June 2010 - English

Following on from last month’s newsletter it is worth reminding ourselves of the basics of the gospel. In the Roman letter we read this well known verse: For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:22b-23) We have all sinned; there are no exceptions—whether Jew or Gentile, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, sophisticated or coarse, European, American, Asian, etc, all have sinned, and none, no not one, matches the glory of God! Before the judgement seat of God, and that is the only place that place, no-one is just. Not you, not me, no-one!

Initially, this seems to be a message of despair, and standing alone it is. But as the hopelessness of our situation dawns upon us, another testimony is brought to our attention as we read on: being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus … that [God] might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Rom 3:24, 26b) What had become a place of despair, now becomes a place of liberty. We have no right to stand in the presence of God, but now through the work of Christ on the cross, this right has been purchased for us! We stand before God not on our own merits, but on the merits of the risen Saviour, and this right is granted to us, on the basis of His grace alone! We don’t have to achieve anything, we don’t have to live up to a certain standard, we simply have to believe in the abundant grace of God. Having been set free from the demands placed upon us, we can now serve God from a pure heart, willing to show our gratefulness and love to our Saviour for what He did for us.