Watching the evening news these days can be seriously disturbing. It seems like every day there’s a new name or two on the list of politicians, Hollywood celebrities and officers of large corporations accused of sexual misbehavior of one type or another. It sometimes seems like it will never end.
It’s easy to become angry at these individuals—to wag an accusatory finger in their direction. If the truth be told, however, few of us would survive intact after having our lives laid bare before the court of public opinion. Virtually everyone has something in their past or present that they wouldn’t want exposed to public scrutiny, or even to a spouse or other loved one.
While some of us escape public scrutiny of our lives, it’s a sobering thought to know that everything we do is seen by God.
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. —Oswald Chambers
The Apostle Paul tells us, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, ESV). This begs the question, “Then who can be saved?” It’s important to understand Romans 3:23 in context, because it answers this worried question. Taken in context, we see:
… there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. Romans 3:22b-25a
An act of propitiation is a redeeming sacrifice that atones for sin. In the Bible, this term always refers to an act of God, not a sacrifice offered by man to God.
In a just a few days we will celebrate the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. While we are taking joy in the celebration of the Lord’s birth, we must not forget that he was born for only one purpose—to redeem us from our sins and return us to a natural relationship with God. This return to the natural order as God originally planned it was made possible by Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. This redemption cannot be earned. It is offered as a free gift to all that place their faith in Jesus as savior. Through Him we are made blameless before God.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25
May God bless and keep us all during the coming Christmas season and New Year!
Divine Simplicity 
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