Thrive Creative Journaling Devotional Bible - Flipbook - Page 14
ROMANS 4 . . . page 1396
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All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”*
“Their talk is foul, like the stench from
an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”*
“Their mouths are full of cursing and
bitterness.”*
“They rush to commit murder.
Destruction and misery always follow
them.
They don’t know where to find peace.”*
“They have no fear of God at all.”*
Dear God,
Forgive Your daughter when
she falls short. Break off the
chain of perfectionism that
binds her. Help her to live
in Your freedom.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
19 Obviously,
the law applies to those to
whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep
people from having excuses, and to show
that the entire world is guilty before God.
20 For no one can ever be made right with
God by doing what the law commands. The
law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Christ Took Our Punishment
now God has shown us a way to be
made right with him without keeping the
requirements of the law, as was promised
in the writings of Moses* and the prophets
long ago. 22We are made right with God by
placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is
true for everyone who believes, no matter
who we are.
23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short
of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet God, in his
grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He
did this through Christ Jesus when he freed
21 But
us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God
presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.
People are made right with God when they
believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that
God was being fair when he held back and
did not punish those who sinned in times
past, 26for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this pres
ent time. God did this to demonstrate his
righteousness, for he himself is fair and just,
and he makes sinners right in his sight when
they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done
anything to be accepted by God? No, because
our acquittal is not based on obeying the law.
It is based on faith. 28So we are made right
with God through faith and not by obeying
the law.
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews
only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles?
Of course he is. 30There is only one God, and
he makes people right with himself only by
faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.*
31Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this
mean that we can forget about the law? Of
course not! In fact, only when we have faith
do we truly fulfill the law.
The Faith of Abraham
Abraham was, humanly speaking, the
founder of our Jewish nation. What did
he discover about being made right with
God? 2If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s
way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham
believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”*
4When people work, their wages are not
a gift, but something they have earned. 5But
people are counted as righteous, not because
of their work, but because of their faith in
God who forgives sinners. 6David also spoke
of this when he described the happiness of
those who are declared righteous without
working for it:
4
7
“Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sins are put out of sight.
8 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared
of sin.”*
3:1012 Pss 14:13; 53:13 (Greek version). 3:13 Pss 5:9 (Greek version); 140:3. 3:14 Ps 10:7 (Greek version). 3:1517 Isa 59:78.
3:18 Ps 36:1. 3:21 Greek in the law. 3:30 Greek whether they are circumcised or uncircumcised. 4:3 Gen 15:6. 4:78 Ps 32:12
(Greek version).
