[21] "But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. [22] This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [25] God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood---to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--- [26] he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
It might just be me, but in my experience most of us have heard verse 23 before, but how often has verse 24 been quoted right along with verse 23? I find it interesting that our focus so often is upon the sinfulness of all, rather than on the salvation that is available to all, freely available in Christ. This gift of redemption, the paying for our sins, is available freely to those who receive it through faith. It is available to all, but not everyone chooses to receive it, for the choice is ours. The gift has been given, but it needs to be received.
The really good news is that this gift is available to ALL, no exceptions. Just like ALL have sinned, the word really means ALL. There is no one who has done anything that disqualifies them from inclusion in the ALL. There are NO exceptions! God could have made exceptions. He could have specified a list of sins too heinous to be included in the ALL who have salvation available to them, but He didn't. Initially the church thought it was just the Jew who could be saved, but God made it clear through Peter's experience in Acts 10, that the gift of salvation was for Jew and Gentile alike. Jesus demonstrated this too through His ministry, for He healed those who were not Jews, touched the lives of several people who were not at all Jewish. Thus, this free gift is not available as part of our heritage, but rather is available to ALL.
The only difference between those that have received this gift of salvation and those that have not yet received the gift of salvation is belief. No examination of their lives, no holy behavior, no works of any kind, just simply belief. Belief is a choice we make, once we have been shown the truth. I had a young girl ask me yesterday why some people believe what God says, and why some don't? That was such an awesome question, because it gets to the heart of the matter, it is our choice to believe God's word, or not. The enemy works hard to give us plenty of reasons to not believe God's word. He tries to convince us that we have disqualified ourselves, or been disqualified by something that has happened to us, or by our lack of purity, or whatever. We can choose not to believe, because the Good News of this free gift is too good to be true. We can choose not to believe because we have had experiences with so-called Christians who are angry and mean and full of judgment. Whatever the case, the fact remains that it all comes down to belief, which is our choice.
So my encouragement this morning is to revel in this Good News that we all, everyone of us, have been given this gift of salvation. It is available to us all, regardless of race, creed, gender, sinfulness, purity, goodness, kindness, experiences, or disappointments. It is all about God, and His mercy and justice. It is too good to be true, but it is!
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