Living in the Spirit

June 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

The Greek word, dikaioó, means The believer is made righteous/justified by the Lord, cleared of all charges (punishment) related to their sins. Moreover, they are justified, “made right, righteous” by God’s grace each time they receive (obey) faith*.

We may think of the word justify meaning to give an acceptable reason for having done something wrong. But this justification is more like the prophet Amos’s plumbline (Amos 7:7), a tool used to make sure, for example, a wall is perfectly straight so that it will be able to last for years withstanding storms and other forces that might destroy an otherwise weak wall. I think that God’s plumbline is always available, and we need to examine ourselves routinely to see if we are following God closely.  

Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.

Refrain:
O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne;
My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone**.

Prayer: Lord, create in us clean hearts so that we can see clearly how to live in your justification. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/1344.htm

First verse and Refrain of the hymn Living for Jesus by Thomas O. Chisholm see at https://hymnary.org/text/living_for_jesus_a_life_that_is_true

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.