What are our shortcomings? We all realize that we have them. Is this just another way of saying that we have fallen short of our personal ideals? At some time all of us have held high ideals to define what we think our life should be like. But most of us learn early on that we couldn't measure up to them.Worse yet, we have often fallen short of the expectations of others and the standards of God. Oh, the weight of guilt we carry! Oh, the pain to think of how we have disappointed those we love! Oh, the longing for some way to be what we should be!
The apostle Paul wrote: "For all have sinned; all fall short of Gods glorious standard. Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins". (Romans 3:23-24) Paul goes on to ask, "Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. So we are made right with God through our faith and not by obeying the law." (3:27-28)
When God removes our sins, He does a great job! "He has removed our rebellious acts as far as the east is from the west". (Psalm 103:12) We can trust God to remove our shortcomings, moment by moment, if we humble ourself to obey His word. That means having faith in Jesus Christ to make up for our weakness in both character and action.
"because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. So we are made right with God through our faith and not by obeying the law."
ReplyDeleteLest we not misunderstand this statement to mean that we are somehow above the law or that good deeds are not necessary, it should be pointed out who Paul is addressing and what he meant. By laws, Paul is referring to Jewish law or Mosaic Law. Jesus himself made the same point when he called the Pharisees out for claiming that following the law was more important than that belief and faith. One does not automatically receive salvation simply by following the rules. Likewise, James points out that faith without works, or deeds, is dead. We show our faith by our good works. Paul equates the words law with deed.