Prayer of Penitence

Loving Father,

I am truly sorry for the moments that I choose relationships, families, work, money, pleasure, and self over You. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life from time to time cause me to stumble. Cause me to have the constant awareness of the horrors, corruption, and consequences of sins every time I commit it. Make me broken so that I won’t go back and wallow to the filth from which You have saved me.

I allow the world to influence my mind rather than be saturated by Your word. Ignite in my heart an overwhelming desire to please You and obey You rather than sin. Cause me to delight in Your lasting pleasure and satisfaction and always remind me that sin is fleeting, temporary, and deceitful. Make me broken and sorrowful over my sin but make me run to You and remind me of Your attributes in the cross. At the cross, I am reminded of my exceeding sinfulness because it took the life and death of Your beloved Son to redeem me from the penalty of my sins. Even though I am freed from sin and redeemed from its penalty, there are times that I still go back to sin. It breaks my heart but I know that it breaks Your heart all the more. May my heart be all the more broken and sorrowful knowing that the sins that I committed grieve and displease my loving Father. Cause my heart to also grieve because I am unfaithful to my faithful Master and Savior Jesus.

I am married to my faithful bridegroom Jesus yet I am still drawn to worthless and deceitful idols. I belong body and soul, in life and in death to Jesus yet there are times that I offer my body and soul to sin.

In spite of that, Your love never diminishes. Never ceases. Always constant.

In spite of that, You are still consistent in Your faithfulness towards me. You still relentlessly pursue me, find me, pick me up, redirect me, and lead me in Your righteous path for Your namesake.

Cause my eyes to see how beautiful You are and how ugly the things of this world are. Cause my heart’s to set its desire in only one thing: to behold the beauty of the Lord. Cause me to remember the words of Christ that “blessed is the pure in heart for they shall see God”. Create in me a pure heart and renew a right spirit in me so that I might see You. Turn my eyes from worthlessness and may I be fixated by You. Cause my heart to delight and love You alone for You alone are worthy of my heart. All else will break me and will never hold the eternal longings of my heart.

Always remind me that the restlessness of my heart ends in You.

Though at times I choose misery of sin over the joy of Your constant presence, You never give up on me. Your love and grace continually upholds me, preserves me, and enables me to stand every I fall.

You always make me stand each and every time I fall.

Never condemned. Declared righteous. Through faith in Christ alone.

Filthy rags removed. Clothed in white robes.

Only by grace, forever faultless standing before Your throne.

Waiting, hoping, and praying for the day You will welcome me home. Forever freed from the presence of sin. Perfectly worshipping, praising, and beholding You forever.

Jesus is our righteousness

If there is anything that I would want you to remember after reading this blogpost then it’s the statement that “Jesus is our righteousness.” For the Jews, righteousness is earned when one is careful to do the commandments of God. Righteousness is achieved through law-keeping.

Deut. 6:25 says, And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

If righteousness is achieved through law-keeping then this becomes problematic for us. All of us have broken God’s law. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. (Rom. 3:23) We have not perfectly and fully obeyed the commandments of God. Also, the righteousness that He requires from us is a perfect kind of righteousness. Jesus said in Matt 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We can never enter heaven apart from righteousness. Matt. 5:20 says,  “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The verse means that the righteousness that God requires is not just outward obedience like that of the scribes and Pharisees but also obedience of the heart.

We are imperfect not just outwardly but also inwardly. We are disobedient from the heart. We are sinners at the core. We can never attain the perfect righteousness that God requires. (Rom. 8:7) That is really bad news. But, God in His mercy, grace, and love, provided a way in Jesus Christ for us to have that perfect righteousness. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to not just die for our sins, pay its penalty, and absorb and appease the wrath of God. He also sent Jesus to live the perfect life and earn the righteousness that God demands from us by obeying perfectly the commandments of God. Jesus is fully aware of this. Matt. 3:15 says, “But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.”

God is freely offering the gift of righteousness that Christ earned in behalf of us. Rom. 5:17 says, “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.“

Phil. 3:9 also says “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—” Faith in Christ allows us to obtain this righteousness that comes from God. Faith is the medium upon which we obtain this gift of righteousness.

This righteousness is not our own. It is Jesus’.

