THE NECESSITY OF RESTITUTION

The Word of God tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come."

This is the spiritual condition of a new convert to Christ. Such individual is not expected to live in the old ways since he or she has accepted to follow Jesus and obey His teachings fully and such person is now a disciple of Christ and has come to know the truth, and that truth shall surely set him or her free as Christ Jesus has stated in John 8:31-32.

There is also something very important the person needs to do - to make restitution. To be sure of what we are saying, the Lord Jesus Christ commended the chief tax collector Zacchaeus when he made an offer of restitution for any wrongs anyone came forward to accuse him of.

Zacchaeus made a pledge to give half of his wealth to the poor and also pay back four times whatever he had cheated anyone of if such person came forward. The Lord Jesus Christ responded, "Salvation has come to this house (Zacchaeus') today, for this man, also, is a descendant of Abraham. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost." (Luke 19:1-9).

In the time of Moses and the Israelites, it is written in Numbers 5:5-8, The Lord gave Moses the following instructions for the people of Israel. When anyone is unfaithful to the Lord and commits a wrong against someone, he must confess his sin and make full repayment, plus an additional twenty percent, to the person he has wronged.

But if that person has died and has no near relative to whom payment can be made, it shall be given to the Lord for the priest. This payment is in addition to the ram used to perform the ritual of purification for the guilty person."

So the importance of restitution for a Christian is clearly seen. The question one may ask here is does this apply to Christians as well since as a new creation in Christ, old things are passed away?

Common sense should tell anyone that if you have taken what is not yours without authorization from the owner and without the owner's knowledge, then that is stealing and since stealing is against God's commandment (Exodus 20:15), it is a sin. So as a Christian, what is stolen MUST be returned.

Secondly, let us look at some Scriptures:

Galatians 2:16, Yet we know that a person is put right with God ONLY through FAITH in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires. We, too, have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be put right with God through our faith in Christ, and not by doing what the Law requires. For no one is put right with God by doing what the Law requires.

Galatians 3:6-7, Consider the experience of Abraham: as the Scripture says, "He believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." You should realize then that the real descendants of Abraham are the people who have faith.

Galatians 3:13-14 But by becoming a curse for us Christ has redeemed us from the curse that the Law brings; for the scripture says, "Anyone who is hanged on a tree is under God's curse." Christ did this in order that the blessing which God promised to Abraham might be given to the Gentiles (non-Jews or Christians) by means of Christ Jesus, so that through faith we might receive the Spirit promised by God.

Galatians 3:16 - Now, God made His promises to Abraham and his descendant. The scripture does not use the plural "descendants," meaning many people, but the singular "descendant," meaning one person only, namely Christ.

Galatians 3:19 - What then, was the purpose of the Law? It was added in order to show what wrongdoing is, and it was meant to last until the coming of Abraham's descendant, to whom the promise was made.

Galatians 3:26-29 It is through faith that all of you are God's sons in union with Christ Jesus. You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ Himself.

So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews or Christians), between slaves and free men, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ Jesus, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.

Dear friend, a careful study of these scriptures show that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, belief in and acceptance of what He did for mankind by dying on the Cross of Calvary justifies us before God the Father and puts us right with God. It also enables us to share in the promises made to Abraham by virtue of our being joined to Christ.

The Scriptures also show that Christians are the new Israelites since Abraham's grandson Jacob was renamed Israel by God (Genesis 32:27-30) and became the father of Israel and Christians are also descendants of Abraham by union in Christ Jesus, a descendant of Abraham.

The scriptures also confirm that the Law was given to show what wrongdoing is, and therefore if restitution is required for wrong doing, then a Christian should make restitution to correct that. However, please note that salvation for eternal life under the new era is guaranteed ONLY by genuine repentance of sins and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

Therefore, dear friend, if you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and have restitution to make, I urge you today to please take that further step and do it to show yourself truly a new creation in Christ Jesus.

To be clear, any wrong you have committed in the past qualifies for restitution, e.g.

(1) If you took what belonged to someone else or an organization where you have worked, you must return it.

(2) If you have raped a female while you were in the world before meeting with Christ Jesus, you must go, apologize, ask forgiveness and be reconciled.

(3) If you have cheated someone in business, you must make restitution. As Scripture says, if the person has died and you cannot find any relative, then restitution must be done to God through His Priest. Today, that means restitution must be done to the Church to God as commanded.

Dear friend, I urge you to be careful the way you live if you have given your life to Christ genuinely. No matter what is involved, however little or insignificant, as long as it does not belong to you or was taken without the owner's knowledge or consent, that is stealing and that is wrongdoing and restitution MUST be made.

Even taking someone's drink, pen or match stick or envelope or whatever without consent is wrongdoing and is sin before God. Also, refusing to pay your bills due to the government as constituted authority is wrong (Romans 13:1-7).

As the Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life (heaven) is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it."

You can see for yourself that the journey to heaven for a Christian is not an easy one and we therefore need God's grace to get there because satan or the devil is causing confusion and doing everything possible to mislead people to get into hell with him and his demons where they are condemned FOREVER.

If you are reading this now and yet to give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, you still have an opportunity today as tomorrow may be too late. The Lord Jesus Christ in His love and mercy invites you to take that important step, repent genuinely of sins and wrong doings, confess and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour of your life and ask Him to send His Holy Spirit to guide you.

Ensure to read His Word (Holy Bible) everyday, meditate on its teachings and ensure to fellowship with other Christians regularly in a Church where the Word of God is preached undiluted about salvation, holiness and the teachings focus MORE on the things of heaven than on worldliness.

God bless you as you heed His Word today, accept, act on it and share with others in Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.

Gabriel Ama.