Tag Archives: Unshakeable faith in an uncertain world

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Sin Doesn’t Stand A Chance

We Are Not Alone in the Fight

UNSHAKEABLE: We are not alone in our struggle with sin. We do not have to be disheartened by the overwhelming nature of the spiritual contest we are in. For sure, we experience a strong pull back into the slavery from which our sinful natures were freed. However, we have an infinitely stronger, incomparably more powerful, indefatigable Person who is dwelling within us. The Holy Spirit. With God’s Spirit residing in us and working for us, we cannot lose — if we will cooperate with him.

Unshakeable Living // Romans 8:11

If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

I have heard this particular verse quoted most of my life — usually in the context of praying for the healing power of the Holy Spirit for a physical malady. I have received prayers, and I have offered prayers using this verse as a faith builder — that the same Spirit of God who raised the body of Jesus from death is dwelling in us, and we can expect that same resurrection power to bring divine life to our physical bodies as well. And to be sure, I believe that to be true.

What never hit me until this moment is the larger context in which we find this verse. Up to this point in Romans, Paul has been extensively contrasting the bondage to sin we experienced while living under the law with the freedom from sin we have living under the lordship of the resurrected Christ. Paul has shared his own struggle with sin — of doing what he shouldn’t and not doing what he should. And he has been quite realistic about this back-and-forth wrestling match that goes on in our lives between sin-bondage and Spirit-freedom.

Then he drops this truth on us: We are not alone in this struggle with sin. We do not have to be disheartened by the overwhelming nature of the spiritual contest we are in. For sure, we experience a strong pull back into the slavery from which our sinful natures were freed. However, we have an infinitely stronger, incomparably more powerful, indefatigable Person who is dwelling within us and is fighting for us. And that Person is the Holy Spirit, who is helping us to overcome sin.

With God’s Spirit residing in us and working for us, we cannot lose — if we will cooperate with him. If we work with and walk with the Holy Spirit, we then can tap into the same force he exerted in the lifeless body of Jesus to reconstitute each dead cell and catalyze life in his breathless spirit to produce something that had never happened before, something that the master of sin, the devil, never counted on: The first fully resurrected man.

Not only that, this first fully resurrected man was just the beginning. Now, we who accept Jesus by faith enter into that same resurrection life by that same indwelling resurrection Spirit. And the indwelling Spirit enables us to live in that same resurrection power that will not only heal our sick bodies, and not only guarantee our immortality but will empower us each and every day to resist the pull of sin and live the victorious, overcoming Christian life.

Think about that! On this day, at this very moment, the same Holy Spirit that coursed through the body of our Lord and brought him back to life again is coursing through you.

Wow! Suffering, sickness, and sin — especially sin — doesn’t stand a chance!

Get Rooted: Read Romans 8:1-39. Meditate on Romans 8:1-2, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” And memorize Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be.”

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Don’t Tempt Me

Finally Free To Simply Enjoy God’s Grace

UNSHAKEABLE: Where are you most vulnerable to temptation? What represents your irresistible compulsion? Maybe it’s a box of Dunkin Doughnuts — perhaps you are an overeater. Maybe it’s the letters S*A*L*E — perhaps you’re an over spender. Maybe it’s an adult site on the Internet — perhaps you’ve got a compulsion for porn. Could it be your compulsion is alcohol or drugs or gambling or gossiping or griping or incessant social media consumption? Maybe it’s the joy of passing judgment on other doughnut-eaters, which, reveals your battle with a critical spirit. Each of us has an area where we do what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should. How hopeless we feel at times! So, who will rescue us from the doughnuts?” Jesus will!

Unshakeable Living // Romans 7:15,19,24

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do… For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice… O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Huh? Did you catch that? Paul had a convoluted way of saying something straightforward, which was simply this: “I do what I shouldn’t and I don’t do what I should — man, am I in trouble!”

Can you relate to Paul? I sure can. He was in a wrestling match with sin, and sin was whupping up on him. It was frustrating because Paul knew what he shouldn’t be doing — yet he was drawn to sin like a mouse to a cheese-laden trap or an insect to a bug zapper or bees to honey — pick your metaphor.

