A Reputation Restored

Two years after he stepped down as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Raymond J. Donovan was acquitted of state charges of grand larceny and fraud related to a large New York City construction business, of which he owned half. Standing outside of the courtroom where he’d been on trial for nine months, Donovan said to reporters, “To which office do I go to get my reputation back?”

Those who come to Jesus in faith, repenting of their sins, may have lost their reputations on earth. If those sins were not overly public, they might still appear “respectable” in the community, although if others knew their past, that could crumble.

But in the divine exchange that is the salvation process, where Christ’s righteousness replaces your unrighteousness, your heavenly reputation is restored at once: “ ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’ ” (Isaiah 1:18).

It’s not merely your reputation that’s restored; so is your right-standing with God. A holy God could not allow unholy, sinning people in His heaven. When you genuinely repent and confess your transgressions, your sin is removed and you are “white as snow” in God’s sight.

Raymond J. Donovan returned to his business and eventually sold his share of the company to an overseas buyer to live a presumably happy and comfortable life. For those who believe Jesus’ promise of salvation, the future is even brighter: “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes” (Zechariah 3:4). The result? An eternity of happiness in the presence of the One who redeemed us!

Apply It:

After we receive by faith the “divine exchange,” think of how God now wants to work a “divine change” in our lives.

Dig Deeper:

Zechariah 3:1–5; 2 Corinthians 5:17–20; 1 Peter 2:24

Key Bible Texts

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV)