Saturday

Romans 5: 12 – 21

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
NIV

There are so many problems with sin. Many of them are obvious, but others are as insidious as sin itself.

We often fool ourselves that because we haven’t committed adultery or murder we aren’t sinners. This is as erroneous as thinking that living a “good life” will allow us to spend eternity in heaven.

Sometimes as we try to walk in the light of our Lord, we realize the fallacy of that line of thinking. Then, sin presents us another problem. We become so convicted of our sin nature that we doubt our salvation. Sadly, we can even get to the point of counterfeit righteousness – I’m so pious, I KNOW how bad I am!

Jesus’s sacrifice, His single act of obedience, atones for EVERY act, thought, inclination of sin EVER.

It took me years to really believe that last statement of truth. Thankfully, not as many years as it took me to believe that I was indeed a sinner and in need of salvation.

MS

Friday

Romans 3:9-18
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
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."

This passage is a healthy reminder that none of us on our own are righteous, "not even one."

It was written by Paul to the Roman church, which was made up of Gentiles. He is telling them that neither Jews nor Gentiles are righteous on their own. He then goes on to quote many passages from the Psalms to illustrate how no one is righteous.

Following this passage, he states that what makes a person righteous is faith is Jesus (3:23). I am reminded of the Philip Yancey quote from What's So Amazing About Grace: "There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less."

On our own we are not righteous, but our righteousness comes from faith in Jesus.

Questions for reflection:
1. Are there times that I have felt better (3:9) than others, or been boastful (3:27) because of things I’ve done?

2. Do I know in my mind (intellectually) and heart (emotionally) that my righteousness comes from faith in Christ?

RJ

Thursday

Psalm 14

For the director of music. Of David.

The fool says in his heart,

"There is no God."

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;

there is no one who does good.
The LORD looks down from heaven

on the sons of men

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.
All have turned aside,

they have together become corrupt;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.
Will evildoers never learn—

those who devour my people as men eat bread

and who do not call on the LORD ?
There they are, overwhelmed with dread,

for God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,

but the LORD is their refuge.
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

A famous quote states: “God is dead.” If this is true, how shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? Who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?

So many people live in this pale, lifeless view of reality that makes no room for the one true leader and comforter, as they fool themselves with denial of their Savior, our Lord. Instead, they rely on people and things of this world. One by one, they follow and abandon leaders, money, greed, self-indulgence, and hatred, all false gods.

This cycle continues as they join together in their hopeless quest. leaving behind only victims. We are all sinners; we all have been given the “opportunity” to join them in this love of the world, instead of a love of our true God.

God looks at these lives with patience, sadness and anger as their punishment unfolds. And God does not abandon their victims, His people. He has given us His Son. Those who accept the opportunity to know the Lord and follow His path to life rejoice in the knowledge of hope and come to live in the Kingdom of His peace.

RK

Ash Wednesday

Genesis 3:14-19

So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,

Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;

with pain you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'

Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are and to dust you will return."
NIV

When I was nine I bought a baseball. I was ecstatic for about three seconds. You see, I switched price tags and “bought” a premium baseball for pennies on the dollar. Immediately, Mom noticed and gave her orders: “March into the store, return the baseball, apologize!” Consequences were everywhere.

Today’s scripture reminds us of the tragic, long-term effects sin brought into this world. After Adam and Eve failed to trust that God is good and his word reliable -- when they disobeyed God -- everything went horribly and enormously wrong. The story of Adam and Eve became our story.

Everything is affected. We are separated from each other and from God. We cannot fix what we have broken. We desperately need God to save us from ourselves.

Amazingly, right here in Genesis 3:15, embedded in a text about the consequences of sin and the real war humanity faces, we also find the “seed” of promise.

Even at the beginning, God has rescue in mind. The Messiah will come. To us he has come, and on the cross guilt, sin, and death have been defeated.

DJI

Mardi Gras

Today is called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. With Ash Wednesday tomorrow, we begin the season of Lent.

Traditionally, Lent has been a time for Christians to prepare for Easter by remembering Jesus’ life, His suffering and His death. By giving up activities that distract from God’s gifts and by daily learning to look to God in all things, Lent helps us draw near to God, who loves us so much He came to live with us and die for us.

The scripture readings and devotional thoughts that will be posted here each day are intended to help us remember and prepare for Easter. They were written by members of Healdsburg Community Church.