"God gets the glory and we receive the benefit"

Romans 3:23 says, 

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

What does is mean that we fall short of God's glory? I think that elsewhere in Romans we see the clearest answer. Romans 1:22-24 says,

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity, to dishonoring their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Our problem is that we have chosen to worship things that God has made, including ourselves, instead of worshiping the creator of all things. We have chosen to take delight in our own glory at the cost of pursuing God's glory. We have fallen short of living by the standard of God's glory which is His perfect righteousness and purity. This is how we have "fallen short of the glory of God." 

If this is the diagnosis, then what is the cure? The cure is what comes after Romans 3:23. It says,

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

We all fall short of God's glory; however, we are redeemed and made new by faith in Jesus Christ. It isn't our merit or our righteousness that makes us clean and presentable before God. Rather, it is God's righteousness! And it is counted for us when we place our faith in his son Jesus Christ. 

It is God's righteousness that saves us not our own. Who then gets the glory? God. Who then receives the benefit? We do. God gets the glory and we receive the benefit. This seems to be a pattern for how God works in and through us. There are many more examples of this principle in Scripture but for now I will leave it at this.

Time, the Bible, and Sin

Well, it has definitely been a while since I have last made a post... it is incredible how time marches on! A day quickly becomes a week, a week quickly becomes a month and so on. I see a convicting parallel between time and our relationship with God. If we neglect Him for a day, that can quickly become a week, and that week can quickly become a month, and sooner or later we will be three to four steps backward and giving in to all kinds of sin and foolishness. 

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." - Psalm 119:9-11

How can we stay pure in our thoughts and actions? By guarding our minds by the Word of God. How can we keep from sinning? By storing God's Word in our hearts and minds. How can we seek Him wholeheartedly? By keeping His commandments. I love the simplicity of this passage! God's Word is so central to our lives as children of God. May we be a generation that seeks to guard our minds and keep from sin by knowing, studying, meditating and memorizing your Word!