"Justified by His Grace"

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But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 3:21-24 ESV)

Do you remember the “Romans Road to Salvation”? You may have learned this very early in your walk with the Lord; some of you may even have used these verses when you came to understand that salvation from God is not based on how good you are but on God’s grace (His gift). You came to understand that eternal life with God is a gift that He offers, not something that you earn. The third chapter of Romans has the first verse that is used in explaining how anyone can be saved from God’s wrath; Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift, by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

Do you remember how devastating this information was when you first understood it? I hope you never forget this truth; no one can stand before God and claim that they have not sinned. We were all sinners who had fallen short of God’s glory. I also hope you never forget the moment when you realized that we were justified (made righteous before God and forgiven), as a gift from Him, simply because we accepted this gift of eternal life secured through the shed blood of Jesus.

Sometimes, in our Christian walk, we can get so bogged down with the cares of daily living that we forget what God has done for us, for all of eternity. Jesus died on the cross, shed his blood as payment for our sins, and He purchased (redeemed) us so we could live forever with God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit for all of eternity. In verse 28, Paul states For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” 'Justified by faith, more glorious words have never been spoken. No matter how good I am, I can never “earn” salvation from God’s wrath, that’s the bad news. But the good news, the gospel, is that God offers salvation to anyone who will by faith accept His gift of eternal life, purchased for each of us by His Son, our Lord Jesus.

If you’ve never considered exactly what God has done for you, please stop for a moment today and listen to God’s Word. It tells you that no matter what your sins have been, the death of Jesus on the cross paid for every one of them. You can have eternal forgiveness if you accept the gift God offers. Salvation is a gift from God, not something that you can earn or deserve. Accept the gift that God is offering you today.

As followers of Jesus, we need to stop our busy Christian lives once in a while and remember what our God has done for us. It will give us a spiritual blessing that will help us continue serving a God who held nothing back in redeeming us and making us His own.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"