Romans 3:24 – In Christ

^“…being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is
in Christ Jesus…” Romans 3:24 (NASB)

This is the first of many devotionals we will do this year about our position in Christ. I hope you have downloaded your copy of the scriptures, which list most of the in Christ, by Him, in Him, etc. passages so that you can take notes and grow in the knowledge of your identify in Christ.

It’s important to know what benefits we have in Christ. Peter puts in this way. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18) Growing is a process. We might be complete, with all knowledge in our born again spirits, but we need to work that out of our spirits into our hearts and thinking. The Bible calls that renewing of the mind. (Romans 12:2)

^“23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ²⁴Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3:23-24) Everyone knows the preceding verse. That’s usually as far as most people get. They quote this to show that everyone has sinned. However, that was then and the next verse is now. We are not in that category of verse 23 any longer, but we are in the category of verse 24.

There are several important doctrines in this verse—justification, grace, and redemption. The important thing to know is that these things are given believers as a free gift by His grace. We are justified or made righteous by grace and we are redeemed or our salvation is paid for through the blood of Jesus through grace.

All this is through the finished work of Jesus. It’s a done deal. All this because we are “in” Christ Jesus. Jesus accomplished this for us. We had no part in earning these things nor did we deserve it. It is solely by grace. It is a free gift—freely given. Through the Cross, God places us in Christ if we have accepted this gift of grace by faith. It isn’t automatic. It’s free and a gift but we must receive it by faith. That’s the way we receive and maintain all of God’s gifts.

Therefore, you can rejoice in your justification and redemption through the grace that is in Christ.

Happy New Year. May this be your best year yet.

If you haven’t downloaded the scriptures for “In Christ” then click here. [ddownload id=”26998″ text=”Download” style=”button” color=”blue”]