The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Romans 8:3-4b,
"What the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us..."
I get teased sometimes for my vocabulary, but I can't help myself. I often find new words very interesting because of the content they represent. It's not a snobbery, nose-in-the-air kind of thing at all. I really have no interest in impressing people. I often find concepts and thoughts that are new to me fascinating. Consequently, I have a couple of web-based dictionary services send me their "Word of the Day" emails. Today's word from "Dictionary.com" is "fungible". The definition provided is, "1. Freely exchangeable for or replaceable by another of like nature or kind in the satisfaction of an obligation. 2. Interchangeable."
In God's order of things, personal responsibility is inescapable. If we sin, we pay the price. As the Lord himself tells us in Ezekiel 18:4b, "The soul who sins is the one who will die." Paul points out earlier in his letter to the Romans that the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23, and that all have sinned, Romans 3:23. From these truths we may conclude that we are all destined for that fiery lake of burning sulfur we read about in Revelation 21:8.
However, we also learn in God's order of things that the payment for sins committed is "fungible." Where there is personal responsibility for sins, that God will hold each and every one of us accountable for all the things we have ever thought, said or done, that payment for sins is nonetheless fungible. Our payment for sin can be replaced by another's payment for sin. Certainly, he would have to have something to pay with. Another sinner can't make the payment for me because his eternal life will be the required payment for his own sin, leaving him nothing left to pay for my sin.
What this means is that there exists a prospect we can enter into an eternal life of blessing with God if that payment for sin can be made. The good news is Jesus Christ came and made that payment for our sins with his own life when he died that horrific and miserable death on the cross. His payment qualifies for me, for all mankind, as he never sinned himself. His resurrection from the dead proves God's acceptance of Jesus' payment for our sins. When here Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6. What is required from me to have his payment for my sins credited to my account with God is to put my faith and trust in him. "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9.
This is why the Scriptures tell us God sent his Son to be a sin offering. "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." Romans 3:25. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10.
Payment for sins is fungible and our loving and merciful Savior made that payment for us!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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