Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
Romans 5:18
The phrase that caught my attention in this verse is: “…the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.” It was as if the Spirit said inside me, “Really? Is that really true?” He was asking me if I believed that in one act of righteousness that Jesus had actually provided justification for all men. When I assured the Lord that I believed in what He had done on the Cross He had more questions for me. Was the righteousness of Christ enough for me or did I need to earn some more? Did I need to polish His product up a bit to make it meet God’s standard? And finally He asked, “Why are you trying so hard to make Me think more of you when I died for you? I like you already!”
Throughout the week I pondered this statement of justification and my ability to accept it. Then I saw him. A young teenager was ahead of me in line at the grocery store. The scent was pungent. You know what I mean, the “too-much-cologne-not-enough-hygiene” fragrance. It was then it hit me how our attempt to make ourselves good enough for Gold failed. Instead of bathing and keeping himself clean this kid just poured on more cover up cologne. It didn’t really cover up the bad smell; it just kind of mixed in with it.
Like him, we try to cover up our sinful odors with good behavior but they just mix in with our bad behaviors and don’t really change the fact that sometimes we stink. We need a bath in the baptism of the blood of Jesus to be cleansed form our sin. Then we need daily washing in the Word to keep the soul clean. Jesus isn’t looking for people trying to cover up their stench. He is looking for people who want to be cleansed and kept clean by keeping His Word. Dear brother or sister, let’s commit to real righteous found in Jesus not some cover up that only exposes us as fakes.
Cleansed by His Blood; Washed in His Word,
Pastor Jason
No comments:
Post a Comment