Devotion: Romans 5:19

Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

This is one of the verses I memorized as a child when I attended AWANA at church. (If you are unfamiliar with the AWANA program you can look it up online. It is a program aimed at teaching kids about faith and the Bible.) But I don’t think I understood what it meant until I was in my twenties and really spent a lot of time studying His Word.

Paul speaks of the disobedience of one man. He is referring to Adam and the fact that he and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and introduced sin to the world. And unfortunately for us, we all have inherited that sinful nature. There is nothing we can do about it, nothing except turn to Jesus and ask Him to forgive us for our sins and make us righteous and holy. We have to choose to turn to Him continuously because we have such sinful natures that we need to confess and repent often.

We can turn to Jesus and have our sins forgiven because He was obedient. Thanks to His obedience when He gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sins, each of us can be made righteous. Through Christ’s obedience when He died on the cross, all believers are seen by God the Father as righteous and holy, as if they had lived a perfect life like Christ’s. When He looks at us He doesn’t see our shortcomings and failures. He sees Jesus.

Today let’s take a few moments to think about what Jesus did for us. Because of Adam’s choice, we all are sinners in need of a Savior. If you have never asked for forgiveness and asked Jesus to be Lord of your life, this is your opportunity. Be obedient to the pull you feel, the need within you that is looking for satisfaction. Be obedient and talk to someone who can pray with you.

And if you are already a believer, take a few moments to pray. Thank God for what He has given us – forgiveness of our sins. He had a plan in place from the moment sin entered the world and it is through that plan that we are made righteous when we turn to Him.  Thank Him for having a plan in place to redeem us and set us free.

Prayer: Lord, Thank You for sending Your Son to be the sacrifice needed to save us once and for all. Let me praise Him and thank Him for making me righteous. Amen

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