Our Footsteps: Jury Duty

Monday, November 9, 2009

Jury Duty

Today I had jury duty. It was the first time in my 45 years that I had ever been involved in the experience. There were ninety people in the room. First there were six trials for which to find jurors. Then by the time we signed in and sat down, four cases had been resolved. Then by the time the judge came into the room, another case had been resolved, leaving only one case for which to find jurors. The clock ticked away. My stomach growled as we approached lunchtime. I was running out of bottled water. But I was thoroughly enjoying my 'alone' time amid the eighty-nine other patient and obviously excited, happy people. The reason for my enjoyment? I had some time to just sit and read. Time is at a premium for all of us, but for me to be able to sit and read for over four straight hours was like getting a Christmas gift.

Of course, there I am - sitting in the courthouse awaiting the selection process for either a civil or criminal trial... and my mind starts to wander in between chapters of my book. All around me are all things 'legal', and so I start thinking about all the legal terminology in the Bible. Guilt. Innocence. Freedom. Justification.

Justification... Justification?! Now there's a word we don't use very often, but we should! 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, having 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".

By 1:30 in the afternoon, the news came that the last case had been settled and we were all free to go home. I wondered if those involved in the lawsuit, whatever it was about, had ever experienced this kind of 'verdict', the kind made by the supreme Judge, God? Would God use their experience with the legal system to reveal to those involved in the case of their ultimate crime, namely their own involvement in putting to death the Son of God? THAT is the most heinous crime of all, and sadly most people never recognize the indictment (or the certificate of debt) against them. The judge is ready and waiting to announce the punishment... and severe it will be... because the crime is not against a small Sovereign.

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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.
6). I believe in the security of the believer, that once he is truly born-again, there is nothing that would cause him to lose his salvation.
7). I believe that upon the death of a true believer in Christ, that he is ushered immediately into the presence of the Lord, where he will live in everlasting joy in Heaven, experiencing eternal fellowship with God.
8). I believe in believer’s baptism by immersion. I don’t believe baptism is necessary for salvation, but it is a beautiful outward profession of an inward possession.
9). I believe in a literal 6-day creation where God created the heavens and the earth and then rested on the seventh day.
10). I believe that the words written in the Bible are truth. I believe that the Bible is inerrant in its parts and in its whole. I believe that the 66 books that make up the canon of scripture make the Bible complete and that God inspired the words written therein. The things that were written down in the Bible are sufficient for every need we have. Not only is God’s Word sufficient, but it is far superior to any other method of handling the problems that man faces, since He has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.