Romans 4:3-5
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

It is like a giant account balance, debits and credits. Every time we sin, that goes in the loss column, something that we owe, sin after sin, big and small, and it all adds up. But there is nothing we can do to remove those from the ledger. There is nothing that we can add to the credit column to make up for our sin. So that debt grows and grows because any work we do doesn’t pay down the debt.

But faith in Christ reconciles our account, in a way. His righteousness is added to our account, and His is enough to cancel out all of our sins because He is perfect and sinless. His righteousness erases our debt, so we no longer owe God anything for our sin. We don’t pay the cost of sin, but reap the rewards of righteousness that He gives to us.

If you feel like you’re trying so hard to do right and be right but getting nowhere, take heart. There is nothing you can do yourself to undo your sin. But if you are willing to trust in Christ, to accept His accepted payment, you will be set free. You will have His righteousness added unto you, and then instead of endlessly striving to work off a debt you can never repay, you can gladly serve your Lord, your Redeemer, and give Him the life that He has bought with His blood.