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Simply Grace

Read Romans 3:10-26

God is just. He did not let sin go unpunished. This is true of your sins. He did not ignore them, nor did he sweep them under a carpet. Through the shed blood of Jesus, God judged your sin. He condemned it, and he punished it. All obligations were fully satisfied. But that wasn’t the end goal.

God is both just and the justifier. He freely justifies, “those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). God took away your sins, and then he declared you to be righteous. This is the proof that your sins — all of them — have been forgiven, and that you are in right standing with God.

This is not something anyone could earn through good works. Paul could not have been more clear on this point: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20).

God justifies freely by his grace. He justifies sinners and declares them right in his sight on the basis of Christ’s finished work on the cross. Yes, God’s grace is bigger and more powerful than your sin. Think about this. Jesus Christ died not only for your sins but for the sins of the entire world. That’s how big his grace is. Then to prove Jesus’s blood was sufficient, God raised him from the dead. Your sin could not keep him in the grave.

Consider this question. What would happen to the righteousness that was credited to your account if God had left one sin unpunished? Since God is just, he would have to withdraw his righteousness and treat you as a guilty sinner.

Aren’t you glad Jesus died for all of your sins? As a result, you can say with confidence that in him, you have forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

For further study, read these passages: Romans 4:1-8; Romans 8:1-4; Hebrews 9:16 - 10:18; 1 John 2:12.

Based on these passages, think about the bigness of God’s grace that has been lavished on you.

Adapted from Simple Gospel, Simply Grace by Bob Christopher.