Righteousness, Only Through Christ

Good Morning!! Most people believe that we somehow can deserve salvation. We search for things in ourselves to establish our righteousness,...to become worthy of God’s love. Those of us who are Christians, may feel that we've avoided this trap, because we have given our lives to Christ. But religious people are often the most in danger. Some of us work very hard at being good Christians, because deep down, we believe our obedience makes us worthy of God's love, and blessings. We cannot admit just how undeserving we are,...because if we did, we'd be unable to look down our noses at others.

He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,...—Colossians 1:22 (ESV)

Paul was very clear; We have done nothing to deserve or earn our salvation,...Righteousness comes from Christ alone. Our reconciliation with God was solely His doing,...through Christ's birth, death, and resurrection. This is "the hope of the gospel" (v. 23). If we realize how lavishly God has bestowed His love on us, when we were not looking for it, or even wanting it, we will begin to sense the true freedom of the gospel.

Here is the gospel in a nutshell: We are worse than we ever imagined,...yet more loved than we ever hoped.

Father God, may Your love always find us, in spite of ourselves. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"Loving God is the key to loving others."