BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SALVATION Pt.2

THE BELIEVER IS JUSTIFIED

A criminal was tried in a civil court and convicted of several crimes that should earn him a death sentence. When he got to the court, the numerous allegations levied against him were proven true as there were witnesses to corroborate them.

However, on the day of final hearing, the judge decided to declare him innocent despite the plethora of evidences. He hinged his judgement on the fact that this criminal through his lawyer deferred to the legal opportunity instituted by the most righteous man in their country who sacrificed his life for all criminals that are ready to follow his path. As long as they follow him, they'll be declared innocent automatically.

On this wise, this notorious criminal was declared innocent and made righteous in the order of the most righteous man in their country. This is the story of our justification as believers. The word justified means “pronounced or treated as righteous.”

For a Christian, justification is the act of God not only forgiving the believer’s sins but imputing to him the righteousness of Christ. The moment you gave your life to Christ, you were made righteous. The very righteousness of Christ was imputed to you.

It is God's gift to every believer who comes to him through Christ. Apostle Pauls says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). The Christian, being declared righteous, is thus freed from the guilt of sin.

Hallelujah!!! You have been made righteous not because of works or any special thing that you did. The court of heaven has declared you not guilty of your past because of the blood. God is no longer holding your past sins again you.

You may not believe this because you've been told God will revisit your old sins. Here is what the bible says: "For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, NO LONGER COUNTING PEOPLE'S SINS AGAINST THEM. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation"(2 Corinthians 5:19 NLT).

Now that you're born again, you can walk into God's presence without fear of being rejected because when God sees you, he doesn't see your dirty past any longer but a justified being: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV). Hallelujah!!!

Under the law, this kind of provision( justification) doesn't exist. Even if there was, they could not attain it through the law. Why? Apostle Paul says, "THE LAW OF MOSES WAS UNABLE TO SAVE US because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins"(Roman 8:3 NLT).

A writer said, "The teaching of justification by faith is what separates biblical Christianity from all other belief systems. In every religion, man is working his way to God. Only in true, biblical Christianity is man saved as a result of grace through faith. In the bible, we see that justification is by faith, apart from works".

How can a man be declared righteous despite a rough past? Any price to pay to be justified? There is no ritual, no sacrament, no deed that can make us worthy of the righteousness of Christ. It is only by His grace, in response to our faith( in his finished work on the cross), that God has credited to us the holiness of His Son. This is what religion tries to offer with rigid codes but failed woefully.

No matter how hard a man tries, salvation and the benefits cannot be earned through works of the law. The grace of God is deep, unfathomable and immense. The sinner need to believe the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is enough to cleanse his sin and make him justified. That's all. Hallelujah!!! We are justified by grace.