pardoned

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8)

The story is told about a young man who received a ticket for a speeding violation. As he stood before the judge, the judge found himself in a dilemma.  He knew the young man didn't have any money to pay the fine, but he didn't want to send him to jail.  However, the judge had to fine the young man $200, because that was the mandated fine for this traffic violation. Immediately after the judge handed down the sentence, he stepped away from the bench, took off his judge's robes, went to the defendant and paid the fine for him.

The young man was his own son  - whom he loved beyond measure.

That's what God's Son, Jesus Christ, did for us on the cross of Calvary.  God's justice required death as the automatic judgment for our sin.  (Romans 6:23)    However, because He loved us, the Son of God laid aside his "judge's robes," stepped out of heaven, came to earth and identified with us as a man, and died on the cross in our place to save us from our sin.

Because of this, God offers each of us a free pardon with forgiveness for all our sin and He gives us His gift of eternal life.  Jesus, the Son of God, paid the "fine" - the penalty - for us with his life.  All we need to do is confess our sinfulness and accept His gift of salvation - the greatest gift of all.

"He paid a debt He did not owe to free us from a price we could not pay."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for your great love gift for me in giving your Son, Jesus, to die in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins.  May I never take your love for granted, but learn to love you with all my heart.  Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, Amen."

-dick innes