One Small Step
In 1972 Astronaut Neil Armstrong. In a good will tour, went to the town of Langholm in Scotland. It is the historical seat of Clan Armstrong, from which Neil could trace his ancestry. When he arrived their one person was waiting for him. The Justice of the Peace. According to a 400-year-old law that was still officially on the books, he was required to hang any Armstrong found in the town. He publicly read the law written by King James (known in Scotland as James VI and in England as James I). It seems the law was written to quell a border dispute and stayed on the books. Thankfully they had no intention of implementing the law!
Sin functions the same way. From the moment that Adam and Eve took the fruit, they created a border dispute with God. The wages of sin is death. God has every right as a just God to condemn all who come from family line. As Paul writes in Romans 3, All have sinned and fallen short.
But Paul doesn’t stop writing there…he goes on to verse 24
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
We deserve to be condemned
God chooses to pour out His wrath upon Christ.
The punishment meant for you fell upon Him.
So now my friends, whether you roam the streets of Detroit of the Highlands of Scotland, God has declared you justified. Not by your works but by His grace.
Enjoy the day, thank God for eternity
See you Sunday,
- Pastor Dan