This righteousness is not based on how good we are but on how perfect Jesus is.

This is not based on our disobedience but on the perfect obedience of Jesus.

What a comfort it is that we enter the kingdom of God not on our own doing. If it is dependent on us, we can never go there. We will always fall short. We could never measure up.

What a comfort it is that we are dressed in the righteousness of Christ and we stand faultless before the throne of God because of it. This righteousness is credited on our account, imputed to us, given to us, or transferred to us through faith alone in Christ alone. God declares us as righteous by virtue of the imputed righteousness of Christ which we receive through faith alone. God justifies the sinners through faith in Christ in His sight because of the unblemished righteousness of the Lamb who was slain.

May we renounce all self-righteousness. May we give up on ourselves. May we stop trying to earn heaven by doing good works. There’s only way to go there. And, that is through the person and work of Jesus Christ. May we turn from ourselves and turn to Him.

Jesus Christ became all we need. “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,”

Jesus became our righteousness.

Jesus is our righteousness.

May we trust in Him alone.

Sovereignty and Surrender

God is sovereign. He governs the universe. He is not just sitting in the heavens and watching us at a distance. Everything that is happening is in accordance to the plan of God. He predetermined all that will happen before it happens. (Isaiah 46:10) He already wrote the days and stories of our lives in His book before it happened. (Psalm 139:16) He carries out His plan and makes sure it is accomplished. All that are happening is just an unfolding of the plan of God from eternity past. He does all that He pleases. (Psalm 115:3) He works all things according to the counsel of His will. (Eph. 1:11) Nothing is outside of God’s control. Everything that is happening is a result of God’s working. He maybe directly or indirectly involved but He is still involved.

Even the hearts of men are in the hand of the Lord and they unknowingly do what He purposed to do. (Proverbs 21:1)

Even the most random things are under the sovereign control of God. He ultimately decides the result. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:33)

Even the most unimportant creatures created by God do not die apart from God’s permission. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (Matt. 10:29)

God could choose to intervene, when He does not, God is in a sense allowing things to happen. He could choose not to but if He permits things to happen then that’s His will. God is sovereign over everything including the human will but He does not violate it. He accomplishes His purposes through it. We have our intentions in our actions but God also has His intentions for allowing our actions. Ultimately, His intentions and purposes stand. Gen. 50:20 says,  “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

This is an essential and comforting truth for people who failed to get what they want, for people whose plans get interrupted, for people whose expectations did not materialize, for people whose anxiety burdens them, for people whose decisions led them to despair, and countless other things that make people burdened. I do not mean to say that we are not responsible for our choices and the consequences of our wrong decisions. What I am trying to mean is, in spite of all of that, if one is a Christian, God will ultimately use all things for our good. (Rom. 8:28) This is why the sovereignty of God is so comforting because God will use everything even worst experiences, bad decisions, and unexpected circumstances for our own good. The good that is referred to in the bible is conformity to Christ. (Rom. 8:29) We maybe just aware of 10 things that are happening to us but God is using 10,000 things to make us more like Him.

That’s why in spite of the heartache, pain, suffering, trial, and failures, it’s best to surrender everything to God because He is sovereign. Surrendering everything under the control of God knowing that He knows what’s best for us is comforting to the soul of the Christian. He does not withhold good things from us because He is also our loving Father who wants what’s best for us. That’s the beauty of surrender, we acknowledge that God is in complete control of our lives and He knows what He is doing. We rest to the fact that His plans are way better than ours because His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than our ways. We rest to the fact that things not under our control are under His.

We can surrender every worry, burden, and concerns to God because He is a loving Father who cares for us. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

He is our good Shepherd (Psalm 23:1, John 10:11) who guides us in the path of life and joy. (Psalm 16:11)

And He is our Life and our Joy.

Amazing Love

In a world oozing of “I love you’s”, “I” is now the giver and determiner of how love is expressed and “you” is the recipient of that love. Since, the giver and recipient are people. Love might be defined subjectively and not objectively. Oftentimes, expressions of love do not lead to actions of love.

Love could as easily be lost as it is found. Promises are broken. Feelings said are now gone. Efforts are wasted. Hearts are broken.

And we are now ever confused if this is what love truly is. The best way to gain certainty amidst confusion is to go back to the ultimate source of love: God.

