Not based on obeying the law ...

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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. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law. -Romans 3:27-31 NLT

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Can you relate to the kind of boasting that Paul speaks of? I can. There was a time when I embraced such an arrogant attitude about not only my relationship with not God but the spiritual gifts that I operated in. It was as if the divine favor I experienced was based on my performance. The orientation towards performance and obeying external rules has crippled the gospel. Hurting people who need the Lord the most are discouraged and feel they can never measure up.

Thanks be to God that the apostle, in these few verses, dispels any myth of a performance based salvation. It reminds me of how Jesus speaks of our 'work' to be a simple belief in the One who the Father sent. To some this simple work of belief is an affront their notions of what faith really is. To others, like me, the glory and loving kindness of God is reflected in the idea that one can be made right with God by simply saying yes to the Holy Spirit's invitation to come.

Again this morning we say "Yes Lord"! Yes to your love! Yes to your goodness! Yes to your will! Yes to your kingdom!

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