Daily Devotional - Entries tagged "Romans"

Knowing what we believe is a key to strong, life-sustaining faith. Yesterday we saw two of the blessings that are ours through the blood of the Savior. Today we will look at two more.

By trusting in Christ as Savior, we are . . .

Justified. Justification is the process by which God declares us “not guilty.” Romans 3:23 condemns all mankind as sinners who are under a sentence of death and facing a dreadful eternity apart from the Lord and His blessings. But everything changes for the person who accepts Christ’s shed blood as payment for his sins—through Jesus, our heavenly Father declares the sinner not guilty, provides him with Christ’s righteousness, and adopts the new believer into His family (Gal. 3:26). Jesus’ sacrifice satisfied our sin-debt, and His death was counted by God as our own (Rom. 5:9).

Reconciled. Before salvation, we were separated from the Lord and spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1). We had no way to span the gap between Him and us. Christ sent His Holy Spirit to convict us of our guilt (John 16:8), make us aware that we need a Savior, and bring us to saving faith. Jesus, the Lamb of God, removed the barrier of sin that separated us from God. Christ reconciled us to God “having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).

As believers, we should understand what occurred when we received Jesus as Savior (Acts 16:31). Through His sacrifice, we are redeemed, forgiven, justified, and reconciled to God. That is, Christ’s blood has brought us from death to life—and has let us enter into an eternal relationship with the Father.

Our heavenly Father wants us to know how much He loves and cares for us. He has made this clear through . . .

• Revelation of Himself. In Scripture, we learn that the Creator made us in His image and has a purpose for our lives. We also discover that sin has separated us from the Lord, but He has a solution to our problem.
• Provision of a Savior. We were trapped by our sinful nature and unable to free ourselves. That left us helpless and lost, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36). Worse still, we were under a sentence of eternal death—separation from the Lord forever. Because of our Father’s great love for mankind, He sent His only Son to bear the penalty we deserved (Rom. 6:23) and to give us eternal life. Jesus rescued us from slavery to sin and reconciled us to the Father. What we could never do for ourselves, He did for us. His provision is free to us but costly to Him.
• Adoption of believers. When we place our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we become children of God. The separation between Him and us is gone; instead of enemies, we are family. His indwelling Holy Spirit serves as both evidence that we belong to God and assurance of His unending love.

The Father’s care for us shines brightly through the cross—it was because of love that He sent Jesus to earth to die in our place (1 John 4:9-10). Once we accept the gift of salvation through Christ, nothing can separate us from God’s love. What a comfort that is in times of need.

God has predestined every believer to be conformed to the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ. The process begins at salvation and continues until we join Him in heaven. The apostle Paul is a good example of the Lord’s power to transform an unrighteous man into an image-bearer of Jesus.

God changed a sinner into a saint. Paul was deeply religious before his conversion, but he relied on good works and a pious nature to gain divine acceptance. When he met the Lord on the road to Damascus, the future apostle learned that all of his religious zeal meant nothing. The only way for people to be acceptable before God is to receive the saving grace of Christ—He replaces our sin nature with a righteous spirit. And even though saints will sometimes falter and make mistakes, our heavenly Father remains patient and loving toward His children. He uses our failures to teach us more about Himself and His ways.

God changed a servant of sin into a servant of the Lord (Rom. 6:16). Paul was welcomed into the kingdom in spite of his hostility toward the church. He’d promoted blasphemy, punished believers, and cast his vote against those being put to death (Acts 26:10-11). The lesson here is that no one can sin beyond the Lord’s capacity to forgive.

The Father shapes and chisels His children until they mirror His Son. He turned one of the early church’s enemies into a wise and repentant leader. Commit to obey the Lord, and see what He will do in your life. He is faithful to complete the good work He has begun in you (Phil. 1:16).