Something for Everyone

Over the years of ministry I became a collector of Biblical commentaries.  Any book allowance provided by the church put more volumes on the shelves.  One not so serious commentary which came my way was a paperback which had its title something like "Everything You Want to Know About Romans."  While it did not give the appearance of being a noteworthy scholarly work, it offered a definition of "justification" which stuck in my mind.  The simple definition said, "To be justified means that God looks at you just as if you had never sinned."    

Obviously, the definition has gotten hung up in my gray matter.  The Apostle Paul was familiar with this powerful word and used it often as he wrote to the churches.  One place is found in the middle of the 3rd chapter of Romans where he wrote, "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by His (God's) grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."  (Romans 3:23-24)  As we begin to reflect on what the Word is saying in these verses, it becomes apparent that justification is something God does through Christ for the sinner.  This means that is is a gift for all of us since we all bear the name of sinner.  Sin can be defined in many ways, but one thing common to any definition is that it separates us from God who is Holy and without sin.     

What is hard for many in this do-it-yourself age to realize is that once we sin there is nothing we can do to erase its presence and its residual power in our life.  It leaves us separated from God and the guilt which hangs over us is like a dark cloud.  Fortunately, God has made a way for the effects of sin to be canceled.  Through the gift of His sacrificed Son on the cross and our faith response to it, God looks at us as if we have never sinned and calls us son or daughter instead of sinner.  Justification is what God does for us; we receive it through faith in Christ.