He's apparently someone who's lost. I belong
to Jesus. That's the group of people that Paul
Romans to. In chapter one he says to his readers,
and you also are among those who are called to
belong to Jesus Christ. And we belong to him
not just for now, but forever, for eternity.
We're looking today in Romans chapter 2 at verses
1 through 16. The last part of chapter 1, which
we looked at last week, we saw the justice of
God's wrath being revealed against pagans, those
who are openly immoral and degenerate in their
living. Our text today deals with the moral sinner,
instead of the immoral sinner. That is, this
is the self -righteous one, the do -gooder, as
someone puts it, who condemns the immoral while
excusing his own guilt. Probably the Jew is directly
in mind in these verses, but not exclusively.
Certainly when we come to verse 17, he's talking
to the Jews, he addresses them. And most commentators
think that he's probably referring to the Jews
in the verses that we'll read today. But what
is said here does not refer exclusively to Jews
because self -righteousness is an attitude that
is known among Jews and Gentiles. We want to
keep in mind, too, as we read our text, that
the theme of this part of Romans is not salvation.
We are not learning in these verses how we can
be saved. We are learning, rather, how badly
we need to be saved. The theme in these verses
is that of sin, and particularly God's judgment
upon sin. You will notice that the theme of the
judgment of God is found several times. in our
text today as we'll read it. You follow along
please as we begin reading in verse 1. You therefore
have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone
else. For at whatever point you judge the other,
you are condemning yourself because you who pass
judgment do the same things. Now we know that
God's judgment is against those who do such things.
is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass
judgment on them, and yet do the same things,
do you think you will escape God's judgment?
Or do you show contempt for the riches of His
kindness, tolerance, and patience? Not realizing
that God's kindness leads you toward repentance,
but because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant
heart, You are stirring up wrath against yourself
for the day of God's wrath when his righteous
judgment will be revealed. God will give to each
person according to what he's done. To those
who by persistence in doing good seek glory,
honor, and immortality, he will give eternal
life. But for those who are self -seeking and
who reject the truth and follow evil, there will
be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and
distress for every human being who does evil,
first for the Jew and then for the Gentile. But
glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does
good, first for the Jew and then for the Gentile.
For God does not show favoritism. All who sin
apart from the law will also perish apart from
the law, and all who sin under the law will be
judged by the law. For it is not those who hear
the law who are righteous in God's sight, but
it is those who obey the law who will be declared
righteous. Indeed when Gentiles who do not have
the law do by nature things required by the law,
they are a law for themselves even though they
do not have the law, since they show that the
requirements of the law are written on their
hearts, their consciences, also bearing witness,
and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending
them. This will take place, that is, this judgment
will take place on the day when God will judge
men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel
declares. This is a heavy theme that we look
at this morning. It's one that Satan does not
appreciate, to say the least. as we talk about
the judgment of God. But it's a significant theme
and one that all of us need to understand. I'd
like for us to bow in prayer and ask the Holy
Spirit to be our teacher. Lord, as we come to
your inerrant revelation and look at these verses
which deal with this important topic, I pray
that you will be our teacher. There are things
here that we could never grasp on our own. And
I pray the Holy Spirit will quicken this tongue
and the ears of each of us so that we may understand
your burden for us today. In Jesus' name I pray,
amen. What is taking place in this part of Romans
is God proving the worldiness of all men for
his judgment. The text before us today teaches
us several principles of God's judgment. You'll
find those principles listed on the outline you
received in your worship folder this morning,
and I encourage you to follow along on that list
as we think about them. The principles of God's
judgment, what are they? How will God judge?
Well, we see at least five principles here that
we want to examine. The first principle is this,
and it's found in verses one through four. God's
judgment is according to what? To truth. That's
right. Man's judgment is not, very often, according
to truth. But God's judgment can be nothing else
but according to truth, because he is truth.
Now there are four simple facts about this that
we see in these four verses. The first fact is
this, that this judgment according to truth is
certain. I want you to notice he says in verse
2, we know that God's judgment is based on truth.
We know a couple of things here. First, that
God's judgment is coming. Secondly, that God's
judgment when it comes will be according to truth.
