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Justification is a word we need to understand! Now let’s tone that down a bit; justification is a word that we would do well to try to understand. There is a side to justification that rests in God’s prevue and humans are only permitted to benefit from it as we make our own feeble attempts to comprehend it.

However, when it comes to comprehending justification, the truth of the matter is this: When we barely “scratch the surface” regarding the concepts of justification, we soon discover implications about ourselves that are most unpalatable. We find that apart from God’s grace, mercy, and patience none could ever be saved. We find that our own goodness is not near good enough. We find that God’s great love for us, the great love that existed for us while we were yet sinners, is the love that draws us to Him and not our own sense of goodness or morality. We soon see that we have no coins to offer Him that are accepted in the bank of heaven; He is on an entirely different monetary system than we! We, in fact, are bankrupt before God and before justification can occur, we must openly declare our spiritually bankrupt condition.

Try as we might, we can only grasp that part of justification that God has chosen to reveal in the scriptures. What goes on in His mind as He justifies a man? What are the mechanics of justification on the Divine side of the equation? These are secrets that are locked away from mortal minds! Having stated that there are things about justification that humans will never understand, we now would be well served to covenant to understand all we can about this great subject, i.e., all that God has revealed about the matter. Now to begin this consideration.

“What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.’” (Romans 4.1-8).

Paul speaks of “…Him who justifies the ungodly” in this text. This is a bitter pill to swallow for us. We do not like to think of ourselves as ungodly. Yet, only the ungodly need or can receive justification. So, that leaves us with a choice. We can decide to face God based on our own merits, or we can decide that apart from the fact that God justifies sinners, we have no hope! Unless and until this realization comes to us, we exclude ourselves from justification and hence, oneness with God. The most basic fact concerning salvation is this: We can only be saved when we admit that we cannot save ourselves. As long as we struggle against this current, we are like a drowning man fighting against his would-be rescuer. Only when we admit that we can’t swim can the rescuer save us. God is like that in justification. This does not say that we must let Him put forth all the effort, but it does say that we have to totally rely upon him for instructions and directions that lead to salvation.

In my hand no price I bring; simply to the Cross I cling!

Questions:

1. What is the biblical meaning of justification?

2. In a biblical sense, who is it that justifies mankind?

3. Is it possible for men to justify themselves? THINK! (See Luke 16.15). Is it possible for men to justify themselves in God’s sight?

4. What does it mean to be spiritually bankrupt? What does it mean to admit spiritual bankruptcy?

"Voice of Inspiration" from Andy Castro

A Lot Of Salt