Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
JUSTIFICATION: DECLARED NOT GUILTY
There is a notion that many people and many false religions cling to which is the notion that salvation and being justified in the sight of God has to do with "living a good life", or having one's "good deeds" outweigh his "sinful deeds". The problem with thinking this way is that it doesn't truly address the matter of sin.
Think of it this way. By all outward appearances a man can live a good, decent and moral life; he can be regarded highly by all those who know him. However, if, in a fit of rage, this man rises up and brutally kills his neighbor, is his lawlessness not counted against him because of the prior appearance of a good life? If after he commits this heinous crime he then helps an elderly person cross a busy street, does his good deed cancel out his crime? No. The crime stands on its own and must be judged according to the letter of the law.
What kind of a justice system would we have in this country if we judged people on the basis of the overall "goodness" of their lives, or if we arbitrarily tried to decide if a person's "good deeds" outweighed his "bad deeds"? I think we can pretty quickly see that this sort of system wouldn't work very well, and yet this is how many people choose to see the matters of their eternal salvation.
The reason no person can be justified on the basis of his life or his works is that to be justified on this basis, one must never, ever commit a sin. Once a sin has been committed, it is a crime that has been committed against God's law, standing on its own. No amount of "good works" can remove it, and the price that must be paid for that sin is eternal death.
Thank God that He has sent His sinless Son to take our place and to cover over our sins with His innocent blood. Only complete innocence can stand acquitted in God's heavenly court. By faith in Jesus His innocence becomes our own. By His death on the cross, our guilt has become His. When God declared His Son "guilty", charging Him with our sins, He declared us "innocent", and credits Jesus' righteousness to us through faith.