That will be the manner of its execution. It
will be based on reality, not fairy tales. We
know this. This is the same verb that we find
in chapter 8, verse 28, in that familiar verse,
for we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to those who are
the called according to his purpose. We know
that, don't we? Just as surely as we know Romans
8, 28. We should know Romans chapter 2 when it
says we know that God's judgment is coming and
that it's according to truth. A lawyer who is
arguing his case before the judge is limited
by the judge to the facts. If he gets straying
off in some direction the other attorney can
object and the judge can call the attorney who's
speaking back to the facts of the case. Because,
you see, the judge and the jury are not interested
in peripheral things. They will make their decision
on the truth. What are the facts of the case?
And you see, that's the way God's judgment is.
When He judges each of us, it will be according
to the facts. Not according to our intentions.
Not according to what we wished had happened.
But God's judgment is based upon truth. What
did happen? What is the truth? What is the reality
of this person's life that will be revealed at
the judgment seat? The second fact I notice about
this judgment according to truth is that it therefore
leaves every man inexcusable before God Because
all are guilty of the same sins before him. He
says you Have no excuse you who pass judgment
on someone else. For whatever point you judge
the other, you are condemning yourself because
you who pass judgment do the same things. That
does not mean they do the same identical acts
necessarily, but they do the same kinds of things
as mentioned here in chapter 1 in that rather
gross list of sins that we examined closely last
week. He says, you who judge the immoral pagans
because of their degradation. Aren't you able
to see that you yourselves are guilty of similar
sins? If you have enough knowledge of right and
wrong to condemn them, then you have enough knowledge
to know that you're sinners too and need to repent
of your sins. So when you condemn them, you are
condemning yourself. That's his point. All men
are inexcusable before God. Oh, we are a nation
and a people who love to use excuses. We do it
at school. We do it at church. We do it at home.
We do it with the bank. We do it at work. Wherever
we are, we use excuses. When it comes to God,
there are no excuses. The facts of the case will
be laid out before Him, and we will not be able
to frame any excuse on our tongue. The problem
is that so many sinners live in a dream world,
and they think that somehow when they stand before
God, God will condemn others who've sinned, but
He'll somehow let them by. But that is a fantasy.
That is not reality. The reality is that all
of us are inexcusable as sinners before God,
whether we are immoral or we are immoral. We
are still sinners who need to be saved. A third
fact that I see about this first point, that
God's judgment is according to truth, is this,
that there's no place for escape from punishment.
He says in verse four, do you show contempt for
the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience?
Not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward
repentance? You see, God's patience does not
mean that we're going to escape judgment. In
fact, in verse 3 he says, So when you a mere
man pass judgment on them, yet do the same things,
do you think you will escape God's judgment?
There are people who think that because God is
long -suffering, that somehow God is allowing
them to escape punishment. Such is not the case.
There is no escaping the judgment of God. One
of the commentators, has suggested that there
are four ways that we may escape punishment in
this world. For example, one way is that the
offense or the crime not be discovered. A person
is not punished then, obviously. Barnhouse tells
about a time in his early ministry. I think he
was only 19 years of age at the time when he
was preaching in a meeting somewhere in Pennsylvania,
I believe. And after the service, a lady came
up to him and asked that she might have a private
time with him the next day. And so he went to
her house at the appointed hour. And she began
to pour out to him something that she had kept
secret for decades. She was an old woman at this
point. When she was a young woman in a boarding
house, there was a man there who had mistreated
her. And one night when he came in drunk into
his room, she went into his room. while he was
in his drunken stupor upon the bed and turned
the gas on and then put a rug up against the
door and waited until he was dead. The authorities
thought he had committed suicide in his drunkenness,
but the fact was she had killed him. Her crime
was not found out until this time when she was
confessing it to this evangelist. She had never
been punished for it. Why? Because the crime
was never discovered until that time. How many
crimes are there that have never been discovered?
And people escape punishment because of that.