Let me ask you this: Where are you most vulnerable to temptation? What represents your cheese-laden mousetrap? Maybe it’s a box of Dunkin Doughnuts — perhaps you are an overeater. Maybe it’s the letters S*A*L*E — perhaps you’re an overspender. Maybe it’s an adult site on the Internet — perhaps you’ve got a compulsion for porn. Could it be your compulsion is alcohol or drugs or gambling or gossiping or griping or incessant social media consumption? Maybe it’s the joy of passing judgment on other cheese-eaters, which, reveals your battle with a critical spirit.

Each of us has an area where we do what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should. As Paul might say, “What a sicko I am! Who will rescue me from the cheese?”

Jesus will! That’s also what Paul said in Romans 7:25, “Thanks be to God — it’s through Jesus Christ our Lord!” When Jesus died, he broke the power of sin, so it no longer has a hold on us. Through the power of the resurrection, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God has provided a way out from under every temptation:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Did you catch that? Your battle with temptation is winnable. The last part of the verse says, “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out.”

That’s good news. There’s always an escape route — always. When you’re tempted, God himself will provide a way out; he will make a way. God has provided a door — but I must look for it and walk through it!

What are those escape routes?

One way of escape is to immerse yourself in Scripture. Psalm 119:9 & 11 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

That’s how Jesus battled temptation in the wilderness. Every time the tempter came at him with something that would tear him away from his Father, Jesus came back at Satan with the truth of scripture. There is no more potent weapon against temptation in your life than in reading God’s Word systematically, meditating on it daily, and memorizing it strategically.

Another escape route from temptation is to become accountable to another believer, especially for your particular weakness. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We need to bring our temptation into the light of accountability to other people—as difficult as that may be.

Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” You would do yourself a huge favor by finding someone with whom you can be accountable for your weakness?

And yet another way out is to ask God to deliver you daily from the tempter. Jesus taught us to pray a daily prayer that acknowledges both our weakness and our need for divine power in this area: “Deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13) As simple as that seems, the amazing thing is, God hears those prayers. And he provides a way out.

Who will rescue you from this body of death? Who is going to keep you away from the Dunkin Doughnuts?

Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me. (Rom 7:25)

Get Rooted: Read Romans 7:1-25. Memorize Romans 7:24-25, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Throughout Romans, it seems as if Paul has been pounding on the law. So was the law bad? Obviously not! So if the law is not bad, yet it doesn’t lead to true righteousness before God, what is its purpose then? Do a word search in Romans and Galatians

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Cost Benefit Analysis

Before You Sin, Count the Cost

UNSHAKEABLE: One of the strongest antidotes to the ongoing and habitual sin in my life is the spiritual discipline of doing a cost-benefit analysis before I commit it the sin. That’s what Paul is asking us to do in Romans 6:21. If in everything we do — whether it be acts of unrighteousness, or simple errors of judgment, or the outright, and deliberate plunge into sin — the inalterable law of sowing and reaping is in effect (so says Galatians 6:8-9), then wouldn’t it be wise to first stop to consider the outcome of our actions?

Cost Benefit Analysis

Unshakeable Living // Romans 6:21

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

Most of us struggle with it; a blessed few don’t — or at least that’s what they say. I’m talking, of course, about our struggle with sin. Even though we have been redeemed from our sins, credited with Jesus’ righteousness, set free from the law of sin and death, given a new identity, and set on the path to a glorious destiny in Christ, we tend to drift back into the sins that once held us in bondage before our salvation. That’s how powerful sin is and how susceptible we are to its pull.

Now please understand that I am not excusing the inevitable surrender to sin. I am only explaining it. Sin seems to win a fair share of skirmishes with us, and if it weren’t for God’s grace and the reality of unlimited forgiveness (1 John 1:9), we’d be toast!

But as satisfying as grace and forgiveness are, I want more! I want to be free from all sin. I don’t want to lose any more skirmishes. I don’t want sin to have any more dominion over me — not in the least.

Now is that really possible? Is my total and complete sanctification possible? Can I attain sinless perfection in this life? Of course, our positional sanctification before God is an accomplished fact — remember, we’ve been credited with Christ’s righteousness, and as a result, we can’t get any more righteous than that before God! What I’m talking about here is practical sanctification. Can I be completely free from sin and holy in my everyday, moment-by-moment life in my Christian walk?

Some would say yes (the sinless perfection proponents); most would say that’s not possible—and I tend to side with the latter. But here’s what I do know for sure: One of the strongest antidotes to the ongoing and habitual sin in my life is the spiritual discipline of doing a cost-benefit analysis before I commit it the sin. That’s what Paul is asking us to do in Romans 6:21. If in everything we do — whether it be acts of unrighteousness, or simple errors of judgment, or the outright, and deliberate plunge into sin — the inalterable law of sowing and reaping is in effect (so says Galatians 6:8-9), then wouldn’t it be wise to first stop to consider the outcome of our actions?

Especially sin, as Paul makes clear in Romans 6:23, where he reminds us of the outcome of sin: “the wages of sin is death…” Not a pleasant outcome, is it? Ultimately, those who continue in sin will suffer eternal separation from God in a Christless eternity. But even for those of us who have been redeemed, not making an all-out effort to overcome sin will mean death to the fullness and favor of God that he’s promised to those who overcome. Sin blocks God’s best in our lives. And to me, that’s death!

I don’t want that, do you? No, you and I want life: “But the gift of God is eternal life,” verse 23 goes on to say. And, my friend, eternal life doesn’t just start the minute after you die. You see, each time we say no to sin there is a bit more of eternity that is unleashed in our hearts in the here and now. And the benefit of surrendering to God far outweighs any momentary high that comes from surrendering to sin — especially in light of the fact that sin’s “high” fades in a heartbeat, leaving in its wake only guilt, pain, and forfeiture of the blessings of obedience.

So, in light of that, what say we begin to practice a spiritual discipline? I will, and I hope you’ll join me. Before we pull the trigger on that next temptation, let’s just first run it through a little cost-benefit analysis.

My guess is, if we can commit ourselves to that simple practice, we aren’t going to be committing too many sins, because sin ain’t gonna be looking so good after all!

Get Rooted: Read Romans 6:1-23, then memorize Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Compare Romans 6:21 with 6:23. Do a cost-benefit analysis of the particular sin that you seem to struggle with on a recurring basis.

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(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding

Everything!

UNSHAKEABLE: These first eleven verses of Romans 5 are so profound that no commentary I or anyone else can offer will really do them justice. So, I want to recommend that you simply read and re-read them until the Spirit who inspired these verses illuminates them to you in a fresh way and brings you into a true and deeper understanding of what it took to justify you, and what it means for you to stand in peace and grace in God’s presence. I have a sense that when you really begin to understand this you will probably fall on your knees in laughter, or dumbfounded silence, or tears — because all those responses are appropriate when you begin to understand even in the slightest the amazing grace and the deep, deep love of God!

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding - Ray Noah

Unshakeable Living // Romans 5:1-2

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions (I know, your favorite band) first popularized the song “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” back in the late 1970s. If you haven’t heard it — it’s actually a pretty catchy song — you might want to download it to your iTunes.

Anyway, that’s a digression from what I want to talk about. But I do think it makes a pretty good title for Romans 5:1-11. The essence of Paul’s argument here is that we have peace with God (not just inner calm and serenity, but literally, the mutual hostility between God and man because of man’s sin has been ended) and access (free, unlimited, and irrevocable) to his grace (unmerited favor) because, through his love, we have been justified (a once-and-for-all legal settlement) by Christ’s sacrificial death.

I don’t know about you, but I find that funny. Not just kind of funny, but gut-splittingly funny! “Funny” not in the sense of ridiculous — although getting credited with righteousness before God through Christ’s account is a pretty absurd equation, wouldn’t you say? Not just “funny” in the sense of foolish — although the idea of being right with God apart from good works and human effort is the height of foolishness to those who are not saved. And not just “funny” in the sense of odd — although how odd is it that God would go to such great links to prove his love by loving that which was completely unlovable? (Romans 5:6-8)

No, I am talking “funny” in the sense that what God has done for you and me is so undeserved, and we are such unlikely candidates for his grace that the only response we can offer in return is to fall on our knees, undone by love, overflowing with gratitude, and giddy with joy!

These first eleven verses are so amazingly profound that no commentary I or anyone else can offer will really do them justice. So, I want to recommend that you simply read and re-read them until the Spirit who inspired these verses illuminates them to you in a fresh way and brings you into a true and deeper understanding of what it took to justify you, and what it means for you to stand in peace and grace in God’s presence.

I have a sense that when you really begin to understand this — although I’m not sure we will ever really and fully “get” what has been done for us — you will probably fall on your knees in laughter, or dumbfounded silence, or tears — because all those responses are appropriate when you begin to understand even in the slightest the amazing grace and the deep, deep love of God!

What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding? Everything!

Get Rooted: Two Options for Scripture Memory: Option A — Memorize Romans 5:1-4, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Option B — Memorize Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Now, read Romans 5:1-11 once a day for the next seven days (you might want to use a different version on different days). Ask God to give you a fresh understanding of the richness of these verses.

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God’s BFF

A Description Worth Aspiring To

UNSHAKEABLE: Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept on hoping, believing in God’s promises that one day he would be the father of many nations, even when his only son, through whom his lineage would continue, was about to die. In other words, Abraham didn’t let his circumstances dominate his life; he allowed God’s promises to dictate his life. Abraham believed that if Isaac was going to die on the altar, God would raise him to life. That was his hope. By faith, belief, and hope in the One who resurrects, Abraham became God’s friend. And by the same, you can, too.

God’s BFF

Unshakeable Living // Romans 4:17

God’s promise of eternal life is received through the same kind of faith demonstrated by Abraham, who believed in the God who resurrects the dead and creates new things out of nothing.

I don’t know if you have done much thinking about Abraham, but what a true hero of the faith! Here’s a guy who was saved by faith even before there was a Bible or the Law or Christ’s death and resurrection or a community of faith. God appeared to Abraham one day — we are not even sure if he’d had any previous interaction with God or if this was simply an out-of-the-blue encounter — and Abraham said, “Okay, God — I’m on board. What’s next?”

Abraham then went on a life-long journey with God in which he became known as a friend of God — a pretty enviable designation, I would say — the genetic father of God’s people, the Jews, and the spiritual father of all who believe. (James 2:23, Romans 4:16-17)

Obviously, Abraham was a very special man, and the Bible holds him up as an example to emulate for believers like you and me. We all ought to be Abraham-like in the spiritual dimension of our lives.

But is that even possible? Is there even the smallest chance that I can develop that same Abraham-like relationship with God? Can I attain a walk with God that will be an Abraham-like example to others? And if it’s possible, then how?

Well, it is possible! Paul goes on to say, “God will accept us in the same way he accepted Abraham — when we believe the promises of God who brought back Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He died for our sins and rose again to make us right with God, filling us with God’s goodness..” (Romans 4:24, TLB)

How can we attain friendship with God? I can sum up the “how” in two words: Faith and hope—technically, that’s three words, but work with me!

First, you’ve got to make resurrection the foundation of your faith.

That’s what Abraham did! Romans 4:17 says, “Abraham believed in the God who brings back the dead to life.” Abraham was a little ahead of his time — like a few thousand years — but he believed in the God of the resurrection. What Paul is referring to here is the story of God’s call to Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac on the altar (you can read the story in Genesis 22) and Abraham’s willingness to actually go through with it. Why would Abraham be willing to do such a thing? Because he had faith in the God of the resurrection — the God who could, and would, raise Isaac back to life again.

The truth is, to have that kind of Abraham-like faith, we have to have that same Abraham-like trust in the God of the resurrection. If you don’t have a foundational and resolute belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and his promise to resurrect you from the dead, your faith will not develop to Abraham-like proportions, and in fact, it will be meaningless. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”

In other words, if we have no faith in the God of the resurrection, then I am wasting my energy writing this devotional…and you’re wasting your time reading it…and you’ll never come close to living an Abraham-like life of faith. You will have a shakeable faith! But the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves that God is who he said he is and will fulfill what he has promised to do. And the faith you place in the God who resurrects the dead will empower you to live the kind of God-honoring faith that Abraham lived.

Second, you must claim resurrection as the basis of your hope.

That, too, is what Abraham did. Romans 4:18 tells us that “even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept on hoping, believing in God’s promises that one day he would be the father of many nations” when his only son, through whom his lineage would continue, was about to die. In other words, Abraham didn’t let his circumstances dominate his life; he allowed God’s promises to dictate his life. Abraham believed that if Isaac was going to die on the altar, God would raise him to life. That was his hope.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this, but the exercise of that kind of hope is arguably the most powerful discipline you can engage as a believer. Count Bismarck said, “Without the hope of [Christian resurrection], this life is not worth the effort of getting dressed in the morning.” He was right! Christian hope is that important and that powerful.

Karl Marx proclaimed that religious hope is the opiate of the people. But Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.” And Paul writes in Romans 5:5 that this “hope does not disappoint us!”

Do you practice hope? I am not talking about the breezy kind of optimism that Mary Martin sang about in South Pacific when she crooned, “I’m stuck like a dope with a thing called hope.” I am talking about the exercise of hope that declares that you are choosing to believe in God’s promises, not just in spite of the evidence, but in scorn of the consequences. We’ve been called to practice that kind of hope.

By faith, belief, and hope in the One who resurrects, Abraham became God’s friend. And by the same, you can, too.

Get Rooted: Memorize James 2:23, “And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.”

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FreeCreditReport.God

Alien Righteousness — Thank God For it!

UNSHAKEABLE: Here’s the mind-blowing thing about your salvation: even the faith it took to believe in Christ’s work of imputing his righteousness to our account was not based on your worthiness. It was a free gift from God. If the faith it took to believe was your own, that would be a meritorious work — but righteousness with God just doesn’t work that way. God’s act of declaring Abraham (as well as you and all other believing sinners) righteous is entirely apart from any kind of human effort; otherwise, God would owe us our wages. Our believing, then, rather than being something with which we impress God into saving us, is simply the conduit through which alien righteousness flows to us, and thus credits us with Christ’s righteousness and produces our right standing with God.

FreeCreditReport.God

Unshakeable Living // Romans 4:3

Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

I have a confession. As an undergrad student, whenever I would come to a page in a textbook that carried an illustration or a table as an inset, I would skip it. Rather than allowing the example to reinforce the point in the written material, I would just flip past it and hurry on to more important extracurricular activities that awaited me. But that’s a whole “nuther” story!

Similarly, you might be tempted to skim past Romans 4 since the whole chapter is pretty much an illustrative inset to the case the Apostle Paul has been making so far: that we are justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Jewish law. And now, to drive his point home, he presents the example of Abraham. But don’t skip over this, because within Abraham’s example, you will find a core principle of what it means and what it takes to be in right standing with God.

Eight times in this chapter alone, Paul uses the word “credited” to deliver a theological knockout punch. The New King James Version uses the alternative terms “accounted” and “imputed” nine times. This is a big deal to Paul — as it is to our faith. This is ground zero to salvation. Here is what theologian R.C. Sproul says about it:

Imputation is more than central; it’s essential to the New Testament gospel. Friends, I beg you never to negotiate the concept of the imputed righteousness of Christ. That’s the article upon which we stand and fall because without His righteousness all we have to offer God is filthy rags…

Sproul goes on to say what Paul is declaring is that “the righteousness by which we are justified is an alien righteousness — a foreign righteousness.” In other words, our right standing with God was, is, and always shall be only possible through a righteousness outside of ourselves — what is referred to as “alien righteousness.” Our righteousness before God is only possible because God credited Christ’s righteousness to us. Says Sproul, “the only righteousness that will justify us is the righteousness of Christ. We are naked and helpless without the cloak of His righteousness covering us.”

Paul took the word “credited” or “imputed” (in the Greek language, it is (“logidzomahee”) from the legal or financial world of his day. The term meant to credit to the account of another; in this case, to take from the account of one and legally credit it to the account of another. Once it was in the other’s account, it was legally his. In this case, righteousness became Abraham’s by faith; in your case, right standing with God becomes yours by faith.

