The Gift of Salvation // Romans 3:23-24

Romans 3:23-24 | 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.

Today’s verse reveals a stark truth: we all have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard. What is that standard? Perfection. Since perfection is unattainable on our own, we try to set our own standard based on how good of a person we believe ourselves to be. That means we set ourselves as the standard, enabling us to feel better about ourselves as long as we perceive ourselves to be more deserving than someone else. But if God’s standard is perfection, what hope do we have? I mean seriously, we sin at times without even knowing we do. This is where Jesus enters onto the scene. We see that God makes us right in His sight through Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of our sins. In other words, when we accept Jesus and Lord and Savior of our lives, Christ’s righteousness covers us. Now, when the Father looks at us, He sees us through the protective finish of Jesus the Holy Spirit applies to us when we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). This isn’t based on anything you have done or can do; no, it’s all based on Jesus. So, let’s give the Lord our thanks today for this amazing and underserved gift.