Salvation: Part I Justification-From Slavery to Freedom.

Salvation. It is a pretty wide and large term. Sometimes we as believers think it very simple. That it starts and ends with our confession of faith in Christ. However, there is much more depth than that and I want to start a blog series looking at different aspects of salvation: Justification and Sanctification. All surrounding the idea that when we are justified we are made free from sin and death but that this freedom is not freedom to do whatever we please but rather freedom to become a slave to the most loving taskmaster: Jesus.

I want to remind everyone that we owe our entire salvation to God who makes it all possible not only by acting in history as attested to in the Bible but by preparing our hearts to accept Christ into our lives.

Justification-It means being declared innocent in God’s sight solely because of what Christ has done.

No one has their sins forgive by what they do and we cannot earn forgiveness from God.

Despite anyone’s best efforts, the brokenness of a sinful nature both within and the world around us force us to ask Bildad’s question to Job, “How can a mortal be righteous before God?” (Job. 25:4).

…So the stage has been set. We know that we cannot justify or make ourselves righteous by our own strength, and we know we cannot keep the law, and we know the punishment for sin is death. Hence, all we can do is throw ourselves at the feet of the Lord and hope that He will show mercy.

This is exactly what saving faith is!

It is complete dependence on God’s goodness and realizing that He is so good He wants and desires you to have life abundantly. He wants you to be justified based on His righteousness and love; it is why Christ came and died: in order that you could receive this grace.

The right actions are nothing without the right attitude behind them because we worship a God who looks at the heart (inner-person).

Again, the biblical model of forgiveness is not based on earning your forgiveness with God because He wants to give it freely, ridding you of your sin, guilt, and fear! This doctrine of justification offers hope because it lifts the burden of escaping hell off our shoulders, and God will never go back on His word and condemn us!

Justify-to be made free of sin and credited with righteousness.

To be made free from hurt, free from lust, free from guilt, free from past mistakes and the weight of carrying the world on your shoulders, free from hatred of neighbor and self, free from selfishness and pride, free, free, FREE!!!!!!

Allow me another metaphor for this truth. You are broke. I mean penniless, flat, living on the streets broke as a joke. The only possessions of yours are a few dirty, polluted, diseased rags for clothing, and you know that without anyone to help you, you are as good as dead. Now you see the king of your land dressed in fine robes of the purest material, and more importantly than that, He sees you with the most compassionate eyes you have ever gazed upon. He approaches you and begins to swap His robes for your rags. You may be speechless or you may protest because you know that not only is He taking your diseased scraps of clothes but that He will die as a result of it. Yet this merciful King does so with a joyful peace and as you are now wearing His robes, the servants of the King recognize the majesty and friendship He has bestowed upon you and now you have royal status in the kingdom. This is what it means to be redeemed from slavery into life and freedom!

Christ has taken our sin and given us His righteousness so now we can have freedom! God gave our sin to Christ, the penalty was paid, and now God gives us Christ’s righteousness, which is the beginning of us being made holy by the Holy Spirit.

To be justified by faith: it is simply saying “God I trust you and will continue to do so”

We are justified by God when we admit there is nothing we can do but to put our trust in what Christ has done for us already by sending His Son who was willing to go to the cross on our behalf.

God then gives us this faith as a gift so that we may believe: Faith itself is a gift from God. Salvation always starts with Him because He is the only Being who is inherently good. This is why we sing praises

Dr. Thomas Oden a well-known theologian once said “Those who try to earn righteousness are not ready for the Kingdom of God.” We need to recognize our brokenness and come to a point so profound that it says, “God without you, I am completely sunk” and we need to mean it.

When we surrender to God, He will justify us not because we deserve it but simply because that is who God is; He is good. In Romans 4, Paul holds Abraham as scriptural proof of what he said in 3:21-31. It all comes down to God’s goodness and we can accept our lack thereof and acknowledge that only He can justify us and declare our innocence which He will, or we can look to do it ourselves which is a useless gesture and downright sinful because that is basically telling God that we do not need Him!

When we are justified, the will is freed from the bondage of sin and the mind is illumined to follow Christ by the Holy Spirit’s power. We are declared “not guilty” of sin and given the gift of freedom to obey.

Willful acts cannot eradicate sin in our lives no matter how good they are because sin runs deeper and no matter how good a person is we can still see the effects of sin in our world today. Think about it, everyone still has to face death no matter how righteous they were. Christ’s resurrection is proof that God has accepted the crucifixion as a sacrifice and penalty on our behalf.

The one thing we as Christians can always look to is the cross. Oden says it well when he writes that Christ overcame “nature by His Incarnation, sin by His death, death by His resurrection.”

It is because He overcame that now we can become more than conquerors!

Justification looks at the cross and answers the problem of why there is evil in the world. It does not give a propositional answer like every other faith out there. Instead, it lets actions speak louder than words by showing what God has done to cure evil.

The cross purges freedom of evil and gives it a new start so that now we can have this new relationship with God, not as slaves or servants but as adopted children of the King.

By coming and dying Christ’s righteousness has surpassed the sin of Adam so when we are justified in the sight of God, He not only removes our negative sin but gives us positive righteousness and completeness to heal our broken lives.

Justification is an instantaneous action where God declares us not guilty, but the implications are eternal. Theologian Donald G. Bloesch said it best by saying, “The final judgment is the confirmation of the validity of a justification already accomplished in Jesus Christ.”

But friends, we can have that assurance right now.

It is cause us exceeding celebration knowing we can have forgiveness based only on a God that loves us!

Do not think for a moment that you can work for your own righteousness because God is saying you do not have to carry that burden because you will never meet it. Instead, He is inviting you to take part in what His Son has done for you by purchasing your salvation so that you could have it as a free gift out of his love.

Abraham was completely justified by God for trusting Him and His love. You can be too. Come to the cross my friends, and realize that your sin penalty has been paid so that you could receive the blessings of forgiveness from God.

This is the true definition of Freedom: Freedom from sin, death, legalism, Freedom to obey completely out of love and gratitude