Verse of the Day - Romans 8:31

If God is for us, who can be against us? ~ Romans 8:31 (NIV)

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People often joke about what it will be like at the "Pearly Gates", trying to make deals with St. Peter, who supposedly is the great ticket taker in the sky. Sounds comical when you put it that way. But judgment day is no laughing matter. It's an eternal life and death situation.

Maybe that's why people who don't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ joke about it. It's either laugh or cry. So many don't know what will happen to them when they die. They're pretty sure they believe in a final judgment, but they don't know what will happen to them, since they know that God is holy and they're not. They hope that they've done enough good stuff here on earth to get them past the heavenly ticket taker and through the turnstile into Paradise. But they just don't know. I mean, a judge looks at the black-and-white...the law, right?. Break the law, go to jail. Break the holy law, go to hell. Isn't that how it goes? And so they write hokey songs and tell silly jokes about crossing over to the other side, but inside, they fear the gavel of the Judge.

Paul reminds us that if we have chosen to accept Jesus' sacrifice for our sins, if we choose to be under God's umbrella as His children, we can't be condemned by the Judge's gavel. The sentence is still "death" for sins (Romans 6:22-23), but Jesus mercifully stands up in our defense and says, "Your Honor, may I put into evidence Exhibit A...my blood. Death has been administered in accordance with the law. I have paid their price." God, in justice, accepts the sacrifice. "You are free to go...enter into Paradise," He says to the children of God.

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. ~ Romans 8:31-34 (NLT)

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. ~ Romans 8:1-4 (NLT)

Maybe you know someone who blows off Judgment Day like it was a game. My guess is that inside, they're scared to death, and don't want to admit it. You have the knowledge of the truth about Jesus, and they need to hear it. They need to know that they can have God for them, too...on their side...and not wonder and worry in uncertainty about those pearly gates.

Jesus is standing at the Judge's bench with Exhibit A for all people. We, the ransomed and freed, need to tell them, amen?

Love,
Joelene