When my oldest child was old enough to lose her first tooth, I called my grandfather and said, “I feel so old now, my daughter is losing her teeth. He said, “You think that makes you feel old, wait until your wife starts losing hers.”
That same daughter recently got her driving learners permit. I called my insurance agent and asked if I need to add her to my policy. He told me something quite remarkable. He said, “You don’t need to add her to your policy. The way it works for someone with a learner’s permit is that if she breaks the law or gets into an accident the person sitting in the passenger seat will receive the punishment or suffer the consequences.”
I said, “What?! I have a perfect driving record. I don’t even have so much as a speeding ticket. You mean to tell me if she breaks the law or gets into an accident the penalty is transferred to the one who has a perfect record?” He said, “Yes, that’s how it works.”
When I explained that to my daughter she smiled and said, “That’s good news! The pressure is off!” As soon as she said that, it hit me. I said to her, “Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ?”
I am a sinner, Jesus is perfect. He has no sin. The gospel tells us that for those who believe, their penalty is transferred to Jesus and His righteousness is transferred to the “believer” (2 Cor. 5:21).
The Bible says in Romans 3:23-25 (ESV), “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.”
That means that salvation cannot me earned. It is only received through Jesus Christ because of His death for our sins.
Romans 1:16 states, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
That’s good news. The pressure is off.
Not a sermon, just a thought.
Charlie Colgan, Sr. Pastor
First Christian Church of Nacogdoches
Th.M. Dallas Theological Seminary ‘04