Set Free

Romans 3 21-31

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses[a] and the prophets long ago.  We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,  for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

Isaiah 53 4-5

He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.

Jesus. He paid it all. Paul explains in this passage we are made right OUTSIDE the requirements of the law. That we are made right through true faith in Jesus Christ. In verse 22 and 29 Paul exclaims some thing that changes the way of thinking , a reminder for ALL OF US! He reminds us that GOD. Is the only God. One God. Not just the God of the JEWS but as it truly is. The Maker of Heaven and Earth. The Creator of ALL things All of us. Jews and Gentiles. Jesus  never differentiated between the two.  Our acquittal is not based on oberying the law. It is apart from the law. Now does this mean we should keep on sinning?? NO!! We can see how bad sin is in the eye of the Lord because of what Jesus had to endure to set us free.The price he paid. A horrific penalty. Not just the physical endurance. But the spiritual. HE was cut from God when he took on our sin. (My God why have you forsaken me). And he endured. FOR YOU. When we look at what Jesus did to allow us to enter the kingdom of God through HIM. We desire to be like him.  We make steps to be sinless. We aren't perfect. But as we grow in Christ we let go of our sinful nature. 

We are free. Let's live as free people. Free by the saving grace of Jesus Christ.