"Justified Freely by His Grace" (Romans 3: 22)

In today's first reading, Romans 3: 21-30, we are reminded that the righteousness of God is a reality for all who believe in Jesus Christ, that is, it is manifested "apart from the law and the prophets," though the law and God's prophets give testimony to it.  There is no distinction, St. Paul reminds us, between those who serve and know God's righteousness through the law and those who serve God "through faith in Jesus Christ..., as well as through observance the of the law. "[A]ll have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God."  And all "are  justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, who God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his Blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins...."   To this very day God, those who believe in Jesus Christ are made righteous and justified by Jesus' pouring out every drop of His blood for the redemption of all peoples.

I invite those reading this blog and myself, as well,  to apply St. Paul's message to ourselves personally, hearing St. Paul say to each of us:  Dorothy Ann (Insert your name)        , though you have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God, you "are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, who God set forth as an expiation  [of your sins] through [your faith] by his Blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of [your] sins."  Jesus, the Righteous One, has justified you and restored "the glory of God" in you, Dorothy Ann (insert your name),  by shedding every drop of His Blood, beginning with His circumcision, His sweat turning into drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, His scourging, His crowning with thorns, His loss of blood on the way to Calvary, nails being driven through His hands and feet, and His side being pierced on the cross.

You cannot, Dorothy Ann (insert your name),  boast of saving yourself--you are saved only through Christ Jesus' obedience to the point of death. St. Paul states: "What occasion is there...for boasting? It is ruled out.  On what principle, that of works? No, rather on the principle of faith....God is one and will justify  the circumcised on the basis of faith (the Jews)  and the uncircumcised (the Gentiles) through faith."  "There is no distinction."  The glory of God is restored in all peoples--every Jew and every Gentile--without any exceptions through the Righteous One, Jesus Christ!