May 21
“For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus,” Romans 3:22-26.
How can any person be saved? The apostle Paul makes it very clear that we cannot save ourselves. Whether we are Christians or non-Christians, all of us are sinners. Paul writes, “There is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes wrote, “There is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin,” Ecclesiastes 7:20. With the psalmist, each of us must confess, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me,” Psalm 51:5. Again, the psalmist wrote, “They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one,” Psalm 14:3. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags,” Isaiah 64:6. We might say that the apostle John in his First Epistle confirms what all of the above writers have said. John writes, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” 1 John 1:8. If we say that we do not sin, we are liars, and we are deceiving ourselves because we believe our own lies!
Sometimes people try to quiet their accusing consciences by saying, “Everybody does something wrong!” Simply insisting that we are sinners, and that we have a lot of company, does not get us any closer to heaven! Trying to storm the gate of heaven with numbers will not get us anywhere!
In order to get into heaven, we must be righteous, and we do not have any righteousness of our own. God has provided a righteousness for us through Jesus. God has declared us justified on the basis of what Jesus did for us. Paul writes that we are, “Justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith.”
We stand in the courtroom of the heavenly Judge as guilty sinners. We hang our heads with guilt and shame! Then Jesus steps between us and the Judge. He paid the penalty for all our sins when He suffered and died on Calvary’s cross. John writes, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world,” 1 John 2:1-2. Jesus is our Advocate, our heavenly Attorney, and He paid the penalty so that we are declared just and forgiven. Justification is a forensic act on the part of God. We are declared free. God’s Son has set us free! He is the Propitiation, the covering for all our sins. We make Jesus’ righteousness our very own by faith, by believing and trusting in Him as God’s Son and our Savior. By His death and resurrection, He conquered sin, death, and the devil for us. Jesus opened the door of heaven for us. We lift up our heads and joyfully embrace Jesus as our loving Savior!
“Salvation unto us has come
By God’s free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.
Since Christ hath full atonement made,
And brought to us salvation;
Each Christian therefore may be glad,
And build on this foundation.
Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Thy death is now my life indeed;
For Thou hast paid my ransom.” Amen.