June 4
21But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood-to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-26he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)
I hope you see in the verses above how powerful Paul’s writings are. As I was looking at these verses, I was beginning to remember how eloquent Paul gets his point across. And the Book of Romans continues to ramp up from here. I feel like I could easily pull so many truths from just Romans alone to fill up this entire month. And, again, the New Testament canon should really put Romans at the end of Paul’s letters because it is the strongest and most of the other letters begin to sound repetitive. But repetition is good, it helps build muscle memory. The muscle memory Paul is repeatedly trying to engrain in all those reading these letters is that righteousness and salvation is found only in Jesus Christ. But in those days, Paul is arguing for the belief in Jesus alone. Unfortunately, 2,000 years later, we are still having to put spotlight on the initial building block of Christianity: Believing in Jesus and believing Jesus is who He is. If we could come together as a society, accept Jesus as the only King and His word is the only truth we need, we would be so much further as a true community. But instead, many around the world chose not to believe in God and because of that, they mock the name of Jesus.
The truth is simple, and Paul lays it out here: we all sin and all fall short of the glory of God. This should not make you feel like you will never be good enough for Jesus or God. Jesus loved the sinner far more than the saint. Because Jesus wanted those who have lived in sin to come to Him. That is where He saw true victory. That is where you’ll experience your greatest victory.
There is no sin too deep to overcome, no grave that you can not come out of. Find forgiveness in Christ. Find redemption in the faith of knowing who Jesus is. Find a future free of sin. Find new life in the truth that God loves you, Jesus loves you more, and the Holy Spirit is your best friend. Take advantage of having these three in your corner and live your best life ever.
Reading plan: Romans 4
Deeper reading plan: Psalms 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41
Prayer and meditation: Pray for our country. Pray for love to conquer all. Pray that Christ infects our hearts and ignites a final fire of revival to sweep this land.
Fitness challenge: Distance Run day! Put in thirty minutes of work and see how far you can go! Keep striving to run at least three miles in those thirty minutes.
Common Sense Reborn 