For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

The Bible isn’t all good news. The book of Romans, for example, is brutally honest about our starting GPA in life. In chapters 1 through 3, Paul dishes out the evaluation: We all start with an F. It doesn’t matter if you’re a religious person, a totally hedonistic person, or a really judgmental person; every single person starts with an F because sin has separated us from God. 

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (Romans 3:23) 

But then, chapter 4 and 5 of Romans describe the stunning way we get an A. This is the cram sheet for the most important exam question in all eternity, and this is the stunning answer: 

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2) 

All the pardon, the approval, the purpose, the freedom, the rescue, the meaning, the righteousness, the cleansing, the significance, the worth, and the affection that we crave and need are already ours in Christ. That’s not just our hope; that’s God’s promise of truth for life today.

When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin, but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so and sought my good. —Charles Spurgeon