It has been awhile since I’ve read Romans straight through, and it’s my first time reading it in this version (NLT). So it took me by surprise when what I would have thought of as familiar truth brought un-looked for tears to my eyes.
What was it? The beautiful simplicity of the gospel?
“ Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares we are righteous. He did this through Jesus Christ when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” (2.27)
Or maybe it was the exclusion of boasting?
“Can we boast then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.” (3.27)
The description of a God who is the source of inexhaustible hope? “Abraham believed God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.” (4.17)
Undeserved kindness. No reason to boast. A God who makes new things out of nothing. Words like these bring tears of joy.
There is so much in the Bible that I don’t understand. But I am glad that God makes some things so simple, so clear, and so compelling.
Lord God, please continue to amaze and surprise me with the profound simplicity of the Good News that frees me, humbles me and causes me to hope. Amen.
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