It Is Finished

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Now let's dive into the podcast. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8, 9.

Hi, I'm Rob West. It's Good Friday, a day we set aside to reflect on the crucifixion of Christ and what truly happened on that crossover 2,000 years ago. Today we'll talk about the greatest act of grace in human history, and then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. For centuries, Christians have called this day Good Friday. And it is good, but not because the events were easy or lighthearted. It's good because of what Christ accomplished for us. For many believers, this day carries a mix of emotions. There's the sorrow of remembering the suffering Jesus endured and the weight of knowing it was our sin that led him there. And yet, there's also overwhelming gratitude for the love of the Father who gave his Son, and for the Son who willingly laid down his life. It's a day to reflect on the reality that Jesus bore the full weight of our sins on the cross, suffering in our place so that we could be reconciled to God. That's the wonder of the cross. But along with sorrow and gratitude, there's also anticipation. Because we know what Sunday brings, the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of eternal life with him.

Good Friday is not the end of the story, it's the turning point, and that's why we call it good. Now here on faith and finance, we often talk about money, how to steward it well and use it for God's glory. But the Bible also uses financial imagery to describe spiritual realities. In fact, scripture is full of words like debt, ransom, redemption, and inheritance, because those terms helped people understand the profound truths of the Gospel in everyday language. Take Romans 6 23 for example, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Or Mark 10 45 where Jesus says, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And first Corinthians 6 20 reminds us you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body. These verses speak of something far deeper than finances. They describe the cost of sin and the beauty of God's grace. Our sin didn't just lead to guilt, it separated us from the very presence of God, cutting us off from the one who is the source of life and love.

Left to ourselves, we had no way to bridge that gap, but Jesus came to restore what was broken as Jesus breathed his last on the cross. The Gospel of John records him saying it is finished in the original Greek. The word is to tell us die in ancient times.

This saying was packed with meaning. It was spoken by servants who had completed their assigned tasks. It was declared by artists when a masterpiece was complete. It was proclaimed by priests after inspecting a spotless lamb for sacrifice, and most significantly, it was written on receipts to indicate that a debt had been fully paid.

No remaining balance, nothing left owed. So when Jesus declared it is finished from the cross, he wasn't simply marking the end of his earthly life. He was proclaiming the completion of his mission. The work of salvation was done.

The debt of sin was canceled. The great chasm between God and humanity was bridged, not by our effort, but by his sacrifice. And here's the beauty of Jesus' final words.

They remind us that we don't live in a state of spiritual deficit. We live in the overflow of grace. Jesus didn't make a down payment on our salvation. He paid it in full. There is nothing left for us to earn or achieve.

No good work can add to what he has finished. We simply receive it by faith and live in the freedom it brings. So on this Good Friday, as we reflect on the cross, we're invited to hear those final words of Jesus.

To tell us die. With awe and gratitude, it is finished. The debt of sin has been paid in full, completely, forever. Nothing remains for us to earn, prove, or repay.

And that changes everything. We are free. Free from guilt. Free from striving. Free to live for the one who gave everything for us. Obedience is no longer a duty to earn favor, but a joyful response to his grace. In light of the finished work of Christ, we now live to follow him.

Not to gain life, but because in him we've already found it. All right, your calls are next. That number, 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is Faith and Finance on Good Friday. Biblical wisdom for your financial journey.

Stick around. Every day, we hear life-changing stories from listeners just like you who see money and possessions as tools to invite more people into God's kingdom. Instead of chasing wealth, you've chosen to embrace God as your source of love and provision.

At Faithfi, we're passionate about meeting people where they live and work through our national radio program, app, resources, and website to influence widespread positive change in our culture. Please consider becoming a monthly partner at faithfi.com slash give. We're grateful for support from Timothy Plan. For more than 30 years, they've served clients on a biblically responsible journey to invest in a way that honors God and gives dignity to people's lives. More information is at timothyplan.com. The investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses are contained in the prospectus and summary prospectus available at timothyplan.com. Mutual funds distributed by Timothy Partners LTD and ETFs distributed by Foresight Fund Services LLC. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions today. We look forward to hearing from you with any financial topic today. 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7000. Let's go ahead and do that right now. We'll begin in Chicago. Hi, Sally. Go ahead. Hi.

Thank you, Rob, for taking my call. I have a question regarding gifting the money to the family. I don't have any brothers or sisters and I don't have any children, but I have three first cousins that live in Europe and they are in need right now. They're in very bad situation as far as the economy goes there and I was wondering if I send the money to my cousins, would I be able to get a tax deduction? I know that there is a something that is here in the United States that you can give money up to 17,000, I think, per person and that would be tax deductible for the person that does that. Is that something that I can do for you?

Let me speak to that. You're partially right there, but there is no tax deduction. So the number for 2025 is 19,000. So that would be the amount that you would be able to give to any individual as many individuals as you want and not have to file a gift tax return with the IRS. Now, if you're married, you could do twice that, up to 38,000, and that doesn't matter whether that person is here in the United States or there abroad.

So up to 19,000. Now, you don't get a tax deduction on that. You just don't have to let the IRS know and there are no gift taxes on it. Now, if it goes above 19,000, at that point, all you would have to do would be to fill out IRS form 709 and let the IRS know that you did it and that will begin to chip away anything beyond 19,000 this year. That will chip away at your lifetime exemption. So you have two exemptions. You have an annual exemption that resets every year.

That's the 19,000. And then you have a lifetime exemption for anything that goes beyond the annual limit, and that's $13.6 million. So you're going to have to give a lot of money away before any tax is triggered. But the IRS wants to know about it if you go above the annual limit.

But just again, let me reiterate, just because you stay under that 19,000, or even if you go over and you report it, again, you're not going to pay any gift tax on it, but it is not deductible, because it's going to an individual rather than a 501 c three charity. Does that make sense? Yes. So basically, if I send like 5000 to each person, I will be obviously below that 19,000.

So I really don't have to report that you don't, but you would not be able to claim it on your return because a gift to an individual is generous, but the IRS is not going to give you any credit for it. Yeah. Okay.

Makes sense. Yes, yes. Thank you for the education you give us and you know, for your time. I really appreciate it.

Absolutely. Thanks for your generous heart. I'm sure that'll be a real blessing to your family members in Europe. Thanks for calling Sally. Lord bless you. Let's go to Sue in Texas. Hi, Sue. Go ahead. Hi, how are you?

I'm great. Thank you. I'm calling because I have questions about stewardship and getting someone to help me with this. I've gotten into just helping with the outreaches and stuff. And I'm getting a lot of letters from pastors and churches that also need help.

So I need information on how that I did get started with it, how to keep where to keep it in some bank or credit union or advisor. So it's mostly information that I need being a good steward. Sure. Yeah, we can certainly help with that, Sue. Let's press into that question you asked there a moment ago, though, and we could talk about just general stewardship and where you go from here.

But in terms of, you know, you mentioned you're getting a lot of letters and inquiries from people that are asking, it sounds like for you to support them. You know, do you have a budget? And do you have a specific amount of money you've determined you have available for giving wherever that is?

Because here's what I'm getting at. I'd rather you be the one to kind of pray through your giving and decide in advance how much you have available for giving. And then you can evaluate any opportunities the Lord lays on your heart, whether it comes by way of a letter in the mail or something you hear at church or just somebody you run into in your local area, you can evaluate any of those needs against the giving plan you've already decided in advance. Because what I don't want you to do is just to feel guilty, like you have to give to everybody that asks. I want you to have a plan for your giving. Now, it doesn't mean we don't have any spontaneity in it. You know, the Lord may lead you just to do something unexpected, and that's okay.

But I don't want you to get into a mode of just always feeling like you have to give every time somebody asks for money. Does that make sense? It does.

It does. And that's where I'm kind of getting into. And I'm using right now my social security and a little money that I had saved. And it's going to, you know, going through it pretty good.

Yeah. And I know God's gonna bless me with money too. I think we just need to be careful with that and make sure that, you know, we're giving for the right reasons. I love your generous heart, so don't miss that.

