Delivered to Death for Our Sins-Raised to Life for Our Justification

Good morning to all on this beautiful Monday morning. Waine and I are in Atlanta and had a wonderful dinner with Aleron and Alex last night. We talked soup to nuts with these two young people and marveled at the amount of skill and acumen that each possessed in their chosen field of interest. Waine and I praise God each day for each of our children and the blessings each receives from God daily. Violet is convalescing and we thank you for your prayers. ET begins his next phase of radiation and chemotherapy, so keep he and his family in your prayers. Pray God's traveling mercies for me as I head out to Louisiana today. I praise God for each of you and your faithfulness to Him and His Kingdom building agenda.

I am continuing my journey in Romans 4 today verse 13 - 25, "It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waiver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Amen and amen!

What a beautiful sentiment and PROMISE--Christ WAS DELIVERED over to death--this is not a passive process. God was actively involved in the death of Christ which also means that He assented to this event as a necessary sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind. The sacrifice that was made by Christ was a necessary payment for our sins. The point most of us miss is that THE PAYMENT HAS BEEN MADE AND PAID IN FULL!!!!!. Christians do not have to continue to pay--we don't have the power to pay for our sins which is what Paul meant earlier in this passage--the PROMISE of forgiveness and realignment with God through Christ comes as a function of our faith in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. We can neither "obey" our way into this relationship or "mis-behave" our way out of it. Our relationship with Christ has been signed, sealed and delivered through the death and resurrection of Christ! Hallelujah! Oh that we could really embrace this message. There is no "death" that is too great for God to overcome. He HAS conquered the death of all your disappointments, failures, and SINS. When your faith understands this divine statement, your abundance will be revealed to you. Your abundance is already there--your disbelief in the power of your Faith prevents you from seeing it. Take your blinders of disbelief off and understand and BEHOLD the POWER OF GOD that is available today.

I thank God for you.

Stephanie