Hello 

We're in our second day of A Week of God's Gifts.  God is the Giver of good gifts, and if it were not for the gifts that He freely offers to us, we would be lost.

Day #2 - The gift of Justification

I've had the opportunity to hang out with some pretty knowledgeable theologians in my time as a pastor.  I always marvel at their ability to understand the scriptures, but often I find myself feeling at a slight disadvantage as they throw around terms like soteriology, forensic righteousness, and extrinsic righteousness. I'm not ashamed to say that sometimes I have to pull out my smart-phone and double-check the terminology.

What is justification?

In the simplest of terms (which is usually just the way I like it), justification means "to be made right."  

I heard an illustration a number of years ago that made sense to me about justification, and if you'll allow me to, I'll share it with you now:  

Imagine for a moment that you live in a small town with a country store.  It's a wonderful little store, with items that your family needs on a regular basis.  You go quite often to get your groceries and hardware there, and the proprietor is a friendly but no-nonsense business man.  

It just so happens that one day you lose your job, and when the general store proprietor hears about that, he assures you that everything is going to be O.K. He's going to allow you to run a "tab" at the store so you can still get your family the supplies they need while you're looking for another job.  You'll pay him back as soon as you land some new employment.

The new employment doesn't come along like you expected, and a few months later you owe the general store several thousands of dollars.  The proprietor lets you know that he can no longer allow you to purchase items "on account," and that the money that you owe him needs to be paid.  You don't have it.  You wish you did, but it isn't there...you're still out of work.  

You feel ashamed and stranded, unable to show your face in the store, and barely able to even want to go to the post office because you're afraid you'll bump into the general store merchant while you're getting your other bills and letters. 

One day, someone hears of your plight and something wonderful happens.  This person stops by your house and lets you know that they have paid the bill anonymously on your behalf. They have paid off your account at the general store without anyone knowing that it was them, and they hand you a thousand dollars to make sure that you will once again be able to purchase your family the necessities that they need.  

You can once again show your face in town; your bill has been made right.  You have been justified in the eyes of the store-keeper...you didn't actually pay the bill yourself, but in the store-keeper's eyes, you're debt has been taken care of as if it never existed.

"But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.  For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."  Romans 5:15-18

This is incredibly good news!

The above "general store" illustration is certainly not perfect, but I hope it can at least help someone to better wrap their mind around this deep and profound subject about justification.  To be "declared right" is such an amazing gift!

I am constantly amazed at how generous God is in giving us the gift of justification.  To be "declared righteous" because of Christ's sacrifice is a gift that we can never fully comprehend, but it IS good news!

However, there IS one caveat:  We don't have to accept the gift. Just like I could go down to the general store in the illustration above, and tell the proprietor that I would not allow this generous donation to be credited to my account, I can choose NOT to allow God's gift through Christ's sacrifice to count towards my incredible debt of sin.  

Many people have done just that.  His sacrifice was made for them, but they CHOOSE NOT to allow it to happen.  That's a tragedy when Heaven has given so much for us to taste eternity.

There's a song that I heard a number of years ago that sums up the gift of justification quite well:

He paid a debt He did not owe

I owed a debt I could not pay

I needed someone to wash my sins away.

And now I sing a brand new song, Amazing Grace

Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay

What a gift...What a God!  

Lord, thank-you for giving this to anyone who will step forward and accept it.  In Jesus name, amen!

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word