Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
IN THE SAME BOAT
You don't have to be a sailor to know what it means when someone says, "Well, we're all in the same boat!" It just means we're all in the same situation.
You don't have to own a canoe to know what it means when someone says, "Now we're up a creek without a paddle!" It means we're in trouble! If you're up a creek, that means you're headed down that creek in the current. And if you don't have a paddle, then there's no way to avoid the branches and rocks in your path.
Here's a harder one. What does it mean when someone says, "I'm waiting for my ship to come in"? Well, centuries ago, merchants would head out with a ship loaded with cargo to sell abroad. It took some capital to undertake a venture like this. So, merchants would ask people to loan them some money with the promise that when the ship came back into port, their loan would be repaid, and then some. "Waiting for your ship to come in" came to mean, "waiting for some good thing to come your way."
We can use these boat phrases to grasp the meaning of our verse for today. This passage says that everyone is in the same boat. We're all sinners. And worse than that, we're up a creek without a paddle. The Bible says that only perfect people get to live with God in heaven.
But our passage also says that we're justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. What that means is that God says, "I declare you sinless, because my Son Jesus died for your sins on the cross." It looks like our ship has already come in.
It's helpful to remember that we're all in the same boat. We were all lost in sin, but in Christ we've been rescued once and for all.
