THEOLOGY: JUSTIFICATION

You may recognize that the word justification looks much like the word justify. We use it all the time. Oftentimes when someone does wrong and they are caught they try to justify their actions. In our modern day usage of the word, it carries the idea of trying to explain one's action so as not to be guilty.

In scripture the greek word for justify can mean:

1. to render righteous or such he ought to be
2. to show, exhibit, evidence, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
3. to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be

Whoever God predestines to salvation, He will call to salvation. Those whom God calls to salvation, He has justified. The reality is so secure that even the past tense of the word is used in Romans 8:30. It is not that God is going to justify us. We are justified. We are declared just or righteous.

Romans 8:30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Simply put, justification is the act whereby God declares us to be perfect, righteous or just. The word declares is very important to consider because you and I still sin on a daily basis. We exhibit unrighteous behavior more than we'd like to admit. Yet God declares us righteous. On what basis then are we declared righteous? Is it by our own good deeds...our own righteousness? Scripture answers with a resounding "no!"

Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

We are not justified by our law-keeping. The law was given to reveal our sin, not so that we could attempt to keep it and earn our own justification. In both Romans and Galatians Paul shows us that it is not by works of the law that we are justified, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:16 Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we are justified we are at made to be at peace with God. It is assumed then that God is angry with us for our wickedness--we are not just. Since Christ is the one who puts us at peace with God, it must be that Christ has done something for us so that God would consider us and pronounce us just. Christ has! He has given us His own righteousness by faith (Romans 4:22). We trust in Christ to take our sin upon Himself and we trust in Christ to give us His righteousness. That is called imputation (which we'll talk about another time).

In Romans 10:10, Paul says also that we are justified as we believe with our heart. In other words, belief in Christ and faith in Christ are synomous for both result in justification.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Scripture undoubtedly teaches us that although we still sin, God pronounces us righteous as we put our belief, faith or trust in who Christ is and what He has done for us. Therefore, it is not our own righteousness whereby God declares us righteous. It is the righteousness of Christ that is given to us by faith. That is how we are justified or pronounced righteous in God's eyes. We are declared righteous even though our daily experience shows that we sin abundantly. That is the grace of God in action

The practical and personal applications of understanding justification are numerous. It keeps us humble knowing that it is God who justifies us, not our own seemingly good deeds. Justification also leads us to delight in and worship God for His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Justification also causes us to hate the sins for which we've been declared righteous. Lastly, understanding justification rightly causes a deep compassion to well up inside of us for the unjustified, the sinner, the condemned.

Thank the Lord for declaring you righteous instead of declaring you guilty!

THE COURTEOUS COURTHOUSE JAYWALKER

Whilst driving to work today I encountered a jaywalker. I see them every day on the way to work precisely at 8:28 a.m. You see, the dealership at which I work is located just a block away from the courthouse.

Ahhh, the courthouse. You may not know it but the finest citizens in the high desert tend to accumulate there every morning to spend time with their comrades and their mentors in black robes. Yes, these law-abiding aficionados can be seen scurrying off to their appointments with eager anticipation. I imagine that is the same kind of anticipation you feel when you arrive to Disneyland except there is no tram or husky Spanish voice telling you to “remain seated please.” But every thing else is the same but not.

Well, today I encountered a very polite and courteous jaywalker. He was well dressed in a gray suit and brown shoes. I imagine he may have had a thing for an unnamed female judge so he was dressed to the nines in order to either impress her or to mitigate her wrath. In either case his attire was on fleek! Inwardly I wished him well on his justice-is-blind-date and pronounced the A-Aronic Blessing upon him from Numbers 6:24-26.

Now normally I have to slow down or make a complete stop in the middle of the road to let the jaywalkers cross safely like a train of ducklings. This usually makes me thirty seconds late to work, but “uh uh, not todayyy!” This guy actually had the courtesy to try and expedite his law-breaking stroll through Victimville. He began to swing his arms higher and harder than his previous causal walk. In his mind he was moving faster than a speeding bullet in order to not hold me back and make me late for work. But the brisk wind that had just kicked up only made it look like he had a speeding mullet. I’m not sure what the official Olympic name is for this sort of sport walking but if it doesn’t have a name, it needs one. With elbows tucked in nice and firm...head tilted slightly forward and down...rapid arm movements...all while keeping the leg speed at the same casual walking pace he first started with, he earned my love and affection. I don’t know that anyone will show me such concern today, but this guy made me feel appreciated and valued.

I can tell you that he didn’t move any faster getting across the street but he was definitely more tired after that display of physical prowess. I hope he didn’t get all sweaty for nothing because I was still “late” to work and that’s not a way to impress the lady judge he got all dressed up for.

Good luck Flash! May A-Aron’s blessing be upon you.

