Romans 1:16-17, 3:22b-28 (NRSV)
Read Romans 1:16-17, 3:22b-28 on biblegateway.com
Verse 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Verse 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith." Verse 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, Verse 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; Verse 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Verse 25whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; Verse 26it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. Verse 27Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. Verse 28For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Devotion
“I want to get right with those around me and clear my record.” This principle has been one motivation in relationships for a long time. Yet we sometimes have a hard time taking responsibility for what we've done. Remember Adam and Eve? They didn’t claim to be wrong, but blamed someone else.
Paul tells us in Romans that God has provided a better solution for our dilemma. We don’t need to blame someone else or work ourselves to death to “get right.” In a marvelous and mysterious way the presence of Christ in God’s world has taken away our guilt and our need to “get it right” all the time. In other words what Christ has done is to deposit a million dollars in our bank account. All we need to do is take Christ’s forgiveness out of this bank account. We’re millionaires -— free to invest Christ’s gifts to us and to live a new life.
Prayer
Patient Lord, you know how much effort we put into trying to get right with you and with others. Keep reminding us that your Son, Jesus Christ, has set us right with you and others in some marvelous way by His suffering, death and resurrection. In His Name, Amen.