Another reason a person may escape punishment
is because of the statute of limitations. The
time runs out when he can be held accountable
by the court or he may get out of the court's
jurisdiction. He may be held accountable in the
state of Minnesota, for example, but go to another
state where he can't be held accountable, or
go to another nation where he can't be brought
back. So you see, in that way though, he may
commit a crime. He may escape because of a time
limitation or because of getting out of the jurisdiction
of the court. A third way that it's possible
to escape punishment is for a mistake to be made
in the legal process. And therefore, on the basis
of a technicality for a person to escape punishment
of which he's worthy. In this age, this is much
too common, isn't it? People escape the punishment
they deserve because of some small error that
was committed either in the arrest or in the
process of trial. And finally, a person may escape
punishment if he somehow escapes custody, perhaps
he escapes prison, and then flees. He is able
then to escape the punishment that was pronounced
upon him, which he deserved. But I want you to
notice that those are the only ways a person
can escape punishment, and none of them applies
to God's judgment. If we think about the offense
not being discovered, we should remind ourselves
that there is no crime that God does not know.
Every crime against His holiness, that is, every
sin that has ever been committed in deed or word.
is known to God. We can't escape on that account.
If we think that somehow we will get beyond the
jurisdiction of God, just where in the universe
do we think we're going to go? He's the eternal
God. Are we going to go beyond the limit of a
time statute? And then if we think a mistake
is going to be made in the legal processes we're
brought before God, we're fooling ourselves.
because God's judgment is according to truth.
No mistakes made. And then do we think that somehow
we're going to escape the eternal fires of damnation
and be free from them and escape into God's universe
and hide? That's a foolish thought. You see there
is no possible escape from the judgment of God
and that's why in Hebrews 2 It says, how shall
we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Then
there's a fourth fact that we see about this
judgment that's according to truth, and that
is that it is preceded by God's goodness. God
does not strike the sinner quickly. God is a
God of mercy and of patience and of long suffering.
He tolerates sinners. giving them opportunity
to repent. God's judgment, which does eventually
come, is preceded by His kindness. That word
kindness or goodness there refers to God's moral
goodness. You know, God is good to all men. He's
good to believers, yes. But He is good to all
men. In His providence, He cares for the sinner
as well as the saint. And then it says that not
only is he kind, but he is tolerant. The word
there means that he holds back. He delays what
should come because of his tolerance with sinners.
And then he uses the word patience. Patience
is similar to tolerance. It means slowness in
a vinging wrong. And he says that God is rich
in these things. God does not dribble out his
kindness, but God pours it out of his riches.
It is an inexhaustible storehouse of kindness
and patience and long -suffering. But men refuse
this. God intends for the goodness to lead man
to repentance, but does it do it? No. It only
brings him to greater ingratitude, it seems.
Man refuses to repent in the face of God's goodness.
And in verse 5 he goes on to say, because of
your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,
that's the response of man to God's goodness
and God's kindness and God's patience. It is
stubbornness. It is hardness of heart. It is
a rejection of God's mercy. James Stifle says,
The blackest sin is not righteousness violated,
but mercy despised. And that's the sinner. The
one who shows contempt for, who looks down upon
the goodness and the patience of God. Someone
also said to despise mercy is to condemn one's
own soul. Why is that? Because there is no way
of salvation apart from mercy. And when one rejects
God's mercy, he is left only to God's judgment.
That's the point here. God's judgment is according
to truth. The second principle of judgment that
we see is found in verse 5. That the judgment
of God is accumulating because of stubbornness.
That is, as man rejects the mercy and the kindness
of God, he simply accumulates and piles up the
wrath of God. He doesn't escape it at all. He
is simply putting it away. The picture here is
like someone who saves for a rainy day. It's
like a person who puts away money for retirement,
looking up to that day when he will need it in
order to live. So every chance he gets, he's
putting some in a savings account or in the IRA
and insurance policy, and he stores it up a little
bit at a time so that then he'll get what's coming
to him. But you see, that's the picture here.
When a person despises the mercy of God, all
he is doing is storing up God's wrath, tucking
it away into his life until that day come when
he'll get what's coming to him. It's an awful
picture. Failure to repent and stubbornness of
heart, the ignoring of God's goodness leads to
accumulated, multiplied judgment. It is a piling
up of the wrath that is due. Dr. Barnhouse calls
these people the misers of God's wrath. And how
aptly that describes what is said here. That
day that's in view is the day of the final judgment
of God. He says you are storing up wrath against
yourself for the day of God's wrath. when his
righteous judgment will be revealed. There are
those who have the idea that when a sinner dies,
that God immediately judges him. Now there's
a sense in which that is true because when a
sinner dies, he is immediately confined in Hades,
in torment and suffering, in fire. But he has
not yet faced his judgment. He is simply confined
there waiting for judgment to come. Because judgment
will come upon all sinners at one day. That doesn't
mean 24 hours, but it means one event, one period.
