Being Right

Reading: 1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5; Psalm 99; Romans 3 21 But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight—not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. 22 We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. (Romans 3:21-22 NLT) Being Right: We all want to be right. I know I do. Not only to be right, but to be seen by others as “being right.” We justify our attitudes, our work, and our behavior because something in us knows the difference between right and wrong and we want to be right. For some people the attempt to be right comes through keeping rules; for others it’s through charitable deeds or making sacrifices; for others it’s through manipulation; and for some it’s through becoming powerful and enforcing their will on others (As if might makes right!). Being Right: The really big problem is that none of those things make us right in God’s eyes. We are all made right in God’s sight in exactly the same way: by trusting in Jesus Christ to take our sins from us and give his “right”eousness to us. No one gets right in God’s sight in any other way. No one gets to be right in God’s sight partly by keeping the rules, partly by doing charitable deeds, and partly by trusting in Jesus to take away sins. Made Right: It’s all and only and ever that we are “made right” and never, ever that we make ourselves right—not even partly right. And no one is excluded from being made right in this exact same way—by trusting in Jesus Christ to make us right. No one gets to be right any other way. No one who trusts in Jesus Christ to take away sins is excluded, no matter what we’ve done. No one is excluded—no matter what we’ve done! Prayer:

Father, Thank you for completely leveling the ground so that it’s the same for everyone—that no one has an advantage over another and that no one is excluded. I trust in your son Jesus Christ to take away my sins. I trust in Jesus alone. I believe that as I acknowledge and confess my sins to you and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice for sin, I am made right in your sight. In Christ and Christ alone. Amen.