Lev 6:6-7). In essensce, it was not restitution that gave forgiveness but the sacrifice that was made for the atonement. What does that tell you?
Restitution can never atone for sin neither can man be justified by it. The blood of Christ still remains the cleansing agent for sin and the surest way of obtaining forgiveness from God. In the old testament, they needed to obtain that forgiveness through the blood of animals through a continous yearly atoning sacrifice but we have obtained that through the once and for all death of Christ.
Ephesians 1:7 says, "In Him we have redemption [that is, our deliverance and salvation] through His blood, [which paid the penalty for our sin and resulted in] the forgiveness and complete pardon of our sin, in accordance with the riches of His grace"( AMP).
Religion is a bondage. Break the yoke off your neck and refuse to be yoked again. Jesus says, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light"( Mt 11:30).
