Your List of Lost and Found

Romans 5:10 begins, “While we were God’s enemies ….” Enemies huh? Sounds serious. But wait, it gets worse! Romans 5:8 says, “While we were yet sinners ….”

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

─ 1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV

Sinners and enemies – that’s the bad news; but there is a lot of good news surrounding those two verses from Romans 5. Note how precarious a position you were in before Christ saved you. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Don’t miss all those sweeping and condemning generalizations in Romans 3:10-18 that include you and the rest of the world: None is righteous; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; no one does good, not even one.

 You once were lost, but now you’re found! 

You are not beyond His grace. It’s important for you to know what you came from and what you have become in Christ. The Apostle Paul has a few “was-is” or “were-are” lists in his letters. They’re sort of like lost and found. This is what you were like when you were lost, and this is what you are like, now that Jesus has found you.  

Paul lists off some pretty serious sins, which in his words, won’t allow you to “inherit the kingdom of God.” Then comes an amazing, hope-filled statement: 

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NIV). Washed. Sanctified. Justified. And these mean you will inherit the kingdom of God.

Today’s One Thing

Take time to recall every now and again, your lostness and your blindness; and now you are found and can see. When you do, recognize thankfulness and humility –give thanks to God for making you a new creation. Humility, for only Christ could take what was broken and make you new.

Go Deeper

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