And here’s the mind-blowing part of this: even the faith it took for you to believe in Christ’s work of imputation was not your own. That, too, was a free gift from God (Eph 2:8-9). You see, if the faith it took to believe was your own, that as well would be a meritorious work — but righteousness with God just doesn’t work that way. (Rom 4:2,5) God’s act of declaring Abraham (as well as you and all other believing sinners) righteous is completely apart from any kind of human effort; otherwise, God would owe us our wages. (Rom 4:4) Our believing, then, rather than being something with which we impress God into saving us, is simply the conduit through which this alien righteousness flows to us, and thus credits us with Christ’s righteousness and produces our right standing with God.

I know that is a mouthful, but I want to challenge you to check it out here in Romans 4 — our FreeCreditReport.God, if you will. Study it, meditate on it, absorb it, and glory in it since this is the core of what it means and what it takes to be right and righteous with God.

Get Rooted: Memorize Romans 4:16, “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.” Then read Romans 4 in several different versions. I would recommend the version you normally use, plus The Message and The New Living Translation.

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Just As If I’d Never Sinned

Jesus Paid a Debt He Did Not Owe — I Owe A Debt I cannot Pay

UNSHAKEABLE: The Good News revealed in the New Testament is that through faith in Jesus Christ’s person and his work on the cross, sinners can now stand before the holy and righteous God justified — just as if they had never sinned. Now don’t miss the beauty of this! Our justification happened only by what Jesus did on the cross. There he paid the penalty that you legally owed as one who had transgressed God’s law. But not only were you pardoned from receiving the just punishment reserved for all lawbreakers, your guilt was removed as well. So not only were you set free, you were totally cleansed — your sin record was expunged. You now stand before God just as if you had never sinned.

Just As If I’d Never Sinned - Ray Noah

Unshakeable Living // Romans 3:24

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

As a young man, I heard a simple preacher offer this definition of justification: It is just as if I’d never sinned! When you study what the Apostle Paul meant by the word, it turns out that is a pretty good explanation for a highly complex theology construct.

Paul uses the verb “justified” and words derived from its root, thirty times in Romans alone. Obviously, this is an important theme with Paul and the critical core of our Christian faith. Along with “gospel” and “faith” (see Romans 1), this is our theology. The “good news” revealed in the New Testament is that through “faith” in Jesus Christ’s person and his work on the cross, sinners can now stand before the holy and righteous God “justified” — just as if they had never sinned.

Now don’t miss the beauty of this! Our justification, which was a legal concept, by the way, happened only by what Jesus did on the cross. There he paid the penalty that you legally owed as one who had transgressed God’s law. But not only were you pardoned from receiving the just punishment reserved for all lawbreakers, your guilt was removed as well. So not only were you set free, but you were also totally cleansed — your sin record was expunged. You now stand before God just as if you had never sinned.

Now how can that be? Well, part of the justification package included that not only were you pardoned from punishment and declared not guilty, but you were also literally infused with Christ’s very own righteousness — “everything Jesus” was imputed, literally and spiritually, to you. But that’s not all! As beautiful as that is, it is even more stunningly beautiful that to be imputed with Christ’s righteousness meant Jesus had to have both your sins and your sin nature imputed to him on the cross — “he became sin on your behalf so that you could become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

All of that was legally necessary for you to be made right with God. You owed a legal debt that you could not pay to the Judge of all creation. He loved you so much that he sent his one and only Son — perfectly sinless — to pay the full legal price for your redemption by becoming sin and taking the punishment into his own being as he hung on the cross and shed his blood.

And you receive this free gift of God’s grace by faith (saving trust) alone — not by your own works of righteousness or inherent merit. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You stand before God just as if you had never sinned.

I don’t know about you, but the only response I have to such amazing and undeserved love is to offer the rest of my life as one unending thanksgiving offering to God.

Get Rooted: Today, write a thank you note to God for his free gift of your eternal justification. Keep it in your Bible in Romans 3 as a reminder of the debt of gratitude you owe.