Tag: justified

Justification- a Big Deal!

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God promises that our faith in Christ will redeem us from our sins and leave us pure and holy. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can claim be presented to God as justified and free from sin. Wow! that is a big deal and a good deal for you and me!

Why is this so important to you and me?  To be justified means to be declared ‘not guilty’ and to be acquitted of wrong doing or shown to be innocent. Because of our sin nature we are guilty before God and can do nothing to help ourselves.  We can’t do enough good works or be really good and earn enough ‘points’ to be declared worthy or clean before God.  All you have to do is look around you to see that people do wrong things all the time even when they don’t really mean or want to.  Romans 3:23, “ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” is pretty plain that all mankind are sinners.  However, let’s look at verse 24, “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”.   We are all sinners but saved by Jesus because He declares us ‘not guilty’ though His work on the cross.   It is a gift to us through His grace when we believed in Him.  We did nothing to deserve it.  Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Our faith in Jesus brings us into a relationship with God that is peace filled and free from the guilt and burden of our sin. Martin Luther declared many centuries ago that we are saved by grace alone, in Christ alone and by faith alone.  Christ did all the work to save us and justify us before God.

justifed by grace

As I think about this, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  Jesus saved me from condemnation and declared me ‘not guilty’ before our heavenly Father.  I will no longer be subject to the penalty I really deserve for my sins which is eternal death.  I am also now open to God’s peace and can let it fill me each day as I rest in His eternal redemption. Praise God!  How about you?  Are you resting in Jesus?  Let these final days of Lent be a time of peace, filling as you praise to Jesus for his sacrifice and His declaring you Not Guilty before God.

Eternally grateful for His justification and peace,

Linda

Wow! God loves me THAT much!

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And the journey continues.…I am intimidated by the book of Romans yet, the more I’ve studied it, the more I’ve grown to love and understand it. I have 2 favorite chapters in this complex book that speak to my heart. Today I’m focusing on Romans Chapter 5 later in another blog, I’ll get to Chapter 8. Here are the first 5 verses and verse 8 from Romans Chapter 5.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us…..8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

By chapter 5 Paul has reached a conclusion in his arguments as he uses the word therefore to begin this chapter. Because of what he has written before, he then concludes the following and what a conclusion it is! We are justified (declared not guilty of sin) by our faith in Jesus. We have peace of heart and soul because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Through faith in Jesus, we now have eternal hope and stand in a position of grace (unmerited favor) before God. Paul tells us that our character will change as we accept Jesus in our life! Knowing Christ brings a life of faith trials which Paul calls sufferings. The suffering we do for and with Christ produces character we could never achieve on our own. We will have endurance, hope and God’s love in our hearts. Even though we are sinners, we can be cleaned up and declared not guilty before God because of Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Wow!

I also chose verse 8 because it shows how undeserving I am. As a sinner, I cannot find a way to God but through Christ. God knew my sinful state and loved me anyway. He loved me enough to send Jesus to died for me. That is amazing love!

Paul continues on in verses 9-11 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Paul also concludes that since God has declared us not guilty of sin through our faith in the work of Jesus on the cross, we are new in character and no longer enemies of God. God is holy and cannot abide sin so faith in Jesus saves us and brings us into a relationship with God, reconciled to Him. God desires a relationship with you and me. So He made a way through Jesus for this reconciliation to take place.

I stand amazed at the depth of God’s love, His sacrifice on my behalf and the character changing process He has begun in me through faith in Jesus the Son. Let these words of life, love and hope sink deep into your soul today and be encouraged because you are loved by God and your faith in Jesus can and will transform you! Praise God!

Linda

Declared Not Guilty in Christ

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Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, I have been justified.  Justified is one of those theological words that float around with salvation, redemption and redeemed in our minds.  Scripture teaches that we are justified or declared ‘not justified galatinsguilty’ because of the work of Jesus on the cross.  Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”   We are sinners one and all and have no way of approaching God except through God’s grace and mercy shown to us in Jesus.  God sent Jesus to redeem us, pay the penalty for our sins, and declare us ‘not guilty’ before Him.  It is truly a magnificent gift!  

Romans 5 1-2Paul goes on to say in Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith  into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”  Being declared ‘not guilty’ brings peace and hope into our lives.  Paul went on to explain that justification in and through Christ is ours as a gift not something we ‘earn’ by good works or being good.  He told the Galatians in 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.”   

We can rest in our faith in Jesus that it is enough, totally sufficient, for redemption. It cannot be earned but is a free gift from Him.  Thank you Jesus!

Linda

Suggestion:  Think of someone that you need to forgive and just do it!  Pray and ask Jesus help you let go of bitterness, anger or hatred for this person.  Let it go in His name. See how free you feel.