Undue Favor



She called herself a Christian, but she kept doing things she knew were wrong. She asked forgiveness, but she felt like a liar and a hypocrite. She wanted God to love her, but she kept being so unlovable. One of her friends told her that she was going to hell, because God would judge her for all the lies she told and all the sins she committed. Now, she sat sobbing, not knowing what to do.

It is hard to be good when we are so weak. Even the great apostle, Paul, spoke of doing things he knew he should not do. No one ever rises completely above sin. God wants people who will try and who will strive to do better, even when they know they can't be perfect. God will judge us on the intentions of our hearts. We cannot separate ourselves from God's love as long as we desire in our hearts to be reconciled to Him. The Lord can take an impossible situation—no matter what it is—and move in ways mightier than you can imagine. He loves us that much.

Yes, He does...

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. (Isaiah 40:28)

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

When God, the Great Judge of the Universe, passes judgment on your life, He will declare you to be “not guilty”!

But how can that be? You know that you are guilty of doing what was not right many times. You know that your own inner thoughts which no one else can see are so often impure, or angry, or unforgiving, or resentful. You know that you have often spoken in anger when you should not have. You know that you have been hurtful to people. There are times when you have not been honest. How often you have been selfish. There are sins in your life that you hope no one ever finds out about.

What is more, you know that God has already found out about your sins, that nothing is hidden from Him. How then, will God declare you to be “not guilty”?

Only one way: “God made Jesus, who knew no sin (guilt), to be sin (guilty) on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is what it means to be “justified”.

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus took ALL of your life’s guilt, and in exchange gave you His righteousness. He took God’s just punishment for you. So now, when God the Judge looks at you, He says in love, “not guilty!”

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus took ALL of your life’s guilt, and in exchange gave you His righteousness. He took God’s just punishment for you. So now, when God the Judge looks at you, He says in love, “not guilty!”

Wow! what a promise...

As Ephesians 2:8 says, it’s by God’s grace that we are saved, not because of anything we could ever hope to attain or accomplish. God’s gift of His son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins through His death and resurrection is just that – a gift. Doing all the good, noble things in the world will never earn salvation, and like verse 9 says, nobody could ever think of boasting about such an undeserved gift.

We are asked to overcome our earthly circumstances and walk with God on a higher plane. Only once we have taken that leap of faith will we be able to cross the chasm that seems to be keeping us from reaching our destiny. It is only when we attach ourselves completely to God that we can overcome all obstacles – no matter how gigantic they may appear.


Blessings,

Raj Kosaraju

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