And when is that? Well, read about it over in
Revelation chapter 20. It's called there the
great white throne judgment. It's a time of judgment
that comes completely at the end of history.
After everything has been done that's going to
be done in time, God brings sinners before him
for judgment. Question. Why does God do that?
Why doesn't God judge each person the moment
he dies? The answer is, because even after a
sinner dies, he continues to store up wrath for
his day of judgment. How is that? Take for example
the infamous dictator, Adolf Hitler. Let's suppose
that God gave him his final judgment in 1945
when he committed suicide in that bunker in Berlin.
Would Hitler have gotten what he deserved at
that point in time? No. Because the suffering
and the wickedness that he created and oversaw
is still being played out in the world today.
And so God is waiting until every bit of that
wickedness has taken place so that at the end
of time, Adolf Hitler can stand before him and
receive the full measure of his judgment. The
same is true of the drunken father, for example,
who mistreats his wife and children. and leads
them in the wickedness and sin. His judgment
does not come at the end of his life, nor of
his children's lives, but at the end of time
when the full wickedness of his drunkenness and
his sin can be measured out as it impacted every
succeeding generation. And the storehouse of
God's wrath at that point will be opened up and
all of it will come out on him. You see, that's
the judgment of God. It is accumulating every
day of the world, every day of history. It piles
up as though a man were storing away treasure.
A man stores away wrath when he rejects and despises
the mercy of God. Each lost sinner will spend
eternity reviewing again and again the whole
picture of his life because it will all be brought
before him. the regrets, the things missed out
on, the deeds done of wickedness, all of these
will haunt the sinner in hell forever. How many
are deceived, thinking somehow they're going
to get by, that surely though God will have to
condemn others because of sin, they have not
sinned enough to be sent to hell. My friend,
one sin. One sin is enough to send a person into
hell. One sin is an offense against the holiness
of God, and God cannot allow one sin in His presence.
The fact is that none of us are guilty of but
one sin, but of multiplied, multiplied sins that
accumulate through our lives and through the
lives of our descendants. A third principle of
judgment is found in verses 6 through 11, where
he says that the judgment of God is according
to works. It's important for you to understand
that these verses do not teach that we are saved
by works. One could take some verses out of context
here and teach that, but he would be violating
the principle of the interpretation of God's
Word. Notice that he says, God will give to each
person according to what he's done. To those
who by persistence in doing good, seek glory,
honor, and immortality, he will give eternal
life. Now some people would say, well it means
there if I do good and I seek glory and honor
and immortality, God's going to give me eternal
life because of that. That's not the point. What
he's talking about here is the fruit. of a genuine
salvation experience. He's dealing here not with
the inward presence or absence of faith. He's
dealing with the things done. You see that? He's
talking about the works. God's going to judge
according to the works of a person's life. A
person is saved by faith. It's an inner thing.
But that's not the point here. The point here
is that sin will be evidenced by the works of
a person's life. And God will judge according
to those works. And he's talking about the totality
of a person's life, not the incidents that may
occur in it. God is interested in the direction,
in the bent of a person's life, not the occasional
acts. Let me give you a couple of examples of
that. If God were to judge David on the basis
of his adultery, his deceit to cover that up,
and his murder, then David would be lost. But
you see, God knows that the bent, the direction
of David's life was not described by those events
that took place, but rather by a heart that sought
after God. He did not live perfectly, none of
us do. There were incidents in his life that
were sinful and tragic. But God judged David
because the direction, the bent of his life was
toward God. Why was that? Because he had trusted
in the Lord. And most of the works of David's
life were works of righteousness and praise to
God, though there were incidents that were a
disgrace. He would be judged according to the
works, the totality of the works of his life.
On the other hand, let's take Judas, for example.
Judas gave to the poor, but that was not the
direction and the bent of his life. The direction
of his life was covetousness. He was a thief.
