Justification
If you’re a writer, you’re probably thinking “left, right, or center?” Sorry, not that kind of justification. Today for the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge, we’re getting theological. The doctrine of Justification is the heart of Christianity. I mean, it’s what Christianity is really all about. So, if you’re not a Christian, and you want to understand Christianity, then stay tuned! There are other important things that Christians believe, but this is THE BIG ONE. Without this one, Christianity is a waste of time. Really.
And to try to keep this to 500 words or fewer, I’m going to use bullet points:
- God, who is just and holy, has rules that He expects every person to obey, known as “the Moral Law” or “The Ten Commandments.” God chiseled them in stone for Moses, but they were a part of creation well before. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Cain got jealous of his brother and killed him (see Genesis 4). God punished Cain, even though “Thou shalt not murder” hadn’t been written yet, because God wrote that command into creation. It’s part of who we are. We know these things.
- No-one–NO-ONE–keeps these rules. Jesus said lusting after someone is as good as adultery, and anger as good as murder (see Matthew 5). So we’re all law breakers, and that’s the worse thing we can be. God in His justice cannot tolerate our disobedience. The punishment: death. Not just physical death (everyone dies, yes?), but separation from God for eternity (i.e., Hell).
- God is just, but He is also gracious and merciful. Out of that grace and mercy comes a desire to save undeserving rebels (that’s us) from eternal death. But how to do this in a way that satisfies His justice? That’s where Jesus comes in. Jesus, God the Son (we can get into the Trinity another time), became a man, lived a perfect, obedient life, died nailed to a cross, and rose from the dead three days later. In this death, he took the punishment for disobedient people upon himself.
- The people for whom Jesus died are no longer considered rebels, so God can justly forgive their disobedience. God also changes their hearts’ desires so they want to please God with their lives. These people are constantly working on living lives that please God (this is called “Sanctification”). When they sin, because God has changed their hearts, they repent. And their sin is forgiven because Jesus paid for it.
- These people for whom Jesus died are Christians. They put their faith in Jesus for their salvation: forgiveness of sin, right standing before God, and eternity in Heaven. They don’t trust their own abilities, or their own “goodness.” They follow Jesus and live by his teachings. But they depend totally on his death and resurrection for their salvation.
When Christians talk about Justification, and being “justified” in God’s sight, that’s what they mean. Feel free to ask questions!
That’s a lot of theology in 500 words! One piece of scripture that has struck in my head since I was a young girl in church was “if you love your life you will lose it” I’ve taken it a bit out of context (If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. – Matthew) I’ve never quite understood it, or perhaps I have feared it because it almost makes me feel that unless I become a nun and give up every materialistic item I own I will lose my life (whether literally or metaphorically I don’t know.) I’d be interested to know how you interpret that piece of scripture.
You’re thinking of Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” The context is Jesus’ impending death, and his exhortation to his disciples to follow him. He’s underscoring the fact that following him is not something to be undertaken lightly. It involves a radical re-ordering of priorities. In my second point, I noted how no-one keeps the Ten Commandments. I think one of the main reasons for this goes back to Genesis 3 and the serpent’s temptation in the garden: “Eat and you will become like God.” In other words, your life is all about you, and not about God. And that’s how we live: to satisfy our needs, our desires, our wants, our consciences. It’s all about us. I think what Jesus is saying here is, for the Christian, if you’re truly one of his, then your life is no longer all about you–it’s all about him.
Does this mean Christians need to sell all their worldly goods and join a monastery? The monastic movement started in the second century A.D. out of a recognition of how hard it is to live a Christ-centered life in the midst of a me-centered culture. The temptations are so great–for some unbearably great–to get sucked into that me-centered mindset. The idea was that by withdrawing to the desert, away from the society, and either living in a cave as a hermit, or joining with a purely Christian society, those temptations would go away. What monasticism fails to deal with, however, is the fact that this is a problem with the heart of man, and no withdrawing from society will ever solve that problem.
This answer is getting to be longer than the original post(!), but bear with me for one last thought! In the penultimate bullet, I mentioned how the Christian’s heart is changed, so their desire is no longer for sin, but to please God. This is important. Christians recognize that the change in priority is not something they can do. Again, monasticism was (and is) a man-made solution to a spiritual problem. The only real solution to the problem is spiritual: God has to change the heart’s desires–He’s the one who does the re-prioritizing. Does that mean Christians don’t sin? I don’t think I need to provide evidence that Christians sin, and get lured into me-centered thinking. Christians are tempted, and fall to temptation. But, as I said, they recognize this as a failing, and turn to Christ for strength and forgiveness. Christians battle the world, the flesh, and the devil–but these are just day to day battles. The war has already been won. And in the midst of these battles, we learn humility and trust, and our characters are purified (as gold in a furnace, to use the biblical analogy).
A long answer to a short question, but I hope that covers it. 🙂
This was a very interesting read, Colin. As Rachael said, it was very clearly put across.
So, am I reading it right — the resurrection of Jesus means that all future sins committed since he left are eligible for forgiveness? And any Christian is now able to repent against sins committed in the present because of His work in the past?
I should really know this sort of thing from my Christian upbringing, but I don’t.
Thanks, Emma!
I would go one step further–all future sins are not just eligible for forgiveness: they are forgiven. If future sins of Christians were not taken care of, then an eternal God would know them, and have to punish them. I think the clear teaching of the New Testament is that Christ died and rose again to pay the penalty for sin, past, present, and future.
The immediate objection to this is that this would lead to licentiousness. If my future sins are forgiven, then I can just do whatever I want and God can’t touch me–kind of like having diplomatic immunity! But it doesn’t work out that way, because, as I noted above, part of Christian conversion–or “regeneration” to use the theological term–is a change of heart. While the Christian could theoretically live a life of sin, since God has changed the desire of his/her heart so that s/he seeks to honor Him and not live for self, the idea of sin is repugnant, committing sin brings sorrow, and the desire to please God is utmost. This is why you find passages in the Bible that say that no-one who is truly God’s lives a life of sin (e.g., 1 John 4-6). Anyone who becomes a Christian just so they can live a life indulging in their own desires is in for a shock. Such thinking demonstrates that person is not really a Christian–they haven’t had that change of heart.
Thanks for replying Colin, this is definitely fueling my writing mind. 🙂
My current writing WIP features Leviathans in a ‘Judgement’ role — weighing the sins of humans and trying to purge those judged as sinners from the world to prevent a Biblical flood. There’s Old Testament inspiration galore, with plenty of nods to Sodom and Gomorrah and the Genesis Flood.
My fiction is secular, but information like this is fascinating and helps me figure out how the beliefs of the story’s Christians would clash with the Leviathan’s judgement.
Cool, Emma! I’m glad this has been useful to you. 🙂
Nope, not a Christian, but as long as someone’s not trying to convert me I’m more than happy