THE STORY OF JESUS: Romans 3-4
“A person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Romans 3:28)
Paul writes to Jews who thought God accepted them because of the law.
Just follow the rules and God will be happy; He will see you as righteous.
But Paul challenges this rule-focused righteousness; what about the heart?
God is looking for open hearts (faith), not just good deeds (works).
Paul isn’t saying works don’t matter, but they must come from the heart.
Faith is the driving force, the longing of the sinful soul to know God.
Believers in the bible were usually weak, humble, uncertain sinners.
Like Abraham, they made many mistakes, and yet God accepts them!
They were open to God, aware of their sin, and eager to please Him.
We’ve turned faith into a system of beliefs, a mental response to ideas.
We’ve turned it into a ‘work’, a checklist of beliefs needed to be saved.
I know many people who say they ‘believe’, but seem disengaged from God.
This ‘faith’ is not what Paul has in mind; it is just another empty work.
God knows the heart, whether we really want to know and please Him!
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, light a fire in my heart that genuinely wants to know and serve You, a heart that works because it wants to, not just because it has to!
I am a sinner.
I am redeemed through my Saviour.
He covers my sins
and I live in His presence – living for Jesus – by what I say and do – serving Him.
A living epistle.
Saved by grace.
Lead by the Spirit.
GodStrong.
Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load
I praise the God of grace, I trust His truth and might
He calls me His, I call Him mine, my God, my joy, my light
My Lord has saved my life and freely pardon gives
I love because He first loved me, I live because He lives