SYNOPSIS: Justification—just as if I had never sinned! The Good News revealed in the New Testament is that through “faith” in Jesus Christ’s person, and his work on the cross, sinners can now stand before the holy and righteous God “justified”—just as if they had never sinned. That is really good news! And you received this free gift of God’s grace by faith alone—not by your own works of righteousness or inherent merit. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You stand before God just as if you had never sinned. I don’t know about you, but the only response I have to such amazing and undeserved love is to offer the rest of my life as one unending thanksgiving offering to God.

Moments With God // Romans 3:23-24

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

As a young man, I heard a simple preacher offer this definition of justification: It is just as if I’d never sinned! When you study what the Apostle Paul meant by the word, it turns out that is a pretty good explanation of a highly complex theological construct.

Paul uses the verb, justified, and words derived from its root, thirty times in Romans alone. Obviously, this is an important theme with Paul and the critical core of our Christian faith. Along with “gospel” and “faith” (see chapter 1), this is our theology. The “good news” revealed in the New Testament is that through “faith” in Jesus Christ’s person, and his work on the cross, sinners can now stand before the holy and righteous God “justified”—just as if they had never sinned.

Now don’t miss the beauty of this! Our justification, which was a legal concept, by the way, happened only by what Jesus did on the cross. There he paid the penalty that you legally owed as one who had transgressed God’s law. Not only were you pardoned from receiving the just punishment reserved for all lawbreakers, but your guilt was also removed as well. Not only were you set free, you were totally cleansed—your sin record was expunged. You now stand before God just as if you had never sinned.

Now how can that be? Well, part of the justification package included that not only were you pardoned from punishment and declared not guilty, but you were also literally infused with Christ’s very own righteousness—“everything Jesus” was imputed, literally and spiritually, to you. But that’s not all! As beautiful as that is, it is even more stunningly beautiful that to be imputed with Christ’s righteousness meant that Jesus had to have both your sins and your sin nature imputed to him on the cross—“he became sin on your behalf so that you could become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:21)

All of that was legally necessary for you to be made right with God. You owed a legal debt that you could not pay to the Judge of all creation. He loved you so much he sent his one and only Son—perfectly sinless—to pay the full legal price for your redemption by becoming sin and taking the punishment into his own being as he hung on the cross and shed his blood.

And you receive this free gift of God’s grace by faith (saving trust) alone—not by your own works of righteousness or inherent merit. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You stand before God just as if you had never sinned.

I don’t know about you, but the only response I have to such amazing and undeserved love is to offer the rest of my life as one unending thanksgiving offering to God.

SYNOPSIS: Many assume that Jesus commands his followers to blindly forgive, freely forget whatever offense might have occurred, and unconditionally reconcile even with those who show no signs of remorse for what they have done to hurt or offend us. That is not what Jesus said…

Moments With God // Luke 17:3

If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.

There are two extremes when it comes to forgiveness: On the one hand, we fail to practice it far too often. We conveniently and creatively bypass Scripture’s teaching on this matter so easily that it must grieve the Father’s heart. And this unwillingness to extend forgiveness is such a huge problem in the family of God today, since Jesus tied our forgiveness of others to the Father’s forgiveness of us:

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matt. 5:14-15, NLT)

An unfortunately large number of “believers” will be surprised when they stand before the Great Forgiver and he informs them that the pardon of transgressions they hoped for had been held up because of their own unwillingness to let go of anger, bitterness, resentment, and hurt long enough to extend the hand of reconciliation to someone who had offended them. Jesus is pretty clear about the matter: IF you don’t forgive others, THEN God can’t forgive you! Don’t miss the dependent relationship between being forgiven and offering forgiveness.

On the other hand, we fail to properly understand forgiveness far too often. That is an extreme as well. Many assume that Jesus is commanding his followers to blindly forgive, freely forget whatever offense might have occurred and unconditionally reconcile even with those who show no signs of remorse for what they have done to hurt or offend us. That is not what Jesus said.

Did you notice another very big condition that Jesus attached to this forgiveness directive? “If” a brother sins, “then” when there is repentance, forgive him. We need to be ready to forgive, willing to forgive, generous in forgiving—even if it is seven times for the same thing in the same day, we are called to forgive offenses (Luke 17:4, NLT)—but only if there is repentance.

God himself doesn’t dole out forgiveness unconditionally. He is willing to, but his hands are tied if the offender doesn’t acknowledge their sin, feel authentic contrition in their heart, and offer the fruit of repentance (a change of mind and a change of direction) in their behavior. (Matthew 3:8, NLT, Acts 2:38, NLT)

To forgive, forget and reconcile with an unrepentant person is to go beyond what God himself does. Now in that, there is yet another extreme into which Christians can fall: withholding forgiveness until proper repentance is expressed for every little thing that rubs them the wrong way. My advice to you, if you are guilty of that is to immediately stop being ridiculous. Not everything that gets under your skin falls into the category of a moral offense—so grow some thicker skin and exercise a lot of grace, my friend!

Jesus is calling his followers to a balanced understanding and a generous commitment to the practice of forgiveness. It is the lifeblood of his kingdom, and when it flows rightly and freely from your life, it is your calling card into the throne room of your gracious and forgiving Father.

“ God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination. —AUGUSTINE