Daily Devotional (GPS)
How Jesus' Ransoming Grace set us free
Daily Scripture
Romans 3:21-24, Ephesians 1:5-8
Romans 3
21 But now God’s righteousness has been revealed apart from the Law, which is confirmed by the Law and the Prophets. 22 God’s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who have faith in him. There’s no distinction. 23 All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, 24 but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1
5 God destined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ because of his love. This was according to his goodwill and plan 6 and to honor his glorious grace that he has given to us freely through the Son whom he loves. 7 We have been ransomed through his Son’s blood, and we have forgiveness for our failures based on his overflowing grace, 8 which he poured over us with wisdom and understanding.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
The Greek apolutrosis, “‘setting free’ is a noun in Greek, it describes an event rather than an object, and so is better rendered by a verb in English…. the emphasis is upon the act of being set free, and in Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14 the setting free is specifically identified with the forgiveness of sins.” * The apostle Paul said arduous self-improvement doesn’t save us. We trust in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection to set us free.
- Paul said before he met Jesus he had trusted in his own goodness as one of God’s “chosen people” (cf. Philippians 3:4-7). But no more. In today’s reading, he said, “There’s no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace.” What helps you (especially if you’re a competitive “high achiever”) to remember that a key part of the gospel’s good news is “there’s no distinction”?
- In Ephesians 1, “Paul tells the story of the cross of Jesus in such a way that we can hear, underneath it, the ancient Jewish story of Passover…. Now, again in fulfilment of the old story, the true ‘redemption’ has occurred. Forgiveness of sins is the real ‘deliverance’ from the real slavemaster. And it’s been accomplished through the sacrificial blood of Jesus.” ** How does Paul’s use of the image of Jesus’ blood as “ransom” help you value Jesus’ gift to you?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I understand, to my sorrow, how sin can function as a slave master, holding me in a way of life I do not want. Thank you for giving yourself to give me the option of freedom. Amen.
GPS Insights
Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at Leawood's modern worship services, as well as at the West and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
Is the world getting better or worse? Do we have more problems than solutions? The optimism or pessimism surrounding these questions sparks a lot of debate, but there’s one thing we all like to believe: regardless of the world’s trajectory or supply of solutions, we’re the ones getting better and solving problems.
We don’t have the Law as a measurement of morality and success as the first-century believers did, but we have our own moral laws. We measure our success by how much money we make, and we want the people who agree with us to be in charge. Too often, we think the wealthy are wealthy because they earned it and the poor are poor because they deserve it. Though we don’t often admit it, we judge ourselves and others by these unspoken laws, much like the Pharisees did in Jesus’ time.
I’m not immune to the influence of these modern values. I regarded myself highly because of a successful career in the advertising industry. A few weeks ago, that ended when I was affected by layoffs in my company. Was I suddenly worth less than the week before because I lost my paycheck? Will I be worth more or less depending on my salary at my next job or the type of business I work for? Are the people who decided to lay me off worth less because we now disagree? This sudden change revealed my own proclivity toward culture-defined success rather than higher standards.
Just as Jesus set first-century believers free from the unnecessary weight of the law, we often need to realign our views of what is good and worthwhile. If we’re honest, we all have standards of people we view as more or less valuable than us. Goodness and holiness are vital, but human worth is defined by so much more than the labels our culture puts on us.
I am not suddenly worth less as a person because I lost my job. Similarly, there are people unlike me who have equal value: people who haven’t had the same privileges and opportunities I’ve had, people who chose to have priorities other than a high-paying career, people whose skills simply don’t pay as well as others. In a society that tells us that money is a measure of success, we need constant reminders that our worth—and the worth of others—is defined by an unchanging God, not a forever-changing ledger.
What is the GPS?
Resurrection offers a free tool for those who wish to read the Bible daily. Our Grow/Pray/Study guide (GPS) provides a Bible reading, Scripture reflections based on the passage, inspirational quotes from leading Bible scholars, questions to help readers apply the Bible to their faith journey, and a daily prayer guide at the end of each day’s reflection. Many readers have told us the GPS has strengthened their spiritual growth and helped them better understand how to let the Bible guide them in Christian living.
