Good and Upright

Last week, we talked about moving from a twice-a-year religion to an all day, every day love for God. The first step is understanding God's love for us. It is so important, in fact, that Jesus demonstrated it even in His death.
In the latter part of Luke 23, we read of a man named Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph was a "good and upright" religious leader who did not agree with the betrayal of Jesus. He was apparently a wealthy man who owned his own grave. Because he loved Jesus, he offered his grave to house the body of Christ for what he, arguably, thought would be forever.
Jesus knew all along what Joseph would do. Perhaps He used the situation to illustrate salvation. We are like Joseph in many ways. Even though we may be "good and upright" in our own eyes, Romans 3:12 says "there is none good; no not one." Romans 3:23 states "all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory." Romans 6:23 tells us "the payment of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." No matter how good we are, because of our sin, we have bought an eternal grave. However, if we give God the rights to our grave, He will take our place instead. And His occupation WILL last forever. This is His "gift" of salvation.
"Mercy" is not giving what is deserved. "Grace" is giving what is not deserved. 1 John 1:8 says "if we think we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Romans 5:8 tells "God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."