God’s love towards His children does not diminish even though we fail Him and break His heart because of our sins. The worst trait, character flaw, chronic sickness, lifetime illness, unappealing quirks, besetting failures, embarrassing experiences, disappointing moments and disgusting sins do not negate the love that God bestowed upon us.

In spite of all of that, His love is relentless. He pursues us and never gives up on us no matter how much we have failed Him, sinned against Him, and broken His heart. It never ceases. It is constant. It does not become any lesser because of failures and sins.

No matter how unlovable we think we are, God will still love us. His essence is love. It’s in His nature to love. He loves us because He is by nature a loving God. It is based on His character and not our performance. It is based on His loving nature and not on our loveliness or lack thereof.

The intensity and immensity of the love of God for His people is deeply appreciated when compared to the mediocrity of the “love” of imperfect people.

People would be disappointed of each failures but God picks us up and makes us stand.

People would be unaccepting of flaws but God chose to love us even though He foresaw all our imperfections.

People might cancel us out because we don’t live up to their standards but God loved us not base on how well we live our lives.

People might give up on us at our worst moments but God will never us and He will choose to stay and be our source of comfort.

People might feel disgusted because of a dishonorable and sinful past but God’s love never changes with every sin we commit.

His amazing love for us is clearly shown when Jesus Christ died for His sinful people at the cross. (Romans 5:8) All the sins that we have committed up until we die was borne by Jesus in His body. (1 Peter 2:24) At the cross, God saw Jesus as the most disgusting human who has ever lived because He took our sins upon Himself. God poured out His wrath against our sins upon Christ and His wrath is satisfied in Christ. (Isaiah 53:5) He took the penalty of our sin and paid our fine with His blood. There is no more condemnation. (Romans 8:1) We are forgiven.

He didn’t only die for the sins of His people, He also lived a perfect life in their behalf to satisfy the perfect standard of God the Father. (Romans 5:19, Matthew 5:48) He perfectly obeyed the law that we always fail to do. His righteousness becomes ours through faith alone.

God’s rage was poured upon Christ because He was clothed in our sin and we are declared in the eyes of God because we are clothed in the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

Jesus Christ lived and died for us. That’s how much He loves us. It is not owing to anything we have done to ever earn that love. (Eph. 2:8-9) It is only owing to the fact that He is our loving Shepherd who would gladly lay down His life for His sheep. (John 10:11)

And this amazing love is freely offered to anyone who would receive it by trusting in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. (John 3:16)

And as Timothy Keller has said, “The only love that won’t disappoint you is one that can’t change, that can’t be lost, that is not based on the ups and downs of life or of how well you live. It is something that not even death can take away from you. God’s love is the only thing like that.”

Are you in a relationship?

“Yes” is the obvious answer to this usually raised rhetorical question.

The question posed as the title of this blog is usually asked to confirm whether someone is in an intimate relationship. However, even though we do not have intimate or romantic attachments, we still have other relationships that mold us into the person that we are.

We are born into this world out of the relationship that our mother and father have. We deal with our co-workers and bosses at work by means of having a formal or informal relationship with them. We pursue women or entertain men with the goal of being in a relationship with them in the future. We spend time with our friends to maintain the relationship we have. We make new friends to establish new and meaningful relationships. We make time with our families to nurture our relationships with each other. Husbands spend time with their wives to cultivate the covenantal relationship that they have with each other.

As long as we are living in this world, relationships cannot be avoided. It is meant to be pursued, nurtured, and developed. If we want to live a joyful and fulfilled life then having meaningful relationships are necessary and essential. However, there are also pain, heartbreaks, and sorrows associated with having relationships. Death of a loved one, break-ups, forgotten friendships, betrayals, abuse, and other negative experiences somehow cause us to protect ourselves from heavily investing into relationships.

It makes us cynical.

It causes us to build walls and burn bridges.

It makes us want to be alone.

It cautions us to not be too attached to someone for the fear of being vulnerable again to pain.

We do not want our hearts to be broken. We do not want our loved ones to die in our arms. We do not want to be forgotten and betrayed. We do not want love to be limited by death or time.

We want to love with no heartbreaks. We want to experience a love that lasts beyond a lifetime. We want to be remembered. We want faithfulness. We want love to be timeless.

