Money is tight these days, and this happens to be one of those times of the month when lots of bills come due in our household. It can be really discouraging, can't it, when instead of having money left over at the end of the month, you end up with a lot of month left over at the end of the money. And then the checking account balance statement shows up in the mail and you discover all the other debits that were never recorded in the checkbook!
Wouldn't it be great if one month all your checking account balance statement had on it were deposits...no debits at all! Like if the bank decided to select one lucky person each month whose debits were all wiped away...and this month you were the one picked!
All of us had a "bank account", so to speak, in heaven and we were all so deeply in debt to God because of our sins, that we were hopelessly in the red. And then God gave us the gift of faith in Jesus, and the debit column was wiped clean...not for a month, but for eternity! And credited to our account in Christ was His righteousness instead (see Romans 4:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21)...not by faith in our works but by faith in Christ's work of dying for our sins and rising for our justification.
"Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Rom. 4:4,5)."
Our sins...once red like scarlet...are now white like snow. We have been justified by faith, declared not guilty and instead graced with the very righteousness of Christ. And so we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
The Judge's gavel slams down. The trial is over. The verdict rendered. NOT GUILTY! The prisoner is set free...forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment