Contemplative Bible Reading

Romans 3:23-24 (New International Version)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

These verses are translated with different words and different punctuation in the many different English translations of the Bible we have today. Let’s consider the New International Version translation here.

We often read and know the first part of the sentence given in verse 23: for all have sinned and… We are all sunk. We all fall short.

Let’s remember to keep reading the rest of the sentence: and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Hey, I like that second part of the sentence. We A L L  have hope. We A L L  have this grace of God there in front of us brought by the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.

Salvation is there for us. It is free. Thank you God.

Note: Let’s not take this sentence out of context. Paul also writes about trying to work our way into God’s presence. Working our way doesn’t work. Paul also writes about an active, believing, living faith on our part. It is complicated; it is simple. Some days I don’t fully know what I know about this.