God has it covered

It is not often that preachers deliver a message about judgment, but I heard one today. It was directed toward those who think that just because they prayed the sinner’s prayer, they are okay. They don’t have to live any different from how they lived before. Some seem to think that a simple prayer is equal to signing an eternal life insurance policy.

That is not how salvation works. Yes, salvation is by grace through faith. No one deserves eternal life nor can anyone do good deeds to earn it. At the same time, if a person claims to be saved and their life has not changed, they do not belong to God and will be judged, not by a prayer, but the evidence of their lives. Without Christ, there will be nothing to cover their sin.

Salvation is a powerful act of God. When You saved me, You came into my life and started a renovation from the inside out. You have changed and are changing the way I think, talk and act. It happens because You have put me in an amazing place. The biblical words are that Christ is in me and I am in Christ.

Tonight’s devotional reading is for those who know Christ. Spurgeon points out that those whom God has saved will never be judged. All the punishment and condemnation that I deserve was put on Christ. I am set free from judgment. 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1–2)

Being in Christ and having Christ living in me means that all the law of God has been satisfied — not by me because I cannot do it — but by Jesus Christ who lives in me. When You look at me, You see the blood of Jesus Christ that has covered all my sin. You hear the intercessory prayers of Jesus who say, “Yes, she is a sinner, but I died for every sin. She is set free from judgment.”

Today I can rejoice when I hear a message about God’s wrath against sin, not because I’m glad that Jesus had to suffer, but I am glad that He did suffer and that His sacrifice did not miss any of my sin. There is now no condemnation — forever. Jesus died for every sin, lives in me to satisfy Your demand for righteousness, and even though I sometimes still sin, Your grace has it covered.