Jesus Paid It All
Scripture references: Psalm 49:7-9, 12-15, Psalm 50:8-15, Mark 10:45
Introduction:
“Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe”
‘Jesus Paid It All’ has always been one of my favorite hymns and I’m always excited when we get the opportunity to sing it as a congregation. To me, this song has always carried a crucial reminder…a reminder of a truth that we need to preach to ourselves every day. Alistair Begg in his sermon: ‘The Power and Message of the Cross’ says this:
“Without preaching the cross to ourselves all day and every day, we will very, very quickly revert to faith plus works as the ground of our salvation.”
(I highly recommend listening to this sermon. It’s easy to find online and will provide reference in the footnotes)1.
What Begg is getting at is that if we are not preaching the message of the cross to ourselves, we tend to slip into a mode where we rely on ourselves and our own works. We start putting more and more qualifiers behind the message of the cross. Qualifiers that begin in the first person: …’Because I’…not ‘Because HE’. If we ever get to these points in life where our focus shifts away from the work of the cross and it focuses on our own work, I invite us to look at the words of Psalm 49…
Devotional:
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit. -Psalm 49:7-9 ESV
This is truth. Given to us point-blank. There is no price, no cost, no ransom ‘we’ could ever pay that will earn us eternal life. A life that ‘should live on forever and never see the pit’ (Death).
As I read through the next verses in this Psalm, it’s hard not to find myself getting a sense of dread and hopelessness.
– ‘Even the wise die’ (Verse 10)
– ‘Their graves are their homes forever’ (Verse 11)
It feels even more dark when we get to verse 12…
Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.[b] Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. -Psalm 49:12-14 ESV
BUT
Verse 15 feels like that oasis in the desert…when you are dying of thirst and about to lose hope. One of the more glorious interjections of ‘But God…’ you could come across in Scripture…
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. -Psalm 49:15 ESV
After we just read several verses describing where our own pomp, foolish confidence and boasting leads us…we finally come to the oasis…’BUT GOD will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol’ (Death, the grave)! As Alistair Begg would say: ‘Because HE’…not ‘Because I’.
We must remind ourselves that we can offer nothing to God to purchase our own salvation. Psalm 50 continues this thought regarding sacrifices:
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” -Psalm 50:8-15 ESV
In other words, God says: ‘I don’t NEED your sacrifices. I don’t eat the flesh of bulls and goats. I own them all anyway. The earth is already mine and everything in it.’ So what can you possibly offer? Thanksgiving. Thanks, and praise for what God has already done.
‘I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me’ (verse 15)
It is God who pays the ransom. It is God who delivers. Our response is simply to surrender. To give him our thanks, praise and worship. When we understand this, then our physical offerings, our sacrifices, our good works become an outpouring of our praise that flows from a ransomed soul. This is what ‘Right’ sacrifice is all about.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” -Mark 10:45 ESV
The simple line: ‘Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe.’ Reminds us of what we just read in the Psalms. It starts with acknowledging who truly did the work and paid the ransom. Jesus Paid it all.
Our response is a result of what Jesus has already accomplished…All to Him I owe. Our Thanks, Praise and Worship. Our heart. This allows us to give graciously and view our physical offerings and works, not as a requirement for salvation or a way to ‘score points’ with God…but as an outpouring of praise and love in response to the accomplished work of Jesus.
May we preach the message of the cross to ourselves all day and every day, so that we can rejoice with the Psalmist…
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. -Psalm 49:15 ESV
Amen.
Sean Wagner
- Begg, Alistair. N.d. The Power and Message of the Cross. Truth For Life. Accessed August 21, 2025. The Power and Message of the Cross – Archive – Truth For Life. ↩︎