1-19-2023

Good Morning All,

      Galatians 2:16 “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

    I remember watching a movie many years ago about a man who was tried for murdering his wife.  He was found not guilty but the detective investigating the case was convinced that he did it.  So for the next fifteen years the detective kept harassing the man.  He would leave messages on the man’s phone, he would send him letters, and he would show up wherever the man was.  This detective kept telling the man, “I know you did it” or “You may have fooled the judge but not me.”  Slowly but surely the man began to crack under the pressure of the detective and at a crucial point in the show confessed to the murder and then killed himself.  The detective, smugly sure that “justice” was done went back to his office where his superiors informed him that they had caught the real killer.  The detective had harassed the wrong man and drove him to suicide.  That was how the movie ended.

    The amazing thing on our life is that we live this life every day.  The devil whispers in our ear every day, “You really pulled one over on God; he thinks you are holy, but we know that you are not!”  The devil and our sinful nature wants us to believe that we are truly bad people, that we are sinners who have pulled a fast one and now are hiding from the truth.  So as we listen to this, the devil slowly grinds us down, making us feel guilty and ashamed.  The devil wants us to always feel bad just waiting for God to realize how bad we are and throw us out on our ear.

     The wondrous gift is that we truly are righteous; we truly are holy because God says so!  Because of what Jesus has done for us on Calvary, we are holy before God.  We stand clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, and we are holy; pure in God’s eyes.  This is why we can come to him in prayer because we are his redeemed children.  The devil will always tell us we are not good enough but God keeps telling us we are perfect.  The devil will try and tell you that you are really guilty but God declares you innocent.  The devil attacks but God saves!!

    It is truly one of the great mysteries of our faith but God says you are righteous in his eyes.  We hold onto that truth for it frees us from the guilt that the devil attempts to lay on our heart.  In Christ, through faith, we have the certainty of salvation and life eternal because we are freely declared holy by God in his loving grace.  The devil will lie to you all he can but he can never change the truth; you are holy and totally innocent before God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gracious Lord, we give you thanks for the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness which you bestow on us because of Christ.  Give us the strength to reject the devil and his lies and lead us through this life with the true peace and contentment knowing for certain that life eternal awaits us.  In you precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret