In the legal system, there is something known as ‘the law of double jeopardy’. It means that, except in some very specific circumstances, you can’t be tried twice for the same crime. Now, let’s apply this principle to your salvation. Jesus has already been tried and punished for your sins – all of them! So don’t let Satan, the accuser, convince you that God will also punish you for them and send you to hell. Christ’s last words on the cross, ‘It is finished,’ are translated in the Greek text as ‘paid in full’. All your sins – past, present, and future – were atoned for at Calvary. Think of the word ‘finished’. Imagine a master carpenter putting the finishing touches to a beautiful table. Would you take a wood plane and say, ‘I think I can make this look a little better and give it a little more value?’ The carpenter would say, ‘Stop; if you touch it, you will ruin it!’ And they would be right. The same goes for your salvation. You can add nothing to it, but by trying to merit it by your performance and good works, you can definitely take something away from it. The word justified simply means declared or made righteous in the sight of God. The moment you place your trust in Christ as your Saviour, that’s how God sees you. ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith [not works, human effort, or performance], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand’ (vv. 1-2). How can you stand before God clothed in grace? By faith in Christ alone and nothing else.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.