August 1st 2021
If You Have Faith In Jesus, You Can Trust That Your Sins Will Be Forgiven!
Romans 10:4 (NIV)
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
So, what does righteousness mean? A definition taken from the Internet describes it as “the quality of being morally right or justifiable.” If you are a believer, then you are thus considered to be a righteous person! The huge question then becomes, what is it that you believe? In terms of the selected verse, of course, the reference is to you believing that Jesus Christ is in fact the only Savior of the world. When Jesus came into this world no longer were sacrifices needed for God to forgive sins, as Jesus offered the perfect and only sacrifice required for the forgiveness of sins.
Now back to the definition of righteousness given on the Internet. To put it in a more usable form it also stated it in a sentence use format as, "we had little doubt about the righteousness of our cause!" Today, in our world we find that many factions and many groups have formed to presume that their ideas best describe the order required for living righteously in this world. Such groups have come up with their description of how to best live in this world, in a manner that will propel them, or their group into leadership rolls. Such ideals are usually not religious but political, and it is not my plan to write about such ideas in these commentaries, as such groups gain their power from Satan not from Jesus Christ. The only possibly helpful comment is to be careful of what groups you choose to support.
True righteousness in this cursed world can only be found through becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. Everyone can become a follower of Jesus Christ, as membership only requires believing Jesus is who He says He is. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:12-13). Salvation is available to all as “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Have you called out to Jesus and ask Him to forgive all your sins? All that is required is for you to believe Jesus is the Lord and Savior of this cursed world!
Paul wrote to the church in Rome and for us about the realization we experienced when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:21-23). Our sins would lead to the second death if we did not accept Jesus into our lives. But now we reap our eternal life to be with Jesus when we depart this mortal life.
Paul also wrote about the process of being born again and how we are changed to recognize how we have been changed in our outlook on our daily life. Now we work on changing our mental outlook to forget what was behind and begin to look forward to the transition from the mortal thinking to being able to dwell on the fact of our salvation. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:20-21). We now know that our sins will not separate us from the love of God, as we will now look like Jesus to God! We do not have to depend on the law to protect us from God’s wrath.
In the Old Testament times there was not yet an ambassador representing them in heaven as they could only pray to God directly for forgiveness of their sins, and they were required to offer sacrifices to appease God, and to gain forgiveness of their sins. Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). Even then they were told that God was very close to them, not far away in heaven, and not willing and able to hear their prayers, and to forgive their sins.
When Jesus walked this earth, He proclaimed His ability to heal diseases, and to forgive sins, and to answer prayers. Luke wrote about a time when Jesus proclaimed His power and His desire to do this for all members of mankind. In this account Jesus proclaims His desire to hear prayer, and to heal disease, and to forgive sins all rolled into one event. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." (Luke 5:18-20).
If you have faith in Jesus, you can trust that your sins will be forgiven! Now that seems like a good note to end this commentary!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Romans 10:4 (NIV)
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
So, what does righteousness mean? A definition taken from the Internet describes it as “the quality of being morally right or justifiable.” If you are a believer, then you are thus considered to be a righteous person! The huge question then becomes, what is it that you believe? In terms of the selected verse, of course, the reference is to you believing that Jesus Christ is in fact the only Savior of the world. When Jesus came into this world no longer were sacrifices needed for God to forgive sins, as Jesus offered the perfect and only sacrifice required for the forgiveness of sins.
Now back to the definition of righteousness given on the Internet. To put it in a more usable form it also stated it in a sentence use format as, "we had little doubt about the righteousness of our cause!" Today, in our world we find that many factions and many groups have formed to presume that their ideas best describe the order required for living righteously in this world. Such groups have come up with their description of how to best live in this world, in a manner that will propel them, or their group into leadership rolls. Such ideals are usually not religious but political, and it is not my plan to write about such ideas in these commentaries, as such groups gain their power from Satan not from Jesus Christ. The only possibly helpful comment is to be careful of what groups you choose to support.
True righteousness in this cursed world can only be found through becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. Everyone can become a follower of Jesus Christ, as membership only requires believing Jesus is who He says He is. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:12-13). Salvation is available to all as “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Have you called out to Jesus and ask Him to forgive all your sins? All that is required is for you to believe Jesus is the Lord and Savior of this cursed world!
Paul wrote to the church in Rome and for us about the realization we experienced when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:21-23). Our sins would lead to the second death if we did not accept Jesus into our lives. But now we reap our eternal life to be with Jesus when we depart this mortal life.
Paul also wrote about the process of being born again and how we are changed to recognize how we have been changed in our outlook on our daily life. Now we work on changing our mental outlook to forget what was behind and begin to look forward to the transition from the mortal thinking to being able to dwell on the fact of our salvation. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:20-21). We now know that our sins will not separate us from the love of God, as we will now look like Jesus to God! We do not have to depend on the law to protect us from God’s wrath.
In the Old Testament times there was not yet an ambassador representing them in heaven as they could only pray to God directly for forgiveness of their sins, and they were required to offer sacrifices to appease God, and to gain forgiveness of their sins. Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). Even then they were told that God was very close to them, not far away in heaven, and not willing and able to hear their prayers, and to forgive their sins.
When Jesus walked this earth, He proclaimed His ability to heal diseases, and to forgive sins, and to answer prayers. Luke wrote about a time when Jesus proclaimed His power and His desire to do this for all members of mankind. In this account Jesus proclaims His desire to hear prayer, and to heal disease, and to forgive sins all rolled into one event. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." (Luke 5:18-20).
If you have faith in Jesus, you can trust that your sins will be forgiven! Now that seems like a good note to end this commentary!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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