Countdown to Christmas – Day 17

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Romans 3:9-20

If we were to put a camera before our face each and every day and watch the footage of our words and actions, not one of us would witness an unblemished soul. Our humanity is tainted by an enemy desperate to shift our attention from the One who came to wash us clean. There exists no one among us- neighbour, friend, or foe- who has not fallen short of God’s perfect glory.

Christ came not to make us perfect but perfect us for His kingdom and glory. Sometimes we may feel as though we have been tipped on our axis leaving us disoriented in the direction of our life’s plan. It is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit at work within us to govern our moral compass pointing us towards Christ. He has good works for us to accomplish for His purposes but our works do not make us worthy of His love. And our works and good deeds do not make us holy in God’s sight.

God desires us to love Him, submitting unto His Son our Messiah, because we want to not because we have to. There is nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven for our sin will always get into our way. Christ not only came to save us from this broken world… but to save us from ourselves. This righteous King who came swaddled in cloths knows our heart greater than even us. And He knows the sin embedded root deep into our souls.

It is Jesus that takes our sin cleansing us so we may stand before God. It is Jesus who makes us worthy, righteous, and holy. It is Jesus who gifts us blessing and favour simply because we choose to have faith in Him. And it is Jesus who helps us rise above the power of sin bringing awareness to our desperate need for Him in this world.

Father, though my sin separates me from your presence, thank you for your Son who stands before your throne as my defender. May you reveal to my heart that which is unpleasing to you freeing my soul from the bondage of sin. In Jesus name, amen.