ROMANS 3:22

“but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction,”

When I read today’s verse, my mind immediately goes to John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” EVERYONE! I can just hear Billy Graham reading this verse and sharing the simplicity of the Gospel with the crowds. God doesn’t expect us to get all cleaned up before we come to Him. He takes us just as we are. He does the cleaning.

Paul continues his thought from verse 21 (see yesterday’s blog) when he talks about the key element of God’s righteousness which is revealed to us. It only comes through faith in Jesus Christ. No amount of law keeping or sheep slaughtered will accomplish it. His life was freely given so that we could receive the free gift of grace. And this, Paul says, does not discriminate. He says, “there is no distinction.” That Greek word is diastole, and it means a variation, difference or separation. We all have access to this righteousness in Christ.

APPLICATION

I love this description of this verse given by a scholar. “And so, dear friends, I have to come to you now with this message. No matter what a man is, how far he has gone, how sinful he has been, how long he has stayed away from the sweetness and grace of that great sacrifice on the Cross, that death was for him. The power of Christ’s sacrifice makes possible the forgiveness of all the sins of all the world, past, present, and to come. The worth of that sacrifice, which was made by the willing surrender of the Incarnate Son of God to the death of the Cross, is sufficient for the ransom price of all the sins of all men.” (McLaren’s Expositions)

Later in Romans 10-9-10, Paul writes, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Confession and belief, of course, involves repentance and obedience.

God intended for us all to be saved. He even says so in His word. In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul writes to Timothy, “3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” So, if it is God’s will that all be saved, shouldn’t it be ours as well? Share the Gospel with someone today. You may just change the course of their life for eternity.

Father, thank You that someone took the time to share with me long ago. Help me share with others.

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