SCRIPTURE: [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24 AMP)

I want to focus on two particular words found in the scripture verse above: justified and redemption.

The word justified is not one we commonly use in everyday English, but the essence of its simplest biblical definition is “just as if I’d never sinned.” In other words, because of the redemptive work Jesus did at the cross, God now looks at you just as if you’d never sinned.

The word redemption means “to buy back.” Just as an individual who was kidnapped is bought back from their captor with ransom money, so Jesus bought you back from the hands of the devil with His shed blood.

The Bible says, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin” (Romans 4:8 NKJV) and God is “the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 NKJV). Never again will your sins be counted against you.

Receiving this justification and redemption does not depend on your performance; it depends on your faith in Jesus and the fact that you are “in Him.” And the good news is, because you are in Him, you are justified!

Confession: Thank You, Father, for treating me just as if I’d never sinned. I cast down all thoughts of condemnation, and I meditate instead on the free gift of redemption that is mine because I am in Christ Jesus.

Author: Jerry Savelle