Justified

I've been reading through Romans in my personal time in the Word. It has been so rich! Every time I open up, I am blown away by the treasures to discover. I spent some time reading Romans 3 last week, and here is what I've found. Every sentence is packed with Truth helping to further explain and understand the Gospel. One thing that has been so refreshing is reflecting on an important aspect of God's character: He is just.

It is easy to gloss over this attribute, but never should it be diminished! I am struck by God's work in sending Christ as an atoning sacrifice. I know this is the very essence of our faith in Christ, but I pray it always strikes a cord with me, that I never grow numb to it. God is the only one who has the right and the place to judge, because he himself is without flaw and cannot be judged. And because he is just, he will judge. I try and imagine a world in which God is not just, and that is a world I never wish to experience. If this were the case, God would be unpredictable, unfair, and untrustworthy. But because he is just, we can trust that he will give what is deserved.

With this in mind, we have great need, for what do we deserve? According to Romans 6:23, because of our sins, we have earned death:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

But because of Christ's atonement, God sees us as righteous! Not just as "not guilty," which basically means we break even; but Christ's righteousness has been credited to us! So when God looks upon us in judgment he doesn't see us as guilty, nor does he see us as not guilty: he sees us as righteous!

"But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?"
(Romans 3:5-6)

How amazing that my unrighteousness points out God's righteousness. It's like comparing black and white: white is more vibrant the darker it is compared to. If this is true, then of course he is just in bringing his wrath in order to bring justice for our sins. The only thing that keeps us from experiencing that wrath is Christ standing between us, for a couple of reasons: To take our sins upon himself, to give us in turn his righteousness, and to absorb God's wrath (all of which has already been displayed on the cross).

So, if Christ stands between us, that means that God looks at me through Christ, and so he sees His righteousness, which covers me completely, instead of my sin, which Christ traded with me on the cross in the greatest exchange ever:

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
( 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Paul continues in his letter to the Romans to explain:

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
(Romans 3:21-26)

I love how it is phrased here "through faith in his blood," that we would believe that Christ's sacrifice of his life- the shedding of his blood- would free us, if only we believe that this is what spares us from God's wrath and justifies our sin. Because of Christ, I never have to experience God's wrath. He has absorbed my sin, and therefore God's wrath, and I only receive Christ's righteousness instead! I am justified freely by his grace. I have done nothing to deserve this- it's free! This is how God's justice is demonstrated: through Christ. The firstborn son was often given as a sacrifice for the sins of the family, and God did this by sending his very own Son as a sacrifice. He demonstrates his justice by not holding back his wrath from the son whom he loves. It is this very wrath that I deserve and was rightly mine, that Christ took upon himself.

I later read this in a book:

"The Son of God dropped to the dirt in an olive grove- Gethsemane- and vomited in his soul at the prospect before him. Eleven men who would later change world history- some accustomed to working all night on their fishing boats- could not keep awake for the scene. Yet sixty feet away their eternal destinies were being fought over. Except for the heaving of these shoulders that bore the weight of the world, nothing could be seen in that shadowy spot where the Son of God groaned. But the bleachers of heaven filled to capacity that night- and hell strained its neck to see how the spectacle in that lonely acre would end. The Father gazed down and gave his sober nod. The Son stared back, and bowed his acceptance."
-Joni Eareckson Tada, Steve Estes

Wow.

I kept reading on in Romans. Not only is God just, he is the one who has justified us- and this justification comes freely through faith in Christ, in the grace shown in his redemption. It was through this scene that he has demonstrated his great act of justice. I began to digest another part of this: the law versus faith:

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God."
(Romans 3:19)

So the law was originally for God's people, the Jews, those who are under the law, but then the end of this verse shows that Jews as well as Gentiles (all non-Jews) are held accountable. Paul goes on:

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
(Romans 3:20)

So it is not through the law that we are saved- no one can obey the law perfectly. We do not, therefore, become righteous by observing the law. So what then is the law good for? To make us aware of our sin and our need for a Savior! Paul writes,

"What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law."
(Romans 7:7)

The law defines what sin is and points the finger at us. Essentially, we are condemned through the law. Paul writes later,

"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."
(Romans 8:3-4)

And so here we see the comparison, the turning point. The law is good, because it points out our sin, but it is powerless to do anything about it, to remove it or save us from the consequences (Romans 6:23). In fact, the law is weakened because of our sin. So even though the law had no power to save us from our sins and an eternity separated from God, the Lord himself took care of this weakness by sending Christ as a sacrifice of atonement (Romans 3:25). In doing so, sin was condemned, but not man! This was done so that the requirements for righteousness might be met in us. For now, sin is condemned within us, we have been credited Christ's righteousness, and are therefore declared righteous by very nature. Wow. That's the sound of my mind being blown away.

"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law."
(Romans 3:28)

There is a distinction here. We are justified by faith, that much has already been made clear, but this is apart from observing the law. They are separate. We are justified by faith in Christ, not in the law. So what then? Is the law, the Old Testament as a whole, made obsolete because of Christ's work and God's new covenant with us given in the New Testament? Not at all! Paul goes on:

"since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."
(Romans 3:30-31)

There is so much said here! First, there is only one God (speaking in address to the fact that God is God of Jews and Gentiles alike). This then infers that God is God of the law (circumcised) and also of faith (uncircumcised). The Jews have not been justified through this law, but through their faith in Christ. So Jews and Gentiles have the same faith if it is indeed in the forgiveness of their sins through Christ's sacrifice, and it is through this faith that God justifies us. Paul begs the question, is the law nullified by this faith? No. Quite the opposite actually. It is through our faith that the righteous requirements of the law are satisfied (Romans 8:3-4)! We uphold the law through our faith in Christ who imputed to us the righteousness he displayed in living a life that met all the requirements of the law. So much to take in...

So these are just some of the discoveries I am making in Romans, and this is only the beginning! I love that because God is just, I am justified. He is not only just, but He is the one who justifies. Praise God and Amen!