Friday
Is it easier for a child to become a Christian when they are raised in a Christian home, than one who never heard the name Jesus, unless it was used as a swear word? But those backgrounds are certainly not guarantees that one will become a Christian. And neither is being a Jew or a Gentile.
So at the risk of not offending the Jewish Christians, Paul does help us remember that the great achievement of Judaism was that they were “entrusted with the …words of God”. (vs 2) I don’t think that Paul wanted to ignore or downplay the role that the Jews had in the salvation story, after all this was Paul’s heritage, too. But what is important is to understand that Jesus came to offer salvation to everyone.
Paul then turns to the question of God’s grace. If humans are accepted by grace alone and if their disobedience is a means by which God grace and mercy are magnified, then why not just do whatever we want so that God’s grace can be shown more.
There are some people who will take this freedom in Christ too far and are essentially perverting the Christian faith. Nowhere are we told to sin more, actually the opposite is true.
Paul goes back then to the point that Jews and Gentiles are equal, no group is superior to the other group. As I read this, I can’t help but think that human nature never seems to change. We seem to always want to be at odds with other people. This battle has been fought throughout history. So what makes us all alike? All are under the power of sin. All need a Savior.
Paul gives us a list of scriptural references to show how all people have fallen short of what God expects from us. And then he tells us that purpose of the Law was to “simply shows us how sinful we truly are.”
It has been said that Roman 3:21-28 is the “heart of Romans.” It is our understanding that salvation comes through faith alone. The Law cannot save us, our good deeds cannot save us. The underlying truth is that when we think it is through our actions that we are saved, then we are filled with pride, and self-centeredness.
Too many times at funerals I hear, he was a good person. That may be true, but our works…our actions are not what save us… what does save us is our faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is our response to God. Faith means that I have a bond with Christ, I believe in Him, I am loyal to Him, I trust that what He says is true.
The other point is that we have done nothing to earn our salvation. There is no way that people can earn their salvation, it only comes as a gift to us, it only comes because God loves us.
Paul also speaks about atonement or being made right with God (vs 25). From the Jewish tradition, the day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was when they would sprinkle blood on the altar for the forgiveness of sins. You see there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. For us as Christians, that shedding of blood came at the cost of Christ’s death on the cross. Christ did this because of His great love for us.
So the question for today is, have you accepted this gift? Do you believe that Jesus died so that you can have eternal life with the Father?
Grace and Peace
Pastor Kathy