DAY 332 Read Romans 3 and 4.
Today's reading: In the first two chapters Paul bore down hard on those who prided themselves on their ancestry. Now he places their Jewish ancestry in proper perspective, though making plain that ritual works of the law cannot earn salvation.
Memory gem: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: we establish the law" (Romans 3:31).
Thought for today:
What does the phrase mean, the "righteousness of God without the law" (Romans 3:21)? Is this in harmony with the statement that all God's commandments are righteousness? Yes. There is no contradiction. God's law is not ignored in the process of righteousness by faith. Notice carefully now. Who gave the law? Christ gave it. How did He speak it? As one having authority, even as God. The law came from Christ as well as from the Father, because They are one. It is simply a declaration of the righteousness of His character. Therefore the righteousness that comes by the faith of Jesus Christ is the same righteousness that is revealed in the law.
On one side stands the law, a swift witness against every sinner. It cannot change, and it cannot and will not call a sinner a righteous man. It cannot be bribed by any amount of penance or good deeds or works. On the other side stands Christ, full of grace as well as truth. He calls the sinner to Him and offers to forgive him. At last, weary and in despair of his struggle to get righteousness from the law, the sinner listens to the voice of Jesus and flees to Him. Hiding in Christ, he is covered by His righteousness.
And now look at the change. The sinner receives by faith from Christ what he could never have obtained by struggling. He receives it as a gift. He has not earned it. He has believed, and it was counted to him for righteousness. He now has all the righteousness that the law requires, and it is the genuine article. The law, which formerly condemned him, now witnesses to the genuineness of his righteousness. Before God he is a righteous man, with the righteousness "which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Philippians 3:9).
That is the only way to be safe, my friend. And you can be certainly sure this very day if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your complete and perfect righteousness.
Today's reading: In the first two chapters Paul bore down hard on those who prided themselves on their ancestry. Now he places their Jewish ancestry in proper perspective, though making plain that ritual works of the law cannot earn salvation.
Memory gem: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: we establish the law" (Romans 3:31).
Thought for today:
What does the phrase mean, the "righteousness of God without the law" (Romans 3:21)? Is this in harmony with the statement that all God's commandments are righteousness? Yes. There is no contradiction. God's law is not ignored in the process of righteousness by faith. Notice carefully now. Who gave the law? Christ gave it. How did He speak it? As one having authority, even as God. The law came from Christ as well as from the Father, because They are one. It is simply a declaration of the righteousness of His character. Therefore the righteousness that comes by the faith of Jesus Christ is the same righteousness that is revealed in the law.
On one side stands the law, a swift witness against every sinner. It cannot change, and it cannot and will not call a sinner a righteous man. It cannot be bribed by any amount of penance or good deeds or works. On the other side stands Christ, full of grace as well as truth. He calls the sinner to Him and offers to forgive him. At last, weary and in despair of his struggle to get righteousness from the law, the sinner listens to the voice of Jesus and flees to Him. Hiding in Christ, he is covered by His righteousness.
And now look at the change. The sinner receives by faith from Christ what he could never have obtained by struggling. He receives it as a gift. He has not earned it. He has believed, and it was counted to him for righteousness. He now has all the righteousness that the law requires, and it is the genuine article. The law, which formerly condemned him, now witnesses to the genuineness of his righteousness. Before God he is a righteous man, with the righteousness "which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Philippians 3:9).
That is the only way to be safe, my friend. And you can be certainly sure this very day if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your complete and perfect righteousness.
RSS Feed
