MySlaton.com

By: Curtis Baker

Last week we learned the good news that Paul has been driving at through the opening chapters of Romans.  Despite human sin that has stood in the way of God’s purposes, God has made a way through the sacrifice of his Son that we may be forgiven of our sins, and declared apart of God’s family, even when we rightfully should be condemned because of our rebellion.  Paul calls this good news “justification,” and taught us that this is the bedrock of our relationship with God.  We learned last week that this is all a gift of God’s grace, and that we in no way were deserving of this gracious offer from God.  This gift cannot be earned, but can only be received by faith.

Now that Paul has established the bedrock truth of our life in God, he now has to defend it against our very natural impulse to believe that we must earn our favor with God.  From the people of Israel all the way down to modern Christians, there is a natural impulse within us to believe that our relationship with God is based on performance.  After all, every other relationship we experience in life, to one degree or another, is usually based on how we perform.  This was true in our relationships with our parents, confirmed for us in our time in school, and finally reinforced by our employment.  All of life seems to be judged based on a person’s ability to perform.  So naturally, when we think about our relationship with God, we assume that it too is based on our ability.  But as Paul furthers his point about justification here in Romans, he shows us that, while never discounting the need for improvement, the gift God has given us was not based on any ability of our own.

Read more →