Filed under: Devotions
by Caleb Hancock
Alright, so it’s the middle of summer, and if you’re not in summer school (or you haven’t seen all of Mike’s pop-quizzes that he has posted recently), this might be a foreign concept, but according to this passage of scripture:
1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect“
…we should be ready for truly important questions like the ones that your family, peers, or “enemies” may ask of you concerning Christ. So, with that in mind, let’s turn to some definitions that every Christian should know.
One is definitely JUSTIFICATION.
Wayne Grudem, in his book Systematic Theology, defines it as “an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight.”
If one of your friends had asked you about this directly, (I would be extremely surprised! More likely, it will be a question relating to the term) how would you have answered them? Would you have thought that it doesn’t matter? Would you have played it off as not a big deal? If so…then take this post as a message from your brother and friend: nothing could be more important than your right understanding of this term!
It is this term, justification, and that it is credited to us by faith alone (Romans 3:28), that we need to be reminding ourselves of daily. If not, we will run on the treadmill of legalism, (another useful term to know) where we try to earn God’s forgiveness and approval through our own adherence to the law. This is seen in the daily fights with condemnation (when we inevitably break the law) or pride (when we think that we are sufficiently obeying).
Do these symptoms mark your life? Do they mark the lives of people that you know? If so, you can see the value in applying the truth of the term, JUSTIFICATION, to your own life, that you might be amazed by the FREE GRACE of God shown to those in Jesus Christ and then proclaim and explain this truth to others: that if they repent of their sins and turn to Christ in faith, no matter what they have done, they may be justified in God’s sight!
Let’s not be men who merely know these terms, and are puffed up with pride in our knowledge, but may we be humble men, who have knowledge of terms, yes, but who rightly apply them to our lives and see what they reveal. Namely, that we are sinners, unable and unwilling to turn in repentance to God whom we have offended, and yet in His mercy, He chose to send his Son as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins and through repentance of our sins, and wholly leaning in faith on his son’s work on our behalf, we are justified in his sight!
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Manspeak 
thanks Caleb for walking out what exactly justification means, its so helpful to be reminded of this amazing truth!
Comment by Nathan Simmons July 20, 2008 @ 10:43 pm