Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Reflection: Question #29
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
Question: What is Justification?
Answer: Justification is an act of God’s free grace through which he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone.
We may have to spend two days here (LOL)!!!!!! There is a lot in this question and answer.
Let us accept for a moment that God is a holy God. By “holy” we mean that God cannot be around any unrighteousness, or sin… in any way. God’s Word says that God is a “consuming fire.” This is a picture of God’s absolute holiness. I was raised in a tradition that emphasized this attribute of God… holy and just. I feared this God and was ever concerned about aggravating a God intolerant of my childish, bad behavior. While this tradition, I contend, over-emphasized God’s holiness at the expense of his grace, I nevertheless am grateful that I have a deeply held appreciation for the fact that God is righteous.
Noone can stand to the level of perfection that God demands. But this is the good news: I do not have to be good… God has given me his goodness/righteousness. Please understand (I am trying to not get too far into the theological weeds) forgiveness is different that justification. The fact that Jesus forgives me means that I am no longer accountable for the bad things that I do… my sin. That is different than the fact that I am justified. Justification means that I am actually righteous (God giving me HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS). Let me see if I can explain it this way:
If I placed myself in an empty bunker the rest of my life (free of all human interaction) and fell asleep of boredom for the majority of my days, I would technically not be sinning. I would simply have deprived myself of the opportunity to violate God’s Law. I might be sinless (like vegetables are sinless), but that would not make me righteous. Sinlessness and righteousness are two different things. My dog, Oliver, is sinless… but he is not righteous. What Christ did is profound. He forgave me and made me righteous. What God sees in me is a righteous person… a good person. He sees the righteousness of Christ in me. I am not like Oliver, merely free of sin. I am truly good because God has given me Christ’ righteousness. He has justified me. Does this make sense? I am both sinless and righteous!!!!!!!!
Prayer
Lord, thank you for making us righteous and not merely forgiving us! You have made us holy in Christ and we are now living (by your Spirit’s help) in light of that righteousness.
