OCTOBER 31
WE ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
2 Corinthians 5:21
For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (WEB)
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, exchanged His life for ours. The spotless Lamb of God took on our sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. This is the gospel message. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we could be declared righteous before our Heavenly Father.
Nothing in the earthly realm could ever grasp the enormous cost God paid for our redemption. Aside from divine revelation, the work of the cross remains a mystery. How could God Himself give His life for those who were considered His enemies? (Romans 5:10)
If we try to understand what is beyond our human grasp, we will simply end up with a religious response. The truth is that God has given us a gift that we do not deserve. There is nothing we could ever do to earn what Jesus did on our behalf. And there is nothing we could ever do through our human effort to maintain what He has freely given us.
My prayer today is that the love shown to us by God when Jesus died on the cross would dismantle every form of religious, legalistic striving within us that still tries to add something to the finished work of Christ. May we all simply yield to the unmerited favor extended to us by God Himself and accept His free gift expressed through the divine exchange of Jesus' life for ours.
The only fitting reply is to say... Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Ephesians 2:4-9
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. (WEB)
For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (WEB)
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, exchanged His life for ours. The spotless Lamb of God took on our sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. This is the gospel message. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we could be declared righteous before our Heavenly Father.
Nothing in the earthly realm could ever grasp the enormous cost God paid for our redemption. Aside from divine revelation, the work of the cross remains a mystery. How could God Himself give His life for those who were considered His enemies? (Romans 5:10)
If we try to understand what is beyond our human grasp, we will simply end up with a religious response. The truth is that God has given us a gift that we do not deserve. There is nothing we could ever do to earn what Jesus did on our behalf. And there is nothing we could ever do through our human effort to maintain what He has freely given us.
My prayer today is that the love shown to us by God when Jesus died on the cross would dismantle every form of religious, legalistic striving within us that still tries to add something to the finished work of Christ. May we all simply yield to the unmerited favor extended to us by God Himself and accept His free gift expressed through the divine exchange of Jesus' life for ours.
The only fitting reply is to say... Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Ephesians 2:4-9
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. (WEB)