Daily Devotional

When I was in elementary school, my parents made me attend different types of  AWANA programs around town. One of the first verses that I learned as a child was  Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That verse was usually at the beginning of the booklet I had to get to attend these types of programs at different churches. It’s why it’s one of the main verses that I remember learning, and it is why it has stuck with me for so many years. Romans 3:23 is an important verse to learn because it deals with our sin, but without Romans 3:24, I felt a lot of shame in my life.

 I understand in the gospel why that is one of the first verses that you would learn in a verse learning type booklet, because it deals with humanity’s key issue, that we are sinners who have been separated from God. What I understood about myself, though, fundamentally was that I was totally undeserving of God’s grace, that it was hard for me to believe that Jesus would ever die for sins and resurrect from that grave three days later, and that I might have new life with God. What should have brought me to see my need for Jesus led me to believe that I should be kept away from Jesus.

Even in the good deeds I did, it felt like I was just going through the motions of following Jesus, so that maybe I could be worthy of having my sins forgiven by Jesus and get to go to Heaven. But that’s where I am glad for Romans 3:24, which says, “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (ESV)” Jesus came for us to be made right with Him. We are not justified by anything we can do or could do, but only justified by what Jesus has done for us to be made right with God.

My shame has been wiped away because Jesus has redeemed me, and I am justified by Jesus. My life is to be lived with Him forever and ever because of what He’s done. In reading Romans 3:23-3:24 together, we’re reminded of how breathtaking the gospel is.

We are sinners who can do nothing to earn our way back to God, for we are far outside of His glory, but by His grace, we are made right with God to be children of His forever. In ministry, we can only rely on God’s grace to save people. We should never tire of reflecting on the gospel, as it is the primary way for us to have salvation.

My fear is that at times we find the gospel boring, focus only on getting to Heaven, or say we believe the gospel but live in ways that seek our own glory to make us right with God. The gospel is what all of scripture is pointing to; the only reason to be in Heaven is to be with Jesus, and we are only right and do the good things that God has set up in our lives to make us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10). Let us never tire of the gospel, and doing good deeds because of what God has done for us.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.