Our Footsteps: Justification - Gospel Thoughts for the Week

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Justification - Gospel Thoughts for the Week

A few days ago I posted the definition of the word 'propitiation'. I think its good for Christian to define their terms, so I may occasionally define words that us Christians use.

Justification. This is a legal term – a legal declaration by God – a VERDICT - an instantaneous legal act of God in which He (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in His sight - we are completely forgiven and no longer liable to punishment.

Colossians 2:13-14 says, "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 1having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

What was the certificate of debt (or handwriting of ordinances) against us? This certificate of indebtedness referred to a handwritten note by the debtor acknowledging his debt. The decrees mentioned in this passage refers to the Mosaic Law – all people have violated God’s law and therefore we owe God a debt. This is enough to condemn us to judgement and hell because "cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law, to perform them" – Galatians 3:10. The 'canceled out' phrase is one I like. The Greek term for this phrase means "to wipe off, like erasing a blackboard". This certificate of debt has been nailed to the cross! Not a trace of it remains to be held against us. Forgiveness is complete.
John Piper comments on this passage from Colossians: "there is no salvation by BALANCING THE RECORDS, it must be wiped out, cancelled, blotted out".

What are the results of the legal declarations of justification?
1). We have no penalty to pay for our sins (past, present and future!) (FORGIVENESS) Romans 4:6-8
2). We are now not merely neutral in God’s sight, but we are actually declared to be righteous! (IMPUTATION of Christ’s righteousness to us) See Isaiah 61:10 – He has covered me with robes of righteousness.
3). We have RECONCILIATION - that is, peace with God – See Romans 5:1

What is our response to this 'justification', this legal declaration of our standing in God's sight?
There are numerous responses. Standing in awe, continually thankful, as we pursue holiness - just to name a couple.

The photo above was taken in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the capital building in Harrisburg. We visited on a holiday, so we had access to the room, which normally would be a rare occurance. You can't tell from this photo, but behind the judges seat is a huge mural of Moses in front of the Ten Commandments. The courtroom is filled with other pictures and quotations that reference God, the Creator, the Divine, the Almighty. Interesting when you consider the 'separation of church and state' argument.

Mark

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Great thoughts, Mark!

I think the Greek word is "Telesti" Paid! Cover! Done! Finished! It would be interesting to do a word study and find the other places where the word is used.

Thanks for the wonderful reminder!; June 9, 2008 at 9:23 AM

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I Believe...

1). I believe that there is one God. I believe God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2). I believe that God is holy, righteous, loving, and just.
3). I believe that mankind is separated from God by sin; that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin.
4). I believe that, because of sin, man is condemned. Because of God’s utter hatred for sin, there is an eternal conscious punishment in hell for all those who do not come to God on His terms, dealing with their sin.
5). I believe that confessing our sins and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is the only way to properly deal with the sin that has infected everyone. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt on the cross; reconciliation by substitution. There is nothing we can do to add to the finished work of Christ.
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