Justification

Still reflecting on the beauty of Spring and the gift of regeneration, I am drawn to the beautiful gift of justification given through salvation.  The gift of justification further displays the love the Father has for his children.

I have often heard the analogy of our entrance into heaven given in terms of a court trial.  God sits in the position as Judge while Christ and Satan present their arguments as to why we should and should not be allowed into heaven.  Satan brings up every sin in our lives, those others are aware of as well as the ones we thought we had hidden so very well from everyone.  We stand before our Judge drowning in shame and guilt at every word Satan speaks.  Then, it is Christ’s turn to tell the Father why we deserve to go to heaven.  Knowing full well there is nothing good inside our hearts, we hold our breath waiting to hear what Christ is about to tell the  Judge.  For those who believe, Christ will tell the Judge that even though every word Satan said about us is true, those sins cannot be held against us because we have been washed in the blood of Christ.  We are forgiven every sin because we believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  

Justification is the act of God pardoning the sins of all who believe in Christ.  He accounts for those believers as His own.  He accepts and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, as though we have conformed to all of the strict demands the law requires of us.  Knowing full well in our flesh we are not able to fulfill the law, God looks on us through Christ and declares that we have satisfied the law, not that he has set aside the law and allowed us to cheat our way in to heaven.  Because of our belief in Christ, God looks on us as though we have lived obediently to the law. 

Okay, that is pretty heavy stuff.  Let’s break it down so I can understand it a little better.  When we repent of our sins and believe in Christ, we are justified.  That simply means that Christ has proven that we are right with God.  When we are justified, we get all the benefits of one that would have lived a perfect life, fulfilling every law given by God.  We know that this is completely impossible in our flesh.  Without the sacrifice of Christ and the justification that comes as a gift of that sacrifice, we will never be good enough to enter heaven.

Justification is yet another gift of love given to us from the Father.  It brings us back to the sacrifice that was made for us.  It brings us back to the reality that we have to face, the ugliness of our sin and the separation it causes.  Yet that ugliness is made beautiful in the sacrifice of Christ and the fulfillment of the justification in the life of every believer.  I stand before you now, humbled by the love of my Heavenly Father, grateful for the sacrifice that was given, and excited to rejoice with you in the justification that has been made for each of us.