Thought for Monday, 29 July

 Romans 3:22-26

We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. 

And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us.  We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.  God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times.  And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.

The portion of scripture I’ve been directed to today is a bit longer than the usual, but I thought it was well worth including.  Most of us who will read this will have sat through sermons at Sunday worship.  Some of these will have seemed really long and others really short.  Some will have held a lot of  meaning for us and some possibly very little or nothing at all.  Some will have been easy to understand and others less so.  Some will have held our attention, in others, we may have found our minds drifting towards what tasks lay ahead of us in the coming week.

Well I reckon today’s passage from the Holy Scriptures can be read in less than a minute yet it is a sermon in itself.  It tells you the bottom line.  It tells you what you have to believe in to be saved.  It tells you what you need to do to be right with God.  It tells you the short and concise meaning of what it is to be a Christian.  The rest of the bible contains all the evidence that pushes you in the right direction but today’s reading sums it all up.

We are all sinners in God’s eyes whether we are alive now or whether we lived before Jesus died for us  and all deserve to be punished for those sins.

Jesus took the punishment for our sins.  God saw that due to our human weaknesses, it was impossibly for any of us to live a sinless life and we deserved to be punished.  Rather than punishing us individually God sent Jesus to bear all our sins for once and for all as a perfect sacrifice in God’s eyes.

This satisfied God’s anger against us for all time if we only believe, and believing in this will truly lead to our salvation.

Prayer – Heavenly Father, Let Christ's peace rule in our hearts. Let us be at peace in his one body. Fill our hearts and mouths with overflowing thanksgiving.  Let Christ's word dwell in us richly. Let us teach and admonish each other in all wisdom.  Let us impart grace through the songs flowing from thankful hearts.  May we do everything, whatever it is, in the name of our Lord Jesus.  We give thanks to you, our God and Father, through his name. Amen.