Tuesday June 29, 2021

Heavenly Father – help me start today with a clear heart and a clear mind ready to receive your word in a brand new way today. Amen.

Romans 2:12-16

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Paul spent a great deal of time showing Jews and Gentiles that all people are guilty of sin and need salvation through Jesus. In today’s passage, he tells them that every person will be judged according to their own situation – the Jews, by written law against which they sinned and the Gentiles, by the unwritten law of their own conscience against which they sinned. Whether it is God’s law or our own standards we make for ourselves, we are all guilty of failing to uphold these and we all need Jesus. At the time Paul made these statements, he was making a controversial claim that confronted the notion that only the Jews were heirs of God’s promise, but now Gentiles are too. A gut-wrenching point that Paul makes to the Jews is that knowing God’s Word doesn’t bring value unless your life reflects it. Let that sink in for a moment.

Spend some time today thanking God for the gift of his Word and his Son.
Then prayerfully consider:
How does my life reflect God’s character and promises?
How might I do better? Pray for God’s help and he will answer.

Lord, these are your words. This is our story. Help me live in a way that honors you today and everyday. Amen.