A Higher Standard

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  Romans 3:23-24

Are those who believe in Jesus held to a higher standard? I wrote it in the affirmative last night, looked at it again this morning, and realized that I was wrong. No, we all have one standard, we have all failed to meet it, and we all fall short of the glory of God. Faith in Jesus is where we gain the ability to reject the sin by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. That does not mean that we will successfully negotiate the temptation traps every time, but that failing may tempt us to believe we now have a higher standard. The disciples saw the perfect example of the sinless life each day, and they soon realized how far they were from the standard. As we walk in grace by faith, we also get to know more of how far short of the standard we began the journey. Forgiven in Christ we are, but perfect sinless behavior we are still working on with Jesus our Lord. 

Remember the key words of the second part of our verse today: justified, grace, redemption, and Christ Jesus!

Bucky