Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from the book of Romans, but before we do that, I wanted to ask you a question.
Has there ever been a time in your life when you went to the grocery store to purchase something that you wanted as a special treat for the day?Maybe you wanted a candy bar or a bottle of pop. Possibly you were in the mood for a really good pizza and a bag of chips. The question I have is this…., have you ever gone up to the register and then you take a look in your wallet only to realize you don’t have enough money to pay for the things that you want? You’ve come up short.
There are many different religions in the world today who are all attempting to get to Heaven someday. The truth is that many don’t realize that they don’t have enough to get there on their own.
Romans 3:23-24
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
The Scriptures teach us that all have sinned. The word all means the whole, entire total amount, quantity, or extent of something. If the children ate all of the taco rolls, there wouldn’t be a single one left. Some synonyms for the word “all” means everybody, every single one, one in all, each one, the whole world, or the entirety.
Many people feel that someday, they’re going to be able to be in heaven because they’ve done a lot of good works and deeds while here upon the Earth. The truth of the matter is that all of us have sinned. It’s the sin issue that keeps us out of heaven. We’ve all made mistakes in our lives and done something wrong at one time or another. None of us have what it takes in our human capacity to be able to inherit the kingdom of heaven. We have all come short of the glory of God, there’s not enough in the wallet, there’s not enough in your purse, we just don’t have enough to get there.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 – For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
A sinner is somebody who does what’s wrong. Everybody in the entire world is a sinner in the eyes of God. Each of us have done something wrong during our life or in our past. The Apostle Paul, whom God used to write a lot of the New Testament that we have today, referred to himself as the chief of sinners. He was an apostle, but he accepted this fact in his own life.
This is one reason why in the church, we have holy communion and we confess our faults and sins to God and each other. We forgive everybody because each of us has our own weaknesses. It’s love that covers a multitude of sins.
Romans 3:9 – What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
How can a person get forgiven with God when they won’t admit the simple fact that what they have done is wrong? How can you get forgiven by others when you can’t confess fault? The truth is that you can’t. In that impenitent mindset you’re in a continual state of sin. I think about the proud Pharisee and the humble publican in the scriptures. The Pharisee felt that he was really righteous in his own heart and mind while the truth was he was a sinner like everybody else. That’s why when people make mistakes or sin and have faults, you want to be forgiving and to help one another.
Can you imagine seeing a child fall off a bike and when he cries out for help nobody bothers to help him get back up.
God is our helper. He reaches out to each of us to lift us up out of the filth of our sinful condition. The problem is it’s hard to help people when they think that they are perfect.
The entire purpose of the Old Testament law was to teach us that we are all sinners in dire need of God’s assistance and Grace. Nobody ever kept it perfectly, except Jesus.
Because all of us have sinned, this was one of the reasons for the sacrificial system in the Old Testament.
It teaches us that the only way that we can get to heaven is through the mercy and the Forgiveness found in Christ Jesus. We just do not have enough in the wallet to get there on our own. The reason being is our own sinful condition.
Romans 3:19 – Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Imagine hearing that verdict at judgement day, guilty, guilty, guilty. How are you going to escape that Judgment of guilt? No one can because we have all sinned in the eyes of God and there is none righteous no not one.
The Pharisee had placed himself in an ivory Tower before God, while the truth is he was just as wicked as everybody else. That’s why those who don’t show Mercy will be treated without Mercy come judgment day before Christ.
The only way to inherit eternal life is through God’s mercy. Mercy is greater than judgment, because it can cover up judgment. Sure, it’s very easy in the flesh to be able to pass judgment on other people, but the truth is, when the day is done, and you take a look in the mirror, that person you see is just a big a sinner as everybody else in this world.
God wants to extend to us His grace and mercy and forgiveness. First of all, we have to admit the fact that we’ve sinned and admit in our own hearts and minds that we have come short of the glory of God. The first step in Christianity is to be able to look inside your own heart and mind and realize that you don’t have what it takes to get you to heaven on your own.
Each of us are like a person who fell off a ship and is swimming out on the ocean, all by ourself. We know that we can’t survive without some kind of assistance, or help. No matter how hard we kick or we try we can only survive for a certain amount of time in the water. Eventually somebody shows up and throws you a rope and a life ring. Jesus reaches out to save each of us from the death of our sinful condition so that we can be together with Him forever in eternity. Our God is a forgiving God.
Whether you’re a mother or dad, a policeman or state patrolman, a sheriff or a judge, we all will need God’s mercy to get to heaven someday. We must be capable of showing mercy, because without it God will show you no mercy when it comes to His judgement.
There is a place for judgement but there is also a place for mercy. Mercy is greater than judgement my friends.
I have always liked to play a game called Spades. When you have the trump card you’re capable of defeating everything else. God’s forgiveness is our trump card, because true forgiveness can overcome all sin. True mercy can overcome all judgment. All we have to do is accept the fact that all of us have sinned, and receive the mercy that God has waiting for each of us. God is a merciful forgiving God.
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
When you are justified, it means to be declared or made righteous in the sight of God.
Because the Scriptures teach us that all of us have sinned, each of us need to come to Christ Jesus and get forgiven for our misdeeds. He wants to forgive us so that we can be righteous in his sight. Each of us have things that we have done wrong.
We all have a list of deeds that we shouldn’t have done in our lives, but through Christ Jesus and His grace, he completely expunges our past misdeeds. At that point, we become righteous not because of what we have done, but because of what he has done throgh His free gift of grace.
We’ve all come up short at the cash register, but it is because of what Jesus did at the cross that makes up the difference.
Forgiveness with God is something that you cannot earn. We cannot work off our own sin debt. Nothing can change that fact. We are in bondage to our sinful condition, completely enslaved. No matter how hard you try, you can’t free yourself. There is someone who can free us all. He has the keys to freedom. It’s our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:6-7
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Redemption, is the action of being saved from sin, from error, or from evil. Redemption is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for a payment or clearing a debt. Jesus took our sin debt when he died for us at the cross. We become his purchased possession, because we are bought and paid for, through His precious blood that he shed.
Rom 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Notice he speaks about being justified by His blood. This is why it’s so important to partake of Holy Communion regularly. It’s by Holy Communion, our sins are washed away.
Ephesians 1:6-7 – To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Next time you walk through the checkout and you don’t have enough money to pay for the things that you want to purchase, just remember that each of us have come short of the glory of God. We don’t have enough to get there on our own, but somebody else is willing to pay our bill, and His name is Jesus Christ.
Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing, we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow Till then bye Bye, everybody.♥️
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