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What Is in Your Record?
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
1 John 5:11–13
Though for many of us it has been quite some time since we were in school, vivid memories of those days remain. We remember favorite classes and teachers, maybe a particular field trip or science project, or perhaps concerts or athletic competitions. If you go back to your alma mater now, even though years have passed, somewhere there will be a record of your time there. You can find a transcript of your grades as part of your permanent record. The one thing you cannot do now is change it. What happened was written down and recorded, and it is set.
The grace of God offers us a different approach to a far more important record—our standing with Him. The record we have established is not good. Our sin nature manifests itself even when we are very young. There are no “good” people, only sinners. Though some may be worse than others, all fall short of God’s demand of perfection. That is why we needed Jesus so desperately.
Grace applies the perfect righteousness of the Son of God to our record. Instead of seeing a list of our many faults and failings, God sees us as justified in His sight. What a blessing! Yet, sadly, we often take it for granted. Salvation is so wonderful and so marvelous that we never need another reason to be constantly praising and thanking God for what He has done for us.
1 John 5:11–13
Though for many of us it has been quite some time since we were in school, vivid memories of those days remain. We remember favorite classes and teachers, maybe a particular field trip or science project, or perhaps concerts or athletic competitions. If you go back to your alma mater now, even though years have passed, somewhere there will be a record of your time there. You can find a transcript of your grades as part of your permanent record. The one thing you cannot do now is change it. What happened was written down and recorded, and it is set.
The grace of God offers us a different approach to a far more important record—our standing with Him. The record we have established is not good. Our sin nature manifests itself even when we are very young. There are no “good” people, only sinners. Though some may be worse than others, all fall short of God’s demand of perfection. That is why we needed Jesus so desperately.
Grace applies the perfect righteousness of the Son of God to our record. Instead of seeing a list of our many faults and failings, God sees us as justified in His sight. What a blessing! Yet, sadly, we often take it for granted. Salvation is so wonderful and so marvelous that we never need another reason to be constantly praising and thanking God for what He has done for us.
Today’s Growth Principle:
No matter how many years we may have been saved, we must never lose sight of God’s amazing grace.
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