The pain and sorrows brought about by relationships are the reason why we are meant for a relationship that is infinitely better than this world could ever offer. Earthly relationships are not meant to fulfill our deepest longings. It is merely an echo to what God would want to have with us. I can not write it any better than Jonathan Edwards. To quote:

“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.”

God desires for us to be in an intimate and eternal relationship with Him. He wants us to experience the highest joy and fulfill the deepest longing of our souls.

That is why Jesus says in John 17:3 that “this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Knowing as used in this verse is to not be merely acquainted of God but rather to have that personal and intimate knowledge of God by having a personal relationship with God and Jesus.

Only God won’t break our hearts because He will forever be there on our side wherever we are; whether we are asleep or awake and happy or sad. Only God won’t ever forget and betray us because He already sent His beloved Son Jesus to experience the betrayal and forsakenness that we all deserve. Only God can give us what is best for us because He is the only one who fully and completely knows everything about us.

And this God relentlessly pursues us because He wants to have a relationship with us. A relationship that is not bounded by time and death because having Jesus is to possess eternal life; a life that transcends death and is not limited by time. A relationship that will give us comfort and joy even though life and circumstances will give us pain and sorrows. A relationship that satisfies our deepest longing and highest joy because it is only found in God himself.

So, the more important question is, “Are you in a relationship with Him?”

Come to Jesus. He invites us and we are always welcome in His loving arms.

The Purpose of Life and Holiness

I attended a conference that has holiness and God’s global renown as it’s theme. The subject of holiness was partnered with other essential subjects such as loving God, growing in holiness, grace, holiness in real life, missions, and God’s global renown.

It was a soul-enriching and soul-edifying event because of the in-depth exposition of God’s word, warm fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, sweet songs of worship, and astonishing testimonies as testament of God’s amazing saving grace.

I have learned a lot from the conference but I just want to focus on the purpose of life and how holiness relates to it. We are all in search for life’s meaning and purpose. We try to look for it in places aside from God like money, work, relationships, sex, achievements, fame, beauty and any other thing that we think could fulfill our sense of meaning and purpose.

As we try to use these things to fill the void in our hearts, we feel emptier, thirstier, and hungrier than ever. It may make us temporarily happy but these things are not meant to fully complete us because that Thing we look for is eternal. The Bible says that God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We have this sense of eternity that we try to look for in temporary created things and it leaves us unsatisfied. God has created in us this longing which is meant to be satisfied by Him.

“You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.”

Augustine

He is the One who is meant to fill the void in our hearts. And, until that void is filled by Him, we will never be completely satisfied and just be forever restless; chasing things that could never satisfy our deepest longings.

“I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Isaiah 43:6-7

God created us for His glory. He created us for Himself. This is our purpose: to glorify God in all we do. (1 Cor. 10:31) We might think that God is just using us for Himself for our demise but that’s totally not the case. He wants us for Himself to give us utmost joy and happiness.

You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 16:11

The purpose of our life is to live life for God’s glory and to enjoy Him forever. Our happiness and God’s glory go together. They are not polar opposites or mutually exclusive concepts. They go hand in hand. As we seek to glorify God more, we become more closer to Him, and as we become closer to Him, we become happier and more joyful in His presence. The same is also true, as we seek to prize God as our ultimate joy, treasure, and delight, He is glorified in us.

God the Father and God the Son have the same purpose for His beloved children. Jesus prayed that we would be with Him to see His glory.

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

John 17:24

God sent His beloved Son to the world in order for Jesus to pay the penalty of our sins by His death on the cross and for Him to live the perfect life in our behalf to satisfy the perfect obedience that God requires of us — so that through faith in Him we would be with Him forever; to see His glory and to enjoy Him in all eternity.

Now, we know the purpose of life. Let us try now to discuss the subject of holiness and how it relates to the purpose of life: living for God’s glory and enjoying Him forever.

because it is written: “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

1 Peter 1:16

God is holy and He wants us also to be holy. Holiness means to be set apart from the rest. It also means that God is morally pure at all times and at all respects. If holiness was to be applied in our lives, it means being uniquely distinct in a godly manner. It means mirroring the holiness of God in the face of Christ Jesus.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters;

Romans 8:29

Holiness is becoming conformed in the image of Jesus. As we become more like Jesus, we enjoy the things that He loves and we despise the things that He hates. And as the world sees Christ in us, we bring glory to God.

