Doesn’t that sound like an oxymoron? Do church and sinners have anything in common? They do. Several years ago, John and I visited a church. During a sermon on sin, the preacher belted out…”There are murderers in here!” What?! Where was he going with this? He followed with, “There are rapists and liars and thieves and adulterers in here.” I wondered if people would walk out! I soon learned that he was making an excellent point. WE ALL ARE SINNERS. It is true. We are in church. Sinners are in church. We all have sinned before.
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:22-23 NIV
Praise the Lord! There were people in the room that gave their lives to Christ and were cleansed from their past sins. There were sins of hate, jealousy, attitude and idolatry as well as the BIG sins we think of. By the way, we may think we are a better Christian because our sin was “small.” I did for a time but God showed me how wrong I was! His grace washes away our sin, no matter the size. When we become His, our hearts probably look the same to Him. He has no favorites. He is not partial. Humility is believing that.
For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Roman 2:11-12 NIV
There are four very important truths in this verse:
1.All who break His laws are sinners.
2.All who sin against His law will be judged by His law. (Him)
3, Hearing His laws does not make us righteous.
4. Obeying God’s law makes us righteous.
This is the word of God. All I know is I want everyone to go to heaven, but not once does God guarantee that. Notice the italicized verbs. It shows the importance of our ACTIONS, versus just hearing or knowing the law. I am thankful God is strict about us obeying His laws! Why? Would you rather God loosely described what He expects so we are not quite clear on what pleases Him? I appreciate full disclosure where His expectations are concerned.
Dear God,
Thank you so much for Your Word! Because of Your Word we know what You expect from us. Penetrate our hearts and tell us if we have wicked ways we do not realize. Cleanse us of anything not pleasing to You. Give us a clean heart and renewed vision of what a heart cleansed by You should do for others. With the grace You give us, help us to give grace to others, realizing how much You love them. Thank You for the gift of Jesus in our hearts. The perfect inside the imperfect! It makes no sense , and it makes all the sense in the world. Everything about Your plan is perfect. We love You so much! Amen
GROWwork:
Who is the hardest person in your family or circle of friends to love? Have they hurt you or alienated you? Have you done so to them? Those that hurt us may be hurting worse than we are. Reach out to one person who you normally aren’t drawn to. Make a connection that may eventually point them to Jesus. Show them the grace of His love. I already have someone in mind. It may not be easy but it is the right thing to do, to share the grace we have been given.
Love and prayers to all of you,
Tina
Glory in the Morning 