We All Fall Short

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”
– Romans 3:23-25a

Ever hear the term, the “American dream?” Well, the idea of this “dream” is to provide yourself or your children with a better lifestyle than what your parents gave you. The idea is pretty much if you work hard and are determined you can be prosperous and achieve success. Unfortunately, this idea seems to creep into our Christian walks as well, often more than we would like. I wanted to illustrate the fact that the bar is set extremely high to be considered “righteous” before God, and no level of hard work or determination by ourselves can get us any closer, we need something outside of ourselves. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying, there is nothing wrong with hard work and determination, many times hard work and determination will payoff in our respective careers. But, if we think hard work and determination have any significance to where our souls will be for eternity, we are seriously mistaken. There is only one work that determines this, and it is not a work we have done or are even capable of doing.

This one work is the work of Jesus Christ. Notice how we are justified, it is “by his grace as a gift.” What do we need to do to receive a gift? Absolutely nothing. Yet so many times we think to receive this gift of grace we must do something to please God. Consider this, if we do something to earn a gift it is no longer a gift, it is an exchange or a purchase. Therefore, if we had to work to earn God’s grace then theoretically God would owe us a wage or payment, and we know this is not the case(see Romans 6:23). Someone had to pay for this gift though and this passage affirms that Christ was our substitute (“propitiation” literally the satisfaction of God’s wrath) who redeemed our sinful debt. If you want to do something to please God, simply accept his gift of grace! If you have already accepted it, rest in it, reflect on it, repeat it to yourself and others, and let your works be simply for His glory!

Mid-Week Encouragement

“Moved with pity, he (Jesus) stretched out his hand and touched him (the leper) and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”
Mark 1:41-42

This week’s encouragement is going to be short and sweet. These two verses should really be read in context with the entire passage, Mark 1:40-45, in which Jesus heals a leper who begs to be made clean. Leprosy came in a variety of ways infecting the skin. An individual suffering from leprosy would be deemed “unclean” and society would refrain from any interaction with those infected. It was an entirely different life once you were diagnosed. This first chapter in the gospel of Mark moves fast. We see John the Baptist’s ministry, Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation, Jesus beginning his ministry and calling his disciples, as well as healing and preaching, all in 45 verses! (I would urge you to read this entire chapter.)What stuck out and really encouraged me is this interaction Jesus had with the leper. This was an individual nobody would touch, but Jesus looked right at him, touched him, and immediately he was made clean. With a single touch, Jesus changed this man’s life forever. So much so, all this former leper could talk about was how Jesus changed him. Isn’t it funny how many individuals in the gospels Jesus heals who are basically told to say nothing? But every one of them is so radically changed their mouths cannot cease to share about his work, thus increasing Jesus’ popularity. Remember, our work earns us no higher standing because Christ has already done the work for us!


Two things to reflect on:
1. Has Jesus touched your life in a life changing way? Have you allowed him to re-new you?
2. When is the last time you “touched” somebody with the life changing gospel of Christ, increasing His popularity?