Freely. Love the word. One of the definitions for freely from Merriam-Webster is “of one’s own accord.” Another definition is “without restraint or reservation.” Interesting how one word can change the course of history.
It has been around 500 years since the Reformation began under Martin Luther. Luther’s main complaint was the abuse of the sale of indulgences by the church. An indulgence was an exchange for donations where the church would guarantee reduction of time in purgatory, which it claimed was a place where souls wait after death before entry into heaven. A bit of a renegade anyway, that was a tipping point for Luther, who argued that a person did not have to pay for remission of sins because Christ offers forgiveness freely to anyone who repents.
“There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” [Rom 3:22-25 NIV]
Freely. Love the word. God, of his own accord, without restrain or reservation, justified us by the grace brought to us in Christ Jesus. God was able, because of the redemption Christ wrought on the cross to declare “not guilty!” to all who repent and accept Jesus as Lord of their life.
We are not charged for this, we don’t have to put a donation into the indulgence box to receive that verdict. In fact, we can’t buy our way into heaven with our money, our membership or our good works. That way in (grace) was given freely.
Freely. Yep, love that word!
