Guest blog by Laci Wright 💕

This week, I have been reading through the book of Romans with a YouVersion plan by UPPERROOM (it’s called “The Mystery Revealed”—I would highly recommend checking it out), and it has been a wonderful experience so far. I’ve read through Romans before, but I’ve been in awe of the way the Lord reveals new things every time I open His Word.

This week in particular, Romans 3 and 4 captivated my attention, and I felt led to share some thoughts on my reading.

We’re in the midst of Holy Week—a week of reflection and remembrance leading up to Easter Sunday. It’s an opportune time to pause and consider the sacrifice that Jesus poured out for us on the cross, before we celebrate the beauty of His resurrection on Easter Sunday. With Good Friday tomorrow, I felt it appropriate to recollect what Jesus did for us and what that means for us as believers.

Beginning in Romans 3:22:

“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of our sins.”

This is true for everyone who believes, regardless of who they are, what they’ve done, or what walk of life they come from. God graciously gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him will be given eternal life. No one is more qualified or deserving of this sacrifice than the next person in line. In fact, not one of us is deserving of this sacrifice. That is what makes grace grace—undeserved, unmerited favor. Nothing we do—or fail to do—can change the fact that His grace is available to every person on earth.

A portion of the devotional for Romans 3 & 4 pointed out, “Your righteousness is based entirely on the work of Jesus at the cross, not on your ability to ‘please Him.’” This truth extends to every person—even those around us who we might struggle to accept or understand. His grace is extended to them too. I feel that this is a fact often lost and taken for granted in today’s world. As believers, we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking we are more deserving of God’s grace than the neighbor down the street who doesn’t yet know Jesus. But this verse highlights the opposite truth: every one of us falls short of God’s standard, and yet every one of us is offered the gift of His grace. His grace is available to all who call upon His name. And what a beautiful thing that is.

Continuing with verse 27,

“Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.”

Acquittal is defined as the judgment that a person is not guilty of the crime with which they have been charged. Again, we see here that nothing we did—or ever could do—accounts for the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. We were not set free and made right with God by obeying the law, but by our faith.

In fact, the things we’ve done—as people who are sinful by nature—are often quite contrary to what society would consider acceptable or worthy of forgiveness and righteousness. According to the law, our sin should result in eternal separation from God. But of course, the Kingdom of Heaven is an upside-down Kingdom, where things often don’t align with what would make sense logically on earth.

It is our faith in God that sets us free and gives us access to eternal life. Faith means believing that Jesus is who He says He is—that He died for our sins, rose again, and offers us eternal life.

Faith is a commitment to follow Jesus and trust in Him.

This truth about faith—not works—being the basis of our righteousness brings to mind an important comparison: The one who has known Jesus and called on His name all their life, versus the person who, in their final moments before passing from this life to the next, decides to call on the name of the Lord.

The person who dedicated their life to the Lord from a young age is not more holy, more perfect, or more deserving of eternal life than the one who, in their very last breath, gives their life to Jesus.

As someone who was introduced to Jesus early in life, this truth hit home. My lifelong walk with the Lord doesn’t make me more valuable to Him than someone who finds Him at the very end. And yet, while salvation is freely offered even in our final moments, this isn’t a reason to wait. Our days are numbered—we don’t know the hour we’ll take our last breath. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to take that chance. I’d rather live a life fully devoted to Jesus—confident of where I’ll spend eternity.

I encourage you to reflect further on the truths found in Romans 3 & 4 this week, even venturing deeper into Romans. I pray that you would feel encouraged by these truths and grow in your relationship with Jesus as you do so. 

Dear Jesus, thank You for the beauty of Your sacrifice on the cross—for every one of our sins. Thank You that You paid the price once and for all, so that we could have eternal life instead of eternal separation. Thank You that no one is more qualified or deserving of that gift than another—that Your grace is extended to all who call on Your name, whether in the early days of life or in their final breath. Thank You for Your generous, gracious, and loving ways. In Your name we pray, Amen.

worship playlist 

• You Will Be Saved by Elevation Rhythm
• You Saved Me by UPPERROOM
• No Life Apart by Abbie Gamboa & UPPERROOM
• Blood of Jesus by Abbie Gamboa, Raffi Greco, UPPERROOM
• The Wonderful Blood by Tiffany Hudson
• Dream by UPPERROOM, Joel Figueroa & Abbie Gamboa