Daily Devotional | Our Redeemer

R. A. Torrey, the second president of Moody Bible Institute, explained why Jesus’ sacrifice meets the need of every person: “The gospel, with a crucified Christ at its center, meets the needs of all conditions and classes of men as well as of all races. It meets the need of the millionaire and the need of the pauper; it meets the need of great men of science . . . and the need of the man or woman who cannot read nor write; it meets the need of the king on the throne and the need of the laborer in the ditch.”

The gospel is good news for everyone! In his first epistle, Paul made clear that the good news of redemption in Christ is for both Jews and Gentiles (vv. 7–9). As God told Abraham, “All nations will be blessed through you” (see Gen. 12:3), a promise here called the “gospel in advance.” God’s plan had always been larger than one nation. The fact is that all who trust in Christ are considered spiritual “children of Abraham.”

Furthermore, redemption is about faith, not works or the Law (vv. 10–12). Since lawbreakers are cursed, and since keeping the Law is impossible, those who rely on it are automatically cursed. Those who rely on faith in Christ, by contrast, stand justified before God. This is not a new truth, since faith was also the basis for Abraham’s justification (v. 6). Anyone who tries to earn salvation will fail.

In short, the gospel is not about what we do but about what Christ did (vv. 13–14; Eph. 1:7). He came under the Law’s curse. He paid the death penalty we owed for sin. Only through faith in Him can we receive the rich blessings of salvation, especially the Holy Spirit.

Pray with Us

Today we pray again for the Educational Ministries faculty: Timothy Downey, Dennis Fledderjohann, and Elizabeth Smith. May they be encouraged and strengthened in the Spirit as they faithfully teach tomorrow’s Christian educators.

BY Brad Baurain

Dr. Bradley Baurain is Professor and Program Head of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Moody Bible Institute. Bradley has the unique privilege of holding a degree from four different universities (including Moody). He has just published his first book, On Waiting Well. Bradley taught in China, Vietnam, the United States, and Canada. Bradley and his wife, Julia, have four children and reside in Northwest Indiana.