There was a lady that constantly drew attention to her past sins and errors during Bible study years ago. Her mother was deeply religious and so ensured her kids participated in Church services from childhood. It was during the children’s bible study class that she became born again she said. And she has remained a Christian since then. She was a wonderful lady, full of verve and very articulate about her convictions. But during every Bible study class, she could not help but share of how sinful thoughts, ideas and even actions hold her back from a deep relationship with God. She did not say this plainly, however it reflected in her communication, prayer, conduct and her questions. She was enthusiastic yet refused to see the full picture of what a Christian is. Despite attempts to show her through scriptures that we have been declared not guilty by faith in Jesus Christ alone. She clearly needed to know what being born again means.
The quality of the Christian life is directly proportional to the knowledge of the word of God and relationship with God. The knowledge feeds the relationship. The more God is known through the word, the deeper the relationship with him. This knowledge is not based on mental aptitude but – epignosis – the exact and accurate knowledge of God. The Christian without an exact and accurate knowledge of Gods’ person and principles works in assumptions. Assumptions lead to frustration and this is not the will of God concerning his kids. Justification is one principle that must be accurately understood within the context of the gospel.
To be justified means to be acquitted of guilt; to be declared righteous. Justification has two important aspects that must be considered. One part is guilt riddance the other is the establishment of righteousness. One who was guilty of an act was acquitted and then made righteous. Technically, the records no longer show that the guilty person committed the act. Why? Because they have been acquitted and made righteous. Because a righteous person bore the guilt and then suffered the consequences of that offence. When the righteous person took the place of the guilty person and paid, the guilty party also got credited with the status of the righteous person and vice versa. This is the doctrine of substitution.
In practical terms, the wages or payment for sin is death but the Gift of God is eternal life. Death here is spiritual death – separation from God. Spiritual death should never be taken lightly. As terrible as physical death is, spiritual death is infinitely worse. How is this? Understand that God is the source of life, love, and goodness. When any living being is permanently disconnected from their source, they suffer a death that is unimaginable. Imagine life without hope, love, light, and life and you begin to get the meaning. This type of death was never the original plan for human beings but – sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned. But God also responded with much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Romans 5:12-15 NKJV
All men have sinned and are technically condemned. The punishment for this is spiritual death but God ensured that we do not pay by sending someone who was sinless – born of a virgin by the agency of the word of God to pay the price for the sins of the whole world, including those that do not believe. Today, all the inherited, individual, and collective sin of the world has been paid for. Even the sin men are yet to commit has been paid for because the sacrifice was offered once for all eternity on the mercy sit in heaven by Jesus Christ – obtaining an eternal redemption once for all.
As beautiful as that is, it gets even better. Since Jesus Christ paid once for the wages of sin once and for all time, the sinner only has to accept this payment by faith to be justified – declared not guilty and be credited with its benefits – righteousness, eternal life and Holy Spirit. It still gets better because the sinner gets this gift and then becomes the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus – Remarkable!
This was all possible because God loved men enough to address the source of their rebellion – the nature of sin. This was possible because Jesus came, died, took our place, paid, rose again and God declared all who believe – not guilty. Thus, a Christian is one who has been declared not guilty, acquitted of all sin, and commanded to work in righteousness.
If that lady in our Bible class understands this, she will seize to be conscious of her errors and focus on what God has made available even before she believed. She then received it the moment she became born again. Her status before God is not based on her past but on what Jesus did and what she does with it. When a child knows the wealth, provision, rules, status, and culture of their family they begin to walk in it and demonstrate it. God has dealt with sin in Christ and declared the Christian not guilty. Now he commands us to live like a righteous man and not like a condemned man. Liberating!
