But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
To weeks ago I gave a challenge to try to understand the attributes of Love in 1Cor. 13:4-7. It is now that I see how futile such a thing truly is. Who are we who are not good at all to try and understand any part of the God who made all creation and spoke each of us into motion? Who was I to think I was good enough to understand His Love? Does that mean to give up learning of it? No, but as far as thinking that we can understand it and express ourselves is wrong. If Love is ever expressed from us, it is not we ourselves who express it, but God within us moving and working by the Holy Spirit. For in this very same chapter of Romans, Romans 3, verse 10 says "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." It is the truth. None of us are good. None of us truly seeks God by His standards of seeking. We can read our Bibles everyday, pray everyday, serve everyday, but we are always going to be so much worse than we think we actually are. We will never measure up to God's standards because right now, by His standards none of us are truly understanding or seeking Him! How futile are our actions and words and thoughts! But that is why He stepped in. That is why He sent Jesus Christ, HIS SON, to die for us as an atoning sacrifice. Because He Loves us with this Love that is so beyond us to a point of true suffering and pain that we could never bear ourselves so that we might be forgiven. And I forgot that! I let that go to try to take Salvation by actions so that I could boast. But that is not what Love is. The tiny glimpse God gave us of Love in 1Cor 13:4-7 says that plain as day, it does not boast! So now is the part I humble myself for once and say that I am wretched and wrong and unwise. I am sorry that I thought and typed as if it were otherwise. But what then can I, and you do now?
God said that if we Love Him and then Love others as ourselves, then we will live according to the law. Well guaranteed we're gonna fail at that. But that's why that Love that we don't understand was given to us in Jesus Christ. To save us and to get it through our thick heads that Love is more than we could know it to be. Love is not a noun, it is a verb. Our bodies commit actions that we have no understanding or control over everyday like breathing. If think you have control over it that's because you have control over not doing it. We can hold our breath, but we almost never have to consciously tell ourselves to breathe. With Love it's the same. We have the ability to not do it. And guaranteed if you do it long enough it'll have the same effect as holding your breath to the end. But if we let go and let God take His course, then we will find this impossible element of Life moving in us. I can not explain what it will feel like, why it does so when we let it, or what the true benefits of doing so will be, because I am unrighteous. I can not understand Love, I can only accept it from God and give up myself to Him for His decisions. He is the Maker who Loves us, and He works in mysterious ways. It almost doesn't seem satisfying as an answer, but, the thing is that it is. This Love that we can't understand inspired the giving of Life eternal to all who just believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. He told us everything we needed to know already here on earth: We are sinners who are dead, He is the Loving Father that made us and will forgive us if we believe in His Son Jesus Christ, and He will make us into a new creation capable of allowing Him to work through us to Love others with the Love that saved us. Our sins are not held against us anymore. And the more we allow Him to Love us and change us, the more His Love will come from us. What that will mean in this life could be blessing, persecution, pain, it's not completely clear, but it's evident that it's worth it.
Observing the law will not bring life, only God's mysterious Love will. And thankfully, like that passage above says, He gives it to us freely! I am not good, but the God I want to let work through me now is, I just need to stop holding my breath.
Thank You For Reading
LONG LIVE JESUS CHRIST
AMEN
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