Unashamed Reading Plan – W3D4
Check out all the previous Unashamed readings here.
Unashamed Reading Plan | Week 3 | Day 4
Prayer
Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Ask God to give you His wisdom today.
Bible Reading: Romans 3:21-27
Read these verses three times slowly.
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Reflection & Questions
Yesterday, we read Paul’s mic drop moment. “There is no one righteous.” Whether a Jew or Gentile. Whether the most sincere or the most religious, no one can make a claim of righteousness before God. All will be silenced before him. It begs the question. Where’s the hope? Is there hope? The truth is there doesn’t have to be. Romans could simply end there. We’ve all failed. We will all face God’s righteous wrath and be condemned, and there would be no injustice, no argument that could prove God wrong in his judgment.
But, Romans doesn’t end there. There is the most precious three-letter word (“But”) that beautifully segues us into a completely different picture of hope and joy. There is a way to be righteous. Even more, to have “the righteousness of God.” To be righteous like God is righteous! How? It is “given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” This righteousness is a gift available to all who will receive it. Incredible!
Paul calls this gift of righteousness a “redemption” (a buying us back from sin), a “sacrifice of atonement” (an act making us at-one-with God), and he says through this we are justified (just-as-if-I’d never sinned). In other words, this is a complete, thorough, full-satisfying rescue. There’s nothing else required. And notice how many ways Paul makes it clear this is a gift. This is truly good news!
- Which word or phrase that Paul uses to describe God’s rescue especially encourages you today?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Bible Reading: Romans 3:21-26
Read these verses three times slowly.
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Reflection & Questions
Yesterday we read about Paul’s mic drop moment to the Jews in Roman when he told them “There is no one righteous.” Can you imagine what was going through their minds when all along they thought they were special people who could do no wrong? What goes through your mind when you think about that for yourself? You aren’t perfect and righteous either. So where are we going to find hope when we realize that we cannot get to heaven as we are?
We find hope in the word, “but” which is the first word in our scripture reading today. We were doomed BUT God is going to show a way in which we can prove to be righteous, the best kind of righteousness of God!
How? It is “given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” This righteousness is a gift available to anyone who will receive it. Imagine God handing you the most incredible gift. Would you say no? I sure wouldn’t!
Paul uses some pretty big words in these verses to describe this righteousness.
- Redemption: buying us back from sin
- Sacrifice of Atonement: an act of making us at-one-with God
- Justified: just-as-if-I’d never sinned
In easy words, this rescue is the completed version of a rescue. Nothing else is needed. We just needed to accept the gift. This is truly good news!
- Can you think of a time when you got an unexpected gift just because? How did that make you feel?
Pray
Talk to God about what it looks like to accept this gift of salvation. Ask Him to show you what you can do to be saved.
Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.
Questions?
Ed Applegate
