Fallen short of God's glory - restored by grace

Romans 3:23-24

“There is no righteous person, not even one;

11 There is no one who understands,

There is no one who seeks out God;

12 They have all turned aside, together they have become [i]corrupt;

There is no one who does good,

There is not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“The venom of asps is under their lips”;

14 “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,

17 And they have not known the way of peace.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

23 "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus... "

In Romans 3, Paul makes the point that we are all sinners. That we have all missed the mark, fallen short of the glory of God, and he spells out the seriousness of sin in no uncertain terms in vs 11-18.  It's quite a daunting thing to put your own name into those statements from Paul in 11-18, thinking it is about ME that he is talking there, because I am included in the 'ALL have sinned...'

But what glory to rejoice in when we get to verse 24, where Paul then says - it is a GIFT OF GRACE that we are justified by the redemption of Jesus Christ, meaning that it is "just as if we never sinned" when we are in Christ.  

"Just as if I never sinned"  what a profound thought for this week... 

Point to ponder:

Are you confident that you are in Christ?  That it is "just as if you never sinned?  

This is Amazing Grace - Jeremy Riddle