Romans 4:23-25

"I have some bad news, and some good news..." When you hear this, people often start by telling you the bad news, because the good news that follows solves the problem of the bad news. The Gospel message is no different! We are stuck in our trespasses and unworthy of a relationship with God by our own actions. That's really bad news. But there is good news that follows -- Jesus lived a perfect life and He IS worthy. Even though He did not deserve to receive any punishment, He took upon Himself the sins of you, me, and the whole world in order to share in His right-standing before God. He is ready to share that right-standing, innocent verdict with you. Follow Him, and His righteousness will be counted to you.

PASSAGE: Romans 4:23-25 - "But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

PAUSE: The good news of Jesus Christ is that He was delivered up for our trespasses and that He was raised for our justification. When we believe in Christ, we believe in His death and resurrection. The result of that faith is that we are declared to be righteous.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we praise you for sending your Son to die for my sins. Thank you for raising Him on the third day as proof that His sacrifice satisfied your judgment against sin. Thank you for counting me as righteous by giving me the righteousness of Christ.