Romans 3:23-26... in my life today
I have sinned...
I have sinned so badly that it seems that there is no where to go from here... I have hit the bottom - the pit - my personal hell on earth...
I have sinned and am deprived of the glory of God...
I will always fall short of God's glory. I am not glorious... I am human... Nothing I do or say will ever allow me to live up to what God wants from me... and because of my sin I lose the glory of God... My sin has taken the glory of God out of my life, out of my heart, out of my world. I feel the deprivation... I can't go lower... - and my sin brought me here...
I have sinned and am deprived of the glory of God... but I am JUSTIFIED...
JUSTIFIED: he marked me RIGHT... not just okay... not just "slipping past" but RIGHT...
He marked me right, JUSTIFIED me, FREELY by His GRACE...
GRACE: by His FAVOR... not just by his love - not just that I am good enough to be with him... but actual FAVOR... by His FAVOR that is undeserved... so so undeserved
I have sinned and am deprived of the glory of God... but I am JUSTIFIED freely by His GRACE through the REDEMPTION in Christ Jesus
REDEMPTION: not just through the forgiveness that Jesus' act give me... but through the knowledge that I am forgiven and PROTECTED from hell... forgiven and saved
I have sinned and am deprived of the glory of God... but I am JUSTIFIED freely by His GRACE through the REDEMPTION in Christ Jesus...
Why did He do this... why did He justify me?... why did He redeem me?... why is He gracious to me?
... to prove His righteousness in the present time...
He marked me as right, as good, as perfect... to show me his nature here and TODAY... to show me who He is
... to prove His righteousness in the present time, that He might be righteous and justify the one who has FAITH in Jesus...
so that I can be RIGHT... not just good enough... not just average... I can be PERFECT because of my FAITH...
... the one who has FAITH in Jesus...
FAITH: belief in God... period... the acceptance of God's facts - no in between... either faith or no faith... belief or no belief
I have sinned and am deprived of the glory of God... but I am JUSTIFIED freely by His GRACE through the REDEMPTION in Christ Jesus...... to prove His righteousness in the present time, that He might be righteous and justify the one who has FAITH in Jesus...
MY FAITH WILL SAVE ME!
I am standing in a courtroom... I declare myself guilty... dirty... stained... broken
The judge looks at me... declares me NOT GUILTY... clean... pure... whole... forgiven... saved... protected
