Good morning Lord Jesus, I set aside this time this morning to listen to the plans you set for me today.
“For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.…Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Romans 3: 22,23,27)
When Paul states that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” what does he mean? Wait for it…Wait for it…..he means ALL, every last human being on earth that ever existed, exists now, or will ever exist, including you and I! None of us in our flesh apart from the faith we receive from and in Christ is “higher up” or “better” than anyone else. We all have sinned and fallen. Those who call themselves Christians and live a “good” life in themselves are no better than an addict, prostitute, gang member, Craigs List scammer, child or wife abuser or fill the the blank with any other term we have for sinner.
There are 365 days in a year. Say you are a “good” person who for this sake of argument only sins the almost impossible small amount of 2-3 times a day. ( I say almost impossible as sin, is disobeying God, or missing the mark. Missing the mark by active sin; doing something you know you are not to do; or the omission sin; not doing what you know you should do. Like knowing a co-worker needs Jesus and you should share Jesus with them but you walk by him in the office and remain silent. You missed the mark.) By only sinning 2-3 time a day that would add up to approximately 1,000 times a year. Say then you live to be 80 years and you die. Standing before Jesus and all the saints are you going to raise your hands and being proudful shout “80,000 Baby! That’s right! In your face! I only sinned 80,000 times! What do you think about that Jesus! No, you would fall on your knees before Him and boast only in Him and for his grace and mercy in your salvation. Whether your number of sins is 80K, 500K, or a million or more, all have fallen short and have no place to boast.
All of us have sin tainting us. Say you were making two pans of brownies. You have on your counter two bowls of brownies batter for the two pans of brownies. You walk outside along your side walk and find an average piece of dog crap and you put it in one of the bowls of batter and blend it in. You then go back outside again, walk along the side walk and find a larger pile of fresh, warm dog crap. You bring it into the house, put it in the second bowl of batter and blend it in. You then pour the batters into the two pans and bake them. When the brownies are done, do you eat, share and enjoy the first pan because it only has an average amount of dog crap in it? No! Dog crap tainted brownies is dog crap tainted brownies no matter the size, texture, or freshness of the dog crap you put in them. All have fallen short.
And also whether you made $20k, $50k, $100k, $250k or more a year; the title of your job; the size and number of houses you own; cars you drive; the toys, cloths and other items you own will mean absolutely nothing and be worthless to boast about when you stand before Jesus. He will simply ask how generous were you with whatever wealth you had. (Read Mark 12:41-44). All have fallen short.
This also means that all are on level ground before the cross and all have equal access to the love and grace of Jesus. The house wife in Madison, Al and a prostitute in New York city; or the child raised in a “good” Christian home in Huntsville Al and the child born to a mother in ISIS in Damascus, Syria, when they fall on their knees and cry out for Jesus they will be received equally and with the same amount of rejoicing in heaven.
My family, I pray today you will reflect on the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, including you. I pray that you will reflect with extreme gratitude on the undeserved gift of grace, mercy, and forgiveness you have received through the cross. I pray then you walk out your door into today that is also a gift with complete gratitude in your heart and be generous and share with other this gift you have received, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections of Romans chapter 3 with us in the comment box below.
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