BUT NOW

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.  Romans 3:21-22

            What wonderful words and implication ~ “But now!”  They separate one part of life from another.  They provide a defining moment and one that is life changing.  I think of the life stories that have used this expression.

• I was sick all my life but now I’m healthy.
• I was an orphan but now I’m part of a loving family.
• I was unemployed but now am doing what I’ve always dreamed I would.

            Paul has painted a bleak, but truthful, picture of man’s condition before God.  It has spanned two whole chapters.  He tells me that I can do nothing to earn God’s favor.  All my efforts get me nowhere.  I am rebellious even though I may be impressed with the good things I do.  I am headed for destruction without a Savior.  I have spurned the many ways God has revealed Himself in nature and I am held accountable for that.

            The emotional temperature of the book radically changes though with this verse as Paul announces that there is a “but now” available to my hopeless situation.  Righteousness can be mine to embrace as a gift because there is a Savior named Jesus.  It’s mine if I place all of my hopes in Him.  This is the foundation of every saint’s testimony.

• I was once blind but now I see.
• I used to work frantically to please God, and couldn’t, but now He draws close to me and sees me as someone pure, because of Jesus. 
• I was once condemned, but now the judge has given me freedom.
• I once was poor, but now am rich, forever, in the kingdom.

            There should be no such thing as a stoic Christian.  Every promise of God is really a ‘but now’ sentence.  They change every bleak prediction of my life. 

Thank you for changing my story. Amen