Have you heard about the latest shopping scheme in which you can buy something but pay for it later?

I just came to hear of it in a recent news article, which talked about a service that allows shoppers to pay for even small purchases—like a pair of shoes—from an e-retailer in several instalments, without having to pay interest or service fees.

This “buy now, pay later” scheme is meant to give buyers more convenience in shopping and help them avoid credit card instalment interests—and more importantly, I’m sure, satisfy their need for immediate gratification without having to worry about payment.

There are, however, some catches. If a buyer defaults on his instalment payment, he could face a late payment fee or have his account frozen. In such cases, I wonder, would the buyer need to return the item? And what if it’s something he’s already used—like a pair of shoes that has already been worn for three months?

On reflection, I am thankful that God’s great salvation plan for mankind is not offered in this manner.

In this plan, our sins are fully paid and fully redeemed through the death of God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ, at the cross. At the cross, Christ’s death and resurrection provides for us the gift of salvation and eternal life, so we can now “live as free people” (1 Peter 2:16).

In God’s salvation plan, we never have to worry about defaulting on payments, because Jesus has paid for our sins fully. We never have to worry about our “accounts” with God being frozen whenever we stumble in our faith journey, because of His infinite grace that allows us to seek and receive forgiveness when we confess and repent. And we never have to worry about returning the gift of salvation and righteousness, because they are ours forever, by God’s grace and mercy.

1 Peter 3:18 remind us: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”

As we remember Christ’s death this Good Friday and celebrate His resurrection this Easter Sunday, let us hold on firmly to Jesus’ everlasting assurance to those of us who believe in Him: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

Hymnwriter Elvina M. Hall put it beautifully:

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Jesus, thank You for
dying on the cross for me
and paying for my sins fully.
Thank You for the assurance
I am forever saved,
and that no one can snatch me
out of Your loving hand.