He betrayed Christ. And so the direction of Judas'
life was one of disobedience, away from God,
although he did something good like give to the
poor occasionally. It's not the incidence that
God is judging, it's the totality of the life,
the accumulation of the life. The character as
well as the conduct is brought before God and
God judges according to works. Really, what is
taught in these verses is simply this, that when
the Lord is in a person's life, it makes a difference
in how he lives. And that difference is seen
in the works. If he is not in a person's life,
then his life will be self -seeking. He will
reject truth and follow evil. Consequently, he
will receive wrath and anger and trouble and
distress. On the other hand, when the Lord is
in a person's life, when a person is saved, Then
it says he will persist in doing good. That doesn't
mean he'll be perfectly good, but he will persist
in doing good. That is, the direction of his
life will be one of continuing in righteousness,
though he may fall and sin occasionally. He'll
be one who will seek glory and honor and immortality,
and God will give him eternal life. Why? Because
of his works? No, because he's trusted Christ,
and Christ is in the life making a difference.
We are living in a day when People make a cheap
profession of faith, and some of them pray and
ask Jesus to come into their heart, whatever
that may mean to them. Then they go out and live
like the devil. And they say, what difference
does it make because I asked Jesus into my life?
A person who has that kind of an attitude is
probably not saved, whatever his outward profession
may have been. The works of a person's life evidence
what's truly inside. A person who professes to
be a Christian and who looks back to some day,
perhaps as a child, and he prayed some prayer,
who lives an immoral, adulterous life and persists
in that kind of a life, is a person who is deceived,
thinking he's saved. He's not saved. Because
when Jesus Christ is in the life, he transforms
it. The direction of the life is different. The
works of the life are righteous. though he may
occasionally sin, as I've said. That's what God
is judging, the totality of the life, the works
of the life. It makes no difference if one is
Jew or Gentile, that's not the point. The point
is the works of the life and what those works
evidence is the presence or the absence of Christ.
There's a fourth principle as we move ahead quickly.
in verses 11 to 15, which is simply this, that
God's judgment is apart from partiality. In other
words, the outward religious standing is insignificant
with God. He says God does not show favoritism.
God is not concerned whether one is Jew or Gentile.
All will be judged, although by different standards.
Now what do I mean by that? Well, simply this.
A man is judged by God according to the light
that he has. The Jew, because he had the law
of Moses, will be judged by the law of Moses.
The Gentile who did not have that law will be
judged by the light that he did have. And what
light is that? Well, he clarifies that. He says
it's the light of their conscience. verses 14
and 15 are parentheses, kind of giving some insight
into what he said previously. And he says that
a Gentile who does not have the law of Moses,
who knows nothing about the Ten Commandments,
still has written upon his heart the basic difference
between right and wrong. And he's answerable
to God for the decisions that he makes. Sometimes
his conscience will excuse him. Sometimes it
will accuse him. But he will be judged according
to the light that he had. And that's why all
men are accountable and without excuse before
God. Because whether a man has the law of Moses
or the law of conscience, he cannot live up to
that law perfectly. You see, God set the standard
so high, that of perfect righteousness, so that
he could show us how greatly we need forgiveness
and mercy. That's why the law was given to bring
us to Christ. God's justice is blind. What do
I mean by that? Have you ever seen justice as
she is depicted? She is seen as a lady. I often
wonder why that is, but then who am I to question
those things? A lady who holds a balance in her
hand and she is blindfolded. The blindfold does
not represent ignorance. The blindfold means
that she is unable to tell whether the person
before her is wearing rags or silk, or whether
that person is a Jew or a Gentile, to bring it
into the context of our passage here. All that
person is interested in is justice. The judge
wants justice, and you see that's where God is.
Whether Jew or Gentile, God's judgment is just.
It is apart from any partiality. There is no
difference with God. When we stand before God,
my friend, the label of Baptist or Catholic or
Lutheran or whatever makes absolutely no difference.
God's judgment is impartial. There are some people
who think because they're of one stripe or another
that they have an extra inch in heaven. Don't
you believe it? Entrance into heaven is not gained
by denominational title. Entrance into heaven
is gained by mercy and grace that is received
by faith. And then finally we see that God's
judgment applies to secret things, verse 16.
He says this will take place on the day when
God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ.
And so we learn that it's not just the outward
works that are brought up at the judgment, it's
also the secrets of a person's life. The hidden
things are brought out. Or a person may think
that he will stand before God and boast, I have
never committed adultery. And so God will open
the book of secret things and search out the
lustful looks and desires. Jesus said, a man
who looks on a woman to lust after her has committed
adultery in his heart. He's guilty of adultery.
