Guilty But Free

A young woman was caught going one hundred miles an hour in a fifty-five-mile-per-hour zone outside one of those small towns. The policeman brought her into court where the judge fined her one hundred dollars. “But I don't have one hundred dollars,” she wailed.

“I'm sorry, but you will have to spend the weekend in jail,” the judge told her. “You owe the court one hundred dollars. You may not have the money, but the law is the law.”

She began to cry. “Please, your honor, I don't have one hundred dollars, but I don't want to spend the weekend in jail.”

The judge said, “I can't change the law.” But the young woman begged for mercy again - and to the surprise of the bailiff and the policeman, the judge did something very interesting. He pushed his chair back from the bench, took off his robe, walked around to where the woman was standing, pulled out his wallet, and gave the bailiff a one-hundred-dollar bill, went back to the bench, put his robe back on, and sat down.

Then the judge picked up his gavel and said, “Young lady, I see someone has paid your fine. Case dismissed. You're free to go.”

That's what God did for you and me. We stood before the bench of His justice, and He said, “You've been found guilty of sinning against My holy character. You've either got to pay the price of perfection or spend eternity in the prison called hell.”

But God the Judge also heard us cry out for mercy. He knew we had nothing to pay our debt with. So in the Person of Jesus Christ He stepped out of heaven, “zipped down” His deity, put on the robe of humanity, and paid the price Himself on the cross. Three days later, He put His robe of deity back on and ascended back to the bench of heaven.

Now He looks down and says to anyone who comes to Him and begs for mercy, “I can't change the law, but I can pay the price.” You will never have to worry about heaven again if you know Jesus Christ.

The Judge who pronounced sentence against you also paid your fine. He'll do it for anyone who comes to Him.

- Tony Evans
Provided by his devotional entitled: "Time To Get Serious"

Scripture: Isaiah 5:20

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;

Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20 (NKJV)

When people see no distinction between good and evil, destruction soon follows. It is easy for people to say, "No one can decide for anyone else what is really right or wrong." They may think getting drunk can't hurt them, extramarital sex isn't really wrong, or money doesn't control them. But when they make excuses for their actions, they break down the distinction between right and wrong. If people do not take God's Word, the Bible, as their standard, soon all moral choices become fuzzy. Without God, they are headed for a breakdown and much suffering.

- "Life Application Bible Notes" by Laridian

Application of God's Word: John 17:17

Verse: John 17:17

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Application:
Just as Jesus did not belong to the satanic world system, so believers do not. They belong to the heavenly kingdom (Colossians 1:13) because of their new births (John 3:3). Jesus had prayed for protection for His disciples (John 17:11). Now His second petition for them was for their sanctification (Sanctify means “set apart for special use). A believer is to be distinct from the world's sin, its values, and its goals.

The means of this sanctifying work is God's truth. The truth is communicated in the Word, which is both personal and propositional. As the message about Jesus was heard, believed, and understood, the disciples' hearts and minds were captured. This change in their thinking resulted in changes in their living. The same is true of believers today. As they appropriate God's Word to their lives, they are sanctified - set apart for God and changed in their living in order to honor God. God's message set the apostles apart from the world so that they would do His will, not Satan's.