Unlimited: Christ Has Justified Us Through His Death
Jul 6, 2020 1722
Just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people (Romans 5:18).
Justification is the reception of the sinner just as he or she is, for Christ’s sake. Sanctification, or transformation, is the result. The essence of justification is that God does for us what we could never do for ourselves. He accomplished our acquittal through Christ’s life and death, which were not only substitutionary, but representative.
When Christ died, God counted it as though the whole human race died. His perfect life, given for us on the Cross, was put to the credit of the whole human race. Christ became what he was not, that we might become what we are not. (See 2 Corinthians 5:14, 21).
Sanctification begins with regeneration, which always accompanies the faith and penitence that mark justification. Sanctification concerns our state, which is always imperfect, whereas justification concerns our standing with God, which is always perfect.
Justification is concerned with what has been entirely done outside of us. The result of justification is that as faith lays hold of the gift of salvation, the Holy Spirit who inspires that faith begets a new life in seed form. Henceforth the believer, so to speak, is a person with two natures, the old and the new.
– Des Ford (adapted)
Eli’s Reflection: Make a list of some actual things that you do in your life that feed your old nature and another list of things that feed your new nature. Decide to stop doing one of the things that feeds your old nature, and to do more of one of the things that feeds your new nature. Ask God for help in these areas of your life.
Donald Brown
Jul 6, 2020
The word justified can be looked at this way. "just as if I had never sinned." Your slate was wipped clean by Christ and it is his righteousness that covers you. However, let's have a look at justification in another way. Remember the story that Jesus told about the two people praying in the temple? One man was a tax collector and the other was just a regular guy. Well both went into the temple to pray. However, the one guy, not the tax collector, started telling God how that he was glad that he wasn't like that tax collector over there and he also told God how he did this and did that and so on. However, the tax collector wouldn't even lift his eyes to Heaven and all that he did was ask God for mercy. So which of the two were justified? If you said the tax collector then you're right. Why is that? Well the other guy was too busy bragging to God about himself, and secondly that other guy right in front of God started putting down the tax collector. That guy showed absolutely no mercy to the tax collector. However, the tax collector on the other hand just asked for mercy and forgiveness. The tax collector left the temple justified simply because he did not rail about himself, or how great he was or how he supposedly did this or that, nor did he even put down the other guy in front of God. He simply asked for mercy. God justified him.