I think that's fabulous. But I also don't want you to give for the wrong reason. Because, you know, when we think about our giving, I think the way that we're to give as we just look at the Council of Scripture and consider, you know, our generosity, number one is, you know, we shouldn't be giving in a way that's motivated by guilt. You know, we should give generously to our local churches and ministries that advance God's kingdom. But I think a lot of believers have been influenced by legalism or the prosperity gospel, which suggests that failing to give equates to stealing from God and forfeiting his blessings. And that's just not what we see in Scripture. You know, in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul reminds us, each one must give what he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. And I think it's that, you know, that under compulsion idea that we need to be careful. God loves a cheerful giver, so we need to distinguish between guilt and conviction. Guilt is often accompanied by shame, and I think it comes from the enemy and can draw us away from Christ, while conviction comes from the Holy Spirit and draws us closer to him.

And so I think you just need to be careful about that. You know, God is not a cosmic vending machine. We don't give to get. We give as an act of worship, and it's just an overflow of our gratitude for Christ's sacrifice. And we're freed then from the burden of guilt, you know, in our giving and in our whole lives, because God wants to cultivate a spirit of generosity that's rooted in love and gratitude for what he's done for us.

Let's do this. I want to give you a gift today, Sue, and here's what I'm going to offer. We've got a team of what we call certified Christian financial counselors here at Faithfy.

They're men and women who love Jesus, and they love helping God's people be wise stewards. And what I'd like to do is offer for, you know, one of those certified Christian financial counselors to come alongside you over the phone and just be an encouragement to you, to pray with you, but also to help you create a plan that ensures that you're giving only as you feel like the Lord leads and that makes sense in your plan, not just because somebody asks and because you believe you're going to get more back financially. And I think, you know, having wise counsel to walk with you in that will be a blessing. So let's do this. You stay on the line. We're going to get your information if you're comfortable with that. And I'm going to pay for a certified Christian financial counselor to walk alongside you over a couple of visits over the phone in the month ahead. So stay on the line. Our team will get your information. God bless you, Sue, and thanks for calling today.

A quick break and back with much more after this. Stay with us. We're grateful for support from Movement Mortgage who provides residential home loans in all 50 states. Guided by a mission to love and value people and a goal to redefine the mortgage process, Movement seeks to help others achieve their financial goals. You can find out more at movement.com slash faith. Movement Mortgage LLC supports equal housing opportunity and MLS number 39179.

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SMI provides step-by-step guidance for do-it-yourself investors, from those just getting started to those getting ready for retirement. More information, including the short video webinar on profit and peace of mind, no matter what's happening in the market, is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance, for taking your calls and questions today. Hey, are you looking for an advisor that shares your values as a believer? Well, that's what the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation is for. It's the only financial services industry designation accepted across the industry. All the big firms have approved CKA for use, and it's also the only designation around biblically wise financial advice. 1,500 CKAs across the US and Canada have met high standards in character and competence. They've signed a statement of faith, a code of ethics, a regulatory review, pastor and client references, they've met an experience requirement, and they've gone through a university-based training program on giving biblical financial advice. You can find a CKA in your area when you search at faithfi.com.

That's faithfi.com. Just click find a professional at the top of the page. All right, back to the phones we go. By the way, we have two lines open. We'd love to hear from you today. 800-525-7000. You can call right now. Sherry, you've been waiting patiently there in Texas.

After that, we'll go to Marion, Tennessee. Sherry, go right ahead. I'm receiving a modest inheritance, and when I receive it, I would like to give some of it to one of my siblings, about 30,000. And I don't know if I should split that over two years, because I know there's different IRS reporting that we have to do. And then I also want to give 10,000 to my son for a wedding gift. So just looking for your counsel on that.

Yeah, so it's a great question, and I love that you want to share and be generous with somebody in your life. There won't be any taxes there. There's not any federal inheritance tax that you will have. It could be something from a state level. You'd want to take a look at that, but nothing federally.

And then for you to turn around and make a gift, you're right. There's an annual gift tax exclusion that happens to be $19,000 for the year 2025 per recipient. So that means you as an individual can gift an unlimited number of other individuals, the recipient, up to $19,000 without notifying the IRS or triggering any gift tax reporting. As soon as you go above 19,000, so if you were single, a married couple could do twice that, but as a single person, you could only go up to 19. So if you were to do the full 30, you would then just fill out gift tax form 709 to let the IRS know that 11,000 of that would then chip away at your lifetime exemption, which sits at $13.99 million.