The opposite is true, sin makes us more miserable because it draws us away from God – the source of everlasting Happiness. It makes us emptier, more miserable, anxious, and guilty.

This is how holiness, happiness, and the glory of God relate with each other. They go hand in hand. As we pursue holiness, we see more of God, and as we see more of God, we enjoy and delight more of Him.

Do you want to experience utmost joy and fulfilled satisfaction? Jesus offers us Himself. He said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) Our souls are made for Jesus. He is the only One who could satisfy the insatiable hunger and unquenchable thirst that we have in our souls. Come to Jesus.

Justification

I just want to share my reflection on Romans 3:21 to 26. I chose these verses for my reflection today because it highlights what Christ has done to us for us to be in the right with God. I think this is really important because our standing before God determines whether we will spend eternity with Him or not. So, I think one of the biggest questions in life is: “Am I just before God?”

As I’ve said being just before God is to be with Him eternally. To be otherwise, is to be not with Him eternally. If an unjust person will be with God then that person will just pollute and destroy the beauty and majesty of heaven.

That’s why I think the more interesting question is: “How can I be just before God” or “How can I be made in the right before God?” To begin with, we cannot answer whether or not we are just before God if we don’t know how God will declare us as just or righteous.

This is the main reason why I chose Romans 3:21 to 26 because of its relevance in answering the how question. Kindly refer to the passage below.

^“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶ for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.“

Foremost, I think it’s best to know our condition apart from the saving grace of God. That is, left to ourselves, what is our standing before God? That’s why Paul starts this verse with the word “but” because the verses that precede Rom. 3:21 indicate the bad news that is brought about by our sin problem.

It’s stated in the preceding verse that we’re all under sin (Rom. 3:10). That is, in and of ourselves, we’re sinners. Our hearts are “more deceitful than all else and desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9) and “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
(Gen. 6:5).

We’re sinners at the core of our being. We need a heart change. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” (Matt. 15:19) It’s really bad news. Is it not? And there’s nothing we can do with it because our actions are directed by our sin nature. We’re held in the bondage of sin.

Left to ourselves, we’re sinners at the core. Our heart is wicked so everything that comes or flows out of it  – thoughts, emotions, and will – is also naturally evil. We have this sin nature that determines our desires and our desires determine our actions.

We do what we want to do. Sadly, the things that we want to do run contrary to the things that God wants us to do. That is, the desires of our sin nature do not correspond to the things of God. That’s why we don’t do what is pleasing to God because the things that we are pleased to do are not pleasing to God.

Left to ourselves, we’re sinners before God. Our verdict is that we’re all guilty. We deserve to be punished. So, if we’re thinking that the answer to the how question of being just is our good works then all of us are hopeless in attaining a righteous standing before God.

And not only that, the standard upon which God will measure us to declare us as righteous or just is His commandments. If we are to assess ourselves base on the 10 commandments then we’re all guilty of breaking it.

In and of ourselves, we’re sinners. If God is to judge all of our thoughts, words, and deeds then we’d be all guilty. We’re hopeless.

That’s why the only means that could save us from the impending wrath of God because we violated His commandments is Someone outside of us. The good news is that God has provided a way. God is gracious to give us something that is undeserved and is never required of Him. Yet, He gave it anyway, out of His love for His people.

Romans 3:21 says that there’s this righteousness that comes from God apart from the law. It’s apart from the law because the purpose of the law is not for us to be made right before God but for us to know that we have violated the commandments of God (Rom. 3:20). The purpose of the law is to condemn us as guilty before God (Rom. 3:19).

The law points us to our need of a righteousness that is not our own. And this righteousness are “witnessed by the Law and the Prophets” (Rom. 3:20). The “Law and the Prophets” is a euphemism for the Old Testament. So, the Old Testament also points us to this righteousness.

In verse 22 of Romans 3, it is stated that this righteousness of God is transferred to our account through faith in Jesus Christ. The reason why it is by faith is because it doesn’t make any sense if it is by works “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) Faith means trust. Faith is also God’s work within us. That’s why it’s stated in Eph. 2:8 that faith is the “gift of God”. It means that we trust in what Christ did on the cross for us.

