Christ Church, Columbus

06/24/2026

Yes, Romans 3:25, is this long.

"whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;"

"Whom" and "His" refers to Jesus.

"Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him." (definition from GotQuestions.org)

The wrath of God was satisfied by God in the death of Jesus. Those who put their faith in Jesus are reconciled to God. And now Jesus, being raised from the dead "is not ashamed to call them brothers." In other words, Jesus (God the Son) endured the cross for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12), part of which joy is seeing His enemies forgiven and adopted by His Father.

06/17/2026

“As the sea covers great rocks, so God’s covenant mercy covers great sins. Some of the Jews that crucified Christ had their sins washed away in His blood.” —Thomas Watson

06/15/2026

How is the memorization going? Only two more verses left for June! So far, this is what we've got done (if you're keeping up):

Romans 3:21-24
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

06/14/2026

"On this day holy affections are quickened; the stock of grace is improved; corruptions are weakened; and Satan falls like lightning before the majesty of the Word."

- Thomas Watson, writing on the Christian Sabbath

(Photo: First Presbyterian Church (PCA), Charleston, Mississippi)

06/11/2026

Did you know our Presbytery has published its doctrine of s*xuality? Thoroughly biblical, thoroughly helpful, thoroughly out of step with the world, it is worth a thorough read!

Since the mid-twentieth century, rebellion against God’s divine pattern of s*x within the loving union of lifelong, monogamous, heteros*xual marriage has become widespread, and attacks against that pattern are increasingly perpetrated in concert with the civil magistrate. Thus for the protection o...

06/11/2026

https://christchurchcolumbus.churchcenter.com/channels/25275

Christ Church Columbus's Sunday Morning Sermons on Church Center.

06/10/2026

Next verse! Hopefully you're keeping up which means you've memorized Romans 3:21-23. If so, you are ready for verse 24 which tells us how fallen people can get right with a holy God.

"being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus"

And there you are: we are justified as a gift by His grace. Justified means we who are sinners are now considered righteous. We have been made right/just in God's eyes by the death of Jesus.

Salvation is not something we get at the end of a long line of obedience. Because God chose to love, we receive His love. No hoops to jump through; no initiation rites necessary; nothing on our part to prove. All we could prove anyway was that we really need saving.

06/09/2026

Our memorization project continues with Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

You’ve probably already got this one down so we’ll only work on it today. On the one hand, it’s the Bible’s equivalent of “water is wet.” But on the other, how many of us manage to live and think and treat others as though there were no such thing as sin in us personally, nor any such thing as the glory of God for us to aspire to?!

So we should memorize this simple verse to recalibrate our expectation. It is not faith to say, “nobody’s perfect.” It is faith to say there is glory set before us and we are at fault for coming short of it.

When British pastors in the 17th century English Reformation tried to summarize the purpose of life, they came up with “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” If they were right (and they were), then it is no small thing for us to fall short of the glory of God.

06/06/2026

Only one way to get there.

The two verses we've worked to memorize so far, Romans 3:21-22, make a very plain point. There is one and only one salvation. The Old Testament and the New Testament do not present two pathways to heaven--keeping the Law on the one hand, or trusting in Christ on the other. Notice he says, "For all who believe for there is no distinction." He means there is not a righteousness for Jews and another one for everyone else. Those who are saved are all saved in the same way--through faith in Jesus Christ. "And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:22).

So let's keep a'going: memorize and review, review, review!
"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;" --Romans 3:21-22

06/04/2026

Day four of our memory work and time for the next verse!

Romans 3:22

“even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction”

Paul explicitly says the righteousness of God comes through faith, as opposed to the obedience of the Law.