So you got a lot of room there. You are just going to have to file that form unless you spread it out over two tax years. Okay. So I am married and my husband and I were both retired in our seventies and my recipient is also in his seventies. So I don't know if that's going to cause any reporting on my recipients end either. No, no, not by receiving a gift. And you and your husband wouldn't either because you can each gift $19,000 for 2025. So between the two of you, you could give up to $38,000 to any one individual between, you know, the two of you. Okay. And then we don't have to do any reporting because we're married and it's going to be under that limit.

It's because it's under 19,000 times two for the year 2025. And so there is no reporting required because you're under the annual gift exclusion. Awesome. I appreciate that information. Thank you so much. You're welcome, Sherry. Thanks for your call. I appreciate your generous heart.

Let's go to Tennessee. Hi, Mary. Go ahead.

Yes. I was trying to find out kind of how to get started out on a debt-free journey and trying to find out what things would be good to put in place to kind of stay on that path. I love that question, Mary. And yeah, you know, when it comes to living debt-free, it really, I think, starts with this fundamental idea that God owns everything, because there are real implications to the fact that you and I are a steward of God's resources. I mean, it means we have, first of all, stewardship responsibilities, not rights, that we're accountable to the Lord, that we're to be faithful in small things. That's what it says in Luke 16, 10, that we're to live in an eternal perspective, that we should hold God's money loosely and give generously and give generously. And you might say, Well, wait a minute, I was talking about spending less than I earn and avoiding debt.

And I heard you in that. But for you and I to begin that journey, we have to start with God owning it all and accepting our role as stewards. Then we get to the mechanics of how we live that out, seeing money as a tool to accomplish God's purposes. And that's where there's kind of five money management principles. The first is we have to spend less than we earn, because that's the key to every financial success. So you and I need a spending plan that gives every dollar a job.

Because if we don't, it will find its way to things that we don't want it to. And so that means we've got to track what we're currently spending to figure out where our money's going. And then we have to make some hard decisions to say, Where do I need to cut back, so I'm living on less than what I earn, which gives me margin.

And that's really key. So spend less in your earn, avoid the use of debt, that's what you're calling about, because debt mortgages the future, have some margin or some liquidity, which means the fact that you and I are living on less than we're earning means we're going to have extra to fund our long term goals. That's number four, have long term goals, because the longer term your perspective, the better your decision today.

And then five was give generously. So spend less than you earn, avoid debt, have some margin, set long term goals and give generously. And I think if you do those five things, under the umbrella of God owning it all, and you and I are stewards, I think that's going to get you going in the right direction. And then it comes down to the mechanics of okay, I know God owns it all, and I'm a steward, and I'm living on less than I've ever earned, and I've got a plan to do it. Now, how am I going to control the flow of money in and out of my life every month, because it's not always going to go like clockwork and things are going to come up at a left field that by the way, that's why I need an emergency fund of three to six months expenses. But I do need a system to handle that. For some people, that's the the old tried and true envelope system where you literally fund envelopes with cash for others, a more modern expression of that is our faith fight app that was built on the envelope system, but it's in the palm of your hand with a beautiful, simple interface that allows you to see at any point during the month what's left in each of your spending envelopes.

Those are the mechanics of how you work that out. So that's the big idea. Now, let me finish with this, Mary, I'd like to give you a gift, if you'd be willing to take it.

And here's what it is. We have a team of what are called certified Christian financial counselors that work with faith five. And I'd like to give you a gift of maybe two to three, if it takes four, that's fine sessions with a certified Christian financial counselor, virtually, for them to get you set up on everything I just said and walk alongside you with the mechanics and the best practices, but also the encouragement that I think will get you going in the right direction. If we offer that, would you take advantage of it? That'd be great. Thank you.

Okay, absolutely. So you stay on the line, we'll get your information and get one of our certified Christian financial counselors in touch with you. They'll work with you by phone, maybe send you some things in the mail that could get you pointed in the right direction. And then finally, I want to send you a book. It's called Your Money Counts by my friend, Howard Dayton. I want you to commit to reading that. I think that'll be a real blessing to you. Mary, thanks for your call today. May the Lord bless you in the days ahead. Well, big thanks to my team today, Sandy Dickinson, Jim Henry, so thankful for Devin Patrick as well, my producer and the entire team here at faith five. May God bless you. Have a wonderful weekend. We'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.