Saturday, July 16, 2016

Saturday, July 16, 2016

"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
‭‭(Romans‬ ‭3:21-24‬)

I love Romans 3! This passage has become a pillar of basic Christian doctrine that is known as "justification by faith." Here's the gist…

• We're all sinners and out of alignment with God. No one is righteous and does the right thing all the time, as God would require.

• So God sacrificed Jesus for us, the righteous for the unrighteous,

• so that we could become righteous in God's eyes through our faith in Jesus.

Faith in Jesus removes the wall of separation between us and God that is a result of our sin! We can have direct unhindered relationship with God the Father when we make Jesus Lord of our lives. That is Good News!!!

However, too often we forget, miss, or omit Romans 3:31 which asks the question, "Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."

The righteousness that comes by faith doesn't mean that we stop being righteous and doing right toward others. In fact, because of this great gift that God has given to us, we ought to be the most radically loving, just, and generous people on the planet! When people are hurting, Christ-followers should be the first ones on the scene to help. When injustice has been done, we should be the loudest voice for equity, our communities being the example for the world to follow. Jesus made us completely righteous in Him so that we would live righteously from a place of love and thankfulness rather than working for God's approval.

"Learn to do right. See that justice is done—help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows." (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭GNT‬‬)

This is your call.

This is my call.

Father, we love you and thank you for giving us Jesus so that we could come to you freely, openly, with no fear, only love. Thank you for making us righteous through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Now, we ask that you would give us good eyesight that we would be able to see the places where you desire is to do justice, righteousness and mercy for those who are on the fringes of our society. Give us courage to not shrink or shy away from what you call us to. Thank you for always being with us even to the ends of the age! In Jesus' Name...Amen!