In verse 24 of Romans 3, it is stated that we are justified as a gift by his grace. The word justify has two meanings. It could mean: to made in the right or to show that you’re in the right. In a legal perspective, it could mean that one is declared righteous or one is shown to be righteous. The former is a verdict while the latter is a confirmation of what already is. In this verse, former meaning is used. Thus, we are declared to be righteous by the Judge – God. This declaration is a gift – unearned or undeserved. It is not paid for. Grace simply means that we receive or have something that we do not deserve. It means that we did not contribute something to God in order to attain this justification. In this case, that something that we don’t deserve is the declaration of God that we’re righteous in His sight. The verse further states that this declaration is achieved by the redemptive work of Christ.  Redemption means to set free or to deliver someone or something from bondage or captivity. Since, we’re all under sin. We’re good as slaves of sin for we do the things that our sin nature wants to do. We do what our master (sin) wants us to do. The consequence of being held under the bondage of sin is death. That is to be eternally separated from God. That’s why it’s stated in Romans 6:23 that the “wages of sin is death.” Punishment in hell is something that we deserve from God but in His grace, God justifies the ungodly through faith in Christ.

In verse 25 of Romans 3, it is stated that God displayed Christ publicly as a propitiation or propitiatory sacrifice in His blood. God poured out His wrath upon Christ before all the universe but Christ’s blood satisfied the wrath of God. Also, God put forward Christ as an atoning sacrifice for our sins to demonstrate that He is righteous. He passed over sins previously committed prior to the cross of Christ. God’s forbearance might cause people to think: “Is God really a just God? Why is He not punishing sin?” Thus, He demonstrated that He still is just, righteous, and holy at the proper time wherein He poured out the full weight of His wrath against sin on His Son Jesus Christ.

In verse 26 of Romans 3, it states that God passed over their sins to demonstrate His righteousness. The purpose of God why He allowed sin to be left unpunished by the full extent of His wrath is for His Son to be the object of His wrath because it’s only Jesus who completely absorb God’s wrath. So, we  can say that the reason why God overlooked sins previously committed before the cross of Christ is because it’s the plan of God to prove His righteousness by pouring His wrath on Jesus Christ on behalf of us.

God treated Christ as though He treated us.

God punished Christ as though He punished us.

And He’s just in doing so for Christ took the sins of His people.

God sent His Son – Jesus so that He’d still be just. That is He didn’t leave sin unpunished but He poured His wrath on His Son when Christ bear the sins of His people in His body. He’s not only just but He is also the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. How can God justify the ungodly? God declared as righteous the sinner who has faith in Christ because through faith in Christ the righteousness of God was transferred to the account of the ungodly who trusts in Christ.

At the cross, there’s a double transfer that happened. The sins of God’s people are transferred or laid upon Christ. Thereby, causing God to be pleased in crushing Christ by the full extent of God’s wrath. Christ propitiated God’s wrath. Christ took away from us the anger of God by His blood. He satisfied God’s anger by His atoning sacrifice. This is the first part of the transfer.

If there’s just only one part of the transfer then Jesus would’ve gone out to the cross and died in behalf of us for our sins to save us from the wrath of God. Why did He not do it? That’s because it’s the life of Christ that causes us to be righteous before God. Jesus did not only die in behalf of us for our sins to save us from the wrath of God. He also lived a life of perfect obedience to God. He kept the law perfectly and did not break anyone of it. He never had an impure thought, never said any false accusation and slandered anyone, and never did anything wrong in the eyes of God. He met the perfect standard of God. He’s the only One who measured up to the standard of God. This makes Him a sufficient substitute for us. Not only that – Jesus earned what we could never earn – perfect righteousness. And this is the righteousness that God transfers in the account of the ungodly through faith. That is, faith is the instrument upon which we receive the righteousness of Christ. That’s why God justifies the ungodly. God sees that the ungodly are clothed in the robe of perfect righteousness of Jesus. That’s why God declares them righteous. That’s why God justifies them.

If you’ve never come to Christ by faith. Come to Him. He’ll never cast you away. He’ll give you rest – eternal rest.

Soli Deo Gloria.