Some of God’s greatest gifts arrive wrapped in rough paper. Likewise, some of God’s good news begins gruffly. With that in mind, let’s leap in.
Do you ever find yourself shying away from using the word “sin?” It seems harsh, personal, and condemning. It is all of those things, and from God’s view it is rightly so. Why? Sin wrecks the world, and each person in it. Until we call it what it is we cannot deal with it honestly. Not correctly identifying inherent sinfulness as our primary problem would be like accepting a doctor’s diagnosis of: “Yes, you certainly have a terrible disease, but let’s not identify it, or label it specifically — that would be harsh and upsetting — rather, let’s call it something more pleasing and see if you can improve your health by ignoring it.” That’s industrial strength negligence. Although it would seem like a ridiculous approach to physical health some have no qualms about handling their spiritual matters in this manner.
You are wondering where the good words are, aren’t you? Well, we must first ascertain that sin is the ailment before we can apply the cure. With that out of the way, here’s the cure:
“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,” Romans 4:3-5
The deeply personal bad news is that we are all sinners, and sinful. The worse news is that many people believe that it is possible to work their way out of it. Attending church, doing good deeds, and giving to charities are all common approaches to “doing more good than bad.” The truth — Bible truth that is — tells us that we cannot do so. We do not have the ability, capacity, or consistency to do “good” that will erase our sin. No one will be forgiven and receive eternal life because of what he or she did. No one; not you, not me, not anyone, ever. Romans 4:4 makes this jarringly clear: if you attempt to work to earn God’s favor and forgiveness you actually go further into debt to Him for your sin. Hint: trying to earn God’s favor is a sin in itself as it attempts to reduce God’s standards to ours and exalts our abilities to those of Christ. Ouch!
Now to the good words, good words to encourage you toward a good week.
Romans 4:5 gives us three astounding truths:
- Our relationship with God is grace-based, not works-based. Whew!
- The “ungodly” and “unrighteous” — that’s us — are forgiven and justified by faith in Jesus.
- The righteousness of Jesus is applied to those who believe in Him.
In summary, you and I cannot earn God’s favor and forgiveness; we receive it by His grace through faith in Jesus. And — this is a a big one — we are forgiven by faith in Jesus and His righteousness is applied to us (that’s a big “and”). So, God does not see you as a sinner huddled under the Name of his Son, rather, He sees you cloaked in and covered by the righteousness of His Son. He looks at you through the lens of the Lord Jesus. How’s that for good words from God’s Word?
He did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves and gives us what we could never earn. That’s a grand description of God’s grace. His grace for you, and to you, each day. Good words indeed…
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