Forgiven and Saved – September 2, 2022

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
James 2:10

Forgiven and Saved

Did you ever play with dominoes when you were younger? We would stand them up on end and line them all up so that when you tipped the first one, a chain reaction would start, and all the dominoes would fall like a giant wave rolling through. It took some effort for that to go according to plan. Each domino had to be placed just so: not too close and not too far away from the next one in line, and placed carefully on the ground so that it did not tip over prematurely. The more elaborate the design, the longer it would take to get it just right.

In reality, it was a bit of a stressful situation. It only took one mistake to ruin the whole thing. One slip-up or accidentally bumping one domino could start a chain reaction that could not be stopped. One mistake and one by one, the dominoes would fall. It happened so fast, and before you knew it, nothing was left standing.

The Bible says our salvation works that way too. We can try so perfectly to order our lives and line everything up so we are as good as we can be. But one sin, one slip-up, one mistake is all it will take to destroy our chances of saving ourselves.

Jesus removes all of that. He has already lived a perfect life for us. He perfectly lined up God’s commands every day and never once slipped up or made a mistake. The Bible tells us that Jesus never sinned. He was our perfect substitute in life, and through faith in him we receive the credit for his life of perfection. Having earned our righteousness, he proceeded to die on the cross to pay for all our sins. We are forgiven and saved.

Do you know what that means? No more stress or trying to line everything up perfectly in the hopes that we can achieve salvation. We cannot earn it. Instead, we are free to live for God and love our neighbor without fear.

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for living a perfect life for me. Help me to trust in your righteousness as the only way to heaven. Amen.