“This
righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There
is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
(Romans 3:22-24)
Through
the blood of Christ we have all been declared righteous. To be righteous is to be “morally upright;
without guilt or sin”.* We know from scripture that sin cannot abide in the
presence of Almighty God; therefore, it must be removed. We have been made sinless in God’s
sight. This is what Jesus death
accomplished. It’s the reason He came to
earth to begin with; to eradicate sin once for all time. It isn’t a blanket forgiveness for all
mankind, but rather a gift that must be sought and received. Forgiving someone who either isn’t aware they
need it or sincerely sorry for past behavior makes the gift unappreciated. It’s an individual endeavor, this seeking of
forgiveness. No one can do it for
you. Upon receiving the gift of God’s
grace or undeserved favor, a change should occur. This is a sign of an honest and true
conversion. It results in a 180 being
taken. What I mean by that is that our
new righteous standing should cause us to make a 180-degree turn away from our
previous behavior and allow the Holy Spirit to make the necessary alterations
to our character so we can fulfill our responsibility as Christ’s ambassadors. It’s time to assess our walk with
Christ. Until next time, walk with the
King and be a blessing!
* The American Heritage Dictionary.
