Who You Are You? I.D. # Three: Exonerated

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, 

we have peace

with God

Through

Our 

Lord 

Jesus

Christ.
Paul: Romans 5:1

JUST A What?

As anyone reads this I.D. #3 passage, the language is difficult to grasp for these 21st Century ears. Paul says we have been "Justified." I can imagine quite a few of my millennial, Gen Xers or even Z friends asking "Say What?" or "Just A What?" Even some of ye olde baby boomers might sit in a state of confusion when we hear this word. But let's think about this for just a short while:

Law Breakers

In each of our lives, we have broken one -- need I say more than one -- of the big 10 core values of The Creator, Sustain-er, Maintainer and Closer upper of the Universe. He gave us only 10 rules for living, and I can just about guess that most of us have broken nearly everyone of the liberating limits. Yet, God has given them to us in order to order our lives. And when we break these laws, as with humanities laws, there are some very negative consequences. As a matter of fact, the Creators very own words tell you and me that breaking these laws of God is sin. Guess what the "pay" for sin is?  "The wages of sin is death!" Yikes! Breaking God's law requires a punishment that carries with it the death sentence. Sadly, yes, this is true.  But that is not the end of our story.

Come On Now! I Haven't Broken The Law!

Oh yes we have!  I could name a few of these and see if you have broken them.  Let's see ... hmmmm ... Did you ever lie in your life? Did you ever steal? Did you ever disrespect your parent? Did you ever lust after someone's body?  I've only named four, and I am fairly sure you broke these. And we didn't even talk about the first four.  Yup! Guilty of breaking the big ten is a given.

At any rate, when we sinned, we set ourselves us up to have to stand up before the Judge of the Universe and be ... well ... judged. And we also, once we stand before this J. O. U, we would all be judged found guilty as sin of sin or law breaking.  As I said, that's not the end of the story. In the same verse, where God says that the pay for sin is the death penalty, God continues "BUT the gift of God is eternal life though Jesus Christ." Romans 6:23.  In other words, though we were identified as an eternal criminal, we get a get out of jail free card with NO penalty of any kind. And we do this by turning from our sins to Jesus and by  believing in the one who took our punishment upon himself. Then we receive Him into our lives as Lord and Savior.  He is the one who makes "Justification" possible.

So, this archaic word, "Justified" has the meaning of the Judge of the Universe giving you and me a verdict for our sins of "NOT guilty!" He does this even though we are guilty! He gives this through Jesus, as we turn to him in faith. So, even while we are guilty, because of our relationship with Jesus, God justifies us. That is, He looks at me "Just as if I didn't sin." Justified! He looks at you the exact same way!!! Wow! What an identity! He takes us just like we are: But He doesn't leave us like we were.  God, through Jesus, who is the Christ, takes us JUST Like We Never Sinned. He takes you Just Like You Never Sinned! He takes me Just As If I Never Sinned!

Go on out and be blessed 2-day ... Especially Today.

SoJourner