The scripture for today, March 5, is Titus 3:5 in the New Testament of the Bible:

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

God is perfectly good and cannot dwell with imperfection. How, then, can we ever live with him in his heaven?  After all, as hard as we try, we cannot be perfect. But God loved us so much that he solved our dilemma. He sent his Son to live that perfect life that is impossible for us to live.

Then, his perfect “Lamb of God” took our punishment for our sins by paying the fine. Romans 3:23 says the wages of sin is death ~ physical death (separation from this world) and spiritual death (separation from God). Jesus took all of God’s anger, terrors, rage, fury saved up from the beginning of time and about to burst ~ all hurled down on sin to destroy it. That would have destroyed us, but Jesus took it all for us. And that included being completely separated from God. At the worst of it, Jesus cried out to God, “Why have your FORSAKEN me?” That’s when Jesus died spiritually for awhile. It was we who deserved to be forsaken by God.

Sin and its power now destroyed, God said if we do as Jesus did and follow what he said, he will consider us perfect also. Such amazing, amazing love!

And this washing mentioned here. It is interesting that here is the “washing of rebirth”, for in Acts 22:16 it says, “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins” and in Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism in order that…we too may live a new life [rebirth].”  God took care of the hard part. He gave us the easy part.

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