"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 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;" -Romans 3:21-24
Hello, all! Wow! It's been awhile since I've been on here... Well, God's been working in some interesting ways, in me, and I'm excited start blogging again! I won't go into all of the details of my sabbatical, just yet, but I assure you some of it will come up in some of the future blogs...
Well, with that being said, let's jump right in! I don't have a lot of time today so I'm going to try and break this down rather quickly this morning...
So, the last thing we covered was the Law and how it makes us aware of sin. Now let's get into the Good News! The Gospel, as it were, from Romans chapter 3... Now we see that "apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested..."
First, let's look at this word, "manifested." From dictionary.com the definition of "manifested" is as follows: "readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; apparent; plain" (dictionary.com; based on the Random House Dictionary)
So, manifested means "apparent." God has made His righteousness apparent! Through what? His Son! In Christ Jesus, the righteousness of God was made apparent for all those who believe. This may seem pretty simple, and maybe it is... but it's essential that we grasp the point of our salvation, right here and now, before we move any further into Romans...
Without Christ being understood as our ONLY good and our ONLY righteousness and our ONLY hope... we will fall into the desperate depravity of believing that we are able, by some other strength, to redeem ourselves before God. That's why we've looked at the Law!
Paul showed us the Law so that we might realize the depth of our wickedness, not because he hoped that some might stand and say, "I've done all these things!" How can I say this? Because look at the very next thing that Paul says... "for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." We looked at the Law so that we might realize our desperate need for a Savior.
Why is this so important? Why must we understand how wicked we truly are? Because until we do see our wickedness for the offense that it is against Almighty God... we will never understand the gravity of our sin and it's effect on our relationship with Him. Until we are able to take ownership of our faults, instead of passing the blame onto someone or something else, we will never be open or humbled enough to receive the healing that Christ offers us.
If you do see the depths of your own sins, however, and you do understand the need that you have for a Savior... then let's keep reading! Be prepared for the greatest headline that has ever hit this world! "Christ has been raised!"
Through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, He has paid the penalty for our sins and made apparent, "manifested," His claims to deity by His resurrection from the dead. These claims have been made known to be true by His appearance to hundreds of men and women in the weeks following His resurrection.
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." -2 Corinthians 5:17
Let's look at verse 24 really quickly and then I'm going to have to be finished for today...
"being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."
What a hope we have! We are justified, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, and can spend eternity in heaven with Him, because of what HE has done! It's a gift of grace, not something we have accomplished in ourselves... simply an undeserved measure of grace and mercy which has been poured out on us by the God of the universe! (Eph. 2:1-10)
What love! We were all sinners, damned to an eternity of punishment... "But God!" What an amazing combination of words! Please... read this passage and let it's implications rest on your soul as you go throughout this day...
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." -Ephesians 2:1-10
Grace and Peace, dear friends!
Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .
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