RAINY DAY STROKES OF GENIUS

So I was at a light waiting to turn right and traffic was backed up pretty good. The guy in front of me, whose superior intellect I do not possess, had an Einstein moment rarely seen by the human eye and ne'er caught on camera. He decided to hang a right into the Del Taco parking lot and bypass the four cars in front of him. Genius! What a brilliant way to shave three seconds off of your drive—only the light turned green as he was turning into the parking lot of one fine Mexican cuisine dining establishment, if I do say so myself. Everyone in front of me began to make the ensuing right hand turn including the five cars behind me. As I rounded the corner I passed by Einstein, who had made it to the other side of Del Taco’s customer parking exit area. Albert was also poking the nose of his car out onto the puddled street waiting for the caravan of cars to pass him by so he could re-enter the fray. I didn’t have my window down because of the rain but if it had been a bright sunny day I imagine I would have rolled down the passenger window in order to enjoy the vroom vroom of his gnarly V-6. I enjoyed the next ten seconds of my life as I kept glancing in my side-view mirror waiting to see what would become of his new position in the pack. Yet the size of his car increasingly decreased until I saw him no more. It seemed like I would never see him again. How I missed him in those few seconds. What would become of him, I wondered?  Had he put his car in reverse to retreat to dine on fine Mexican cuisine? Was he now chowing down on a Cali Steak & Guac Burrito with extra chipotle sauce? I tried not to covet, but I found myself in need of repentance. During my moment of missing him and envying him it felt like an eternity had passed and the hope of seeing him again had long faded away. Likewise, his 3-seconds-saved-dream had blown away in the wind like the white fuzz of a dandelion only to carry off his dream-seed that would soon be planted in some other fool’s head. And no sooner than my hope of seeing him again had vanished, that the proverbial sun had broken through my proverbial cloudy moment and shone upon me. It was a warm and cozy feeling, not unlike putting on a warm jacket after being out in the freezing cold.  After the five cars behind me passed him, he was back in my side-view mirror and back in the game like a race car driver after a pit stop. My Jedi powers could sense the force of his foot pressing firmly down on the gas pedal...vroom, vroom, vroom.  Simultaneously the coveting had ceased and my heart leaped as I knew that Albert's dull silver 3.5L Toyota Camry was closer than it appeared--my mirror told me so.

So that Einstein moment put him six cars behind me. A smile crept across my over-sized face and head as I nodded it with much effort and pleasure. I’m no Einstein myself but I’m a finance manager at a dealership that can add and subtract with the best of them. He had gone from 5th place to 11th place. That’s a net gain of -6. I'm confident he will not be qualifying for any NASCAR races this year until he gets his shortcut game up to speed. (Did you like that pun? I did.) Maybe it was a physics experiment of negative numbers on a rainy day. Maybe it was a moment for me to write about to make your day. But at this moment, I’d just like to thank the Lord for instant justice with a sense of humor.

THEOLOGY: GLORIFICATION

The word glorification is a form of the word glory. We know that we are to glorify God. That is, we are to make much of him. We are to honor, display and proclaim His worth and excellence. The Greek word for this is doxazo--where we get the doxology, which means to praise God. So when scripture refers to God glorifying us, does it mean the same thing? Is God worshiping or praising us? Of course not. The word doxazo has several possible meanings.

Doxazo can mean:
1. to think, suppose, be of opinion
2. to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
3. to honour, do honour to, hold in honour
4. to make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe with splendour
a. to impart glory to something, render it excellent
b. to make renowned, render illustrious
(1). to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged

In order to choose the proper definition (1-4) we must let the context determine the meaning. In Romans 8:28-30 we see the word glorified used at the very end .

Romans 8:28-30 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Notice a couple of things. God predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. In other words, God predetermined that His children would be transformed to look like Christ. If you observe the path that God has predetermined for us, it will end in us looking like Christ, who is glorious.

In verse 30 we see Paul laying out the order of salvation. He predestines us to look like Christ. In order to achieve this result He must call us to turn from sin and turn to Christ. Having turned from sin to faith in Christ, God justifies us or pronounces us righteous because of the righteousness of Christ. Although Paul does not mention it here, there is another thing that God does for us inbetween justification and glorification. God sanctifies us. That is, He is making us experientially, day-to-day, more like Christ. One day He will glorify us.

Glorification then is the end result of all that God does for us in salvation. It is when we are fully conformed to the image of His Son. His predestination of us will finally come to the destination--which is glorification. Simply put it is when God adorns us with our new bodies that will live eternally. He will clothe us with the splendor of Christ. He will remove all our desires to sin. He will render us excellent. This is something that God does for us. This is one of the great gifts of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 describes this further.

1 Corinthians 15:50-55 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

When Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead, this transformation will take place. Believers who have died will be raised and glorified as well as those of us that are alive and waiting for Messiah to return.

Does this truth have any practical application for our lives? Indeed it does. It leads us to greater love for God and His future goodness to us. It also guards us from being deceived by false teachers who claim that Christ has already come the second time. If you still feel pain, still have sinful desires in your body, still get tired, then be assured that Christ has not come. Because when He comes He will glorify the Father's children.

We serve a great God. That He would glorify us one day is simply amazing to ponder. There is no god like our God!

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 2:12-13, GODLY JOY IN SANCTIFICATION

PHILIPPIANS 2:12-13

Godly Joy In Sanctification