A hidden thing. No one would know that. But God
will point it out at the judgment. It'll be exposed
for everybody. A person may think to stand before
God and say, I have never stolen a thing in my
life. And yet God will open the book of secret
things about that individual. and will show the
covetous desire and the envious spirit. Invisible,
you see, to us. Not seen outwardly, but God sees
it and God will expose it. That's what it means
here. The hidden things, the things that we hide
behind, hide down in our lives, behind the masquerade,
those things God will bring up and set in the
open for all of heaven to see. And a man will
be judged according to his secret things as well
as his outward works. You see, God's judgment
doesn't miss a thing. We shouldn't think it's
strange that God is able to do that. We, by our
puny little inventions, are able to see secret
things. We have organs in our bodies that we've
never seen, but we can get an x -ray machine
and take a look inside our bodies and see the
hidden things, can't we? A pilot of an airplane
can fly through a cloud and though he can't see
anything there inside that cockpit except his
instruments, the radar enables him to see what's
all around him. So he sees the storm ahead of
that other airplane. It sees the hidden things.
Sonar. tells us what's on the ocean floor, though
we cannot plumb those depths with our eyes. It's
hidden to us, but we see it. And so it is, my
friend, with God's judgment. It is hidden to
men, but nothing is hidden to God. All things
are made manifest before the eyes of him with
whom we have to do. That is God's judgment. Now
I want you to notice that it's Jesus Christ himself
who is the judge. Over in John chapter 5, he
explains why he is the judge. It's because he
is the son of man. Jesus liked to use that title
for himself, the son of man. And what it emphasizes
is the fact that he is a man, a perfect man,
as well as God. And it will be as sinless, glorified
man that he will stand on the judgment seat and
judge men. There will be no man who will be able
to say, but you don't understand what I went
through, because you see Jesus was tempted in
every way like sinners, and yet he was without
sin. He will judge as a man, sinless, glorified
man. All men will someday see him face to face.
And whether we see him as judge or as savior
depends upon what we do with him in this life.
When your eyes close in death, will you see him
as your savior welcoming you home? Or will your
eyes behold one who will be your judge? You make
the decision. If you are here today without Jesus
Christ as your Savior, and your attitude towards
God's goodness and God's mercy is one of spite,
one of resistance, one of contempt, then let
me give you a suggestion. If you are putting
off God, if you are rejecting God's wooing to
you, then let me make give you some advice. My
advice to you would be to live it up in this
life and to go out and sin all that you can.
As it says, some place to eat, drink, and be
merry for tomorrow you die. My advice to you
is to make the most of this life because, my
friend, that's all there is for you. Because
after this life comes judgment and separation
from God. and hopelessness in hell. And if you're
going to have any joy in your existence at all,
that little pleasure you have for a season had
better be enjoyed in this life because there's
nothing coming except judgment. Think about that.
And then see if you want to continue despising
God's mercy by which he's pleading with you to
come to the Savior. God's judgment is according
to absolute justice. so that we will see how
great our need is for mercy. Someday we will
meet Him and we do well now to prepare. Again,
Donald Gray Barnhouse tells the story of an occasion
when he was a young man and hearing an evangelist.
He does not remember the name of the evangelist
nor most of what he said, but there was one statement
that the evangelist made that stuck in his mind.
The evangelist was preaching away using the text
from Amos that says, prepare to meet thy God.
And the one statement in his message that stuck
with Barnhouse through the years was this, the
greatest reason you should prepare to meet your
God is because you must meet your God. When you
meet him, how will it be with your soul? Let's
pray. God, we thank you that in mercy and kindness
and in riches of patience you deal with us. We
thank you that you lead us to repentance. God,
there are some who are listening to my voice
today who are resisting or perhaps who have neglected
to this point this matter of their soul salvation.
Help that one or those few here today to understand
the dire danger of their soul, the eternal damnation
that waits as they now store up wrath to be revealed
someday. God, how thankful I am that the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all
sins. So whether in our deeds or in our secret
things, Those sins are forever washed away and
can never be brought to the account of the Christian.
I rejoice today in that truth and praise you
for it. But for that one whose record is still
stained deeply with sin, I pray today that there
will be repentance and faith in Christ that will
save that one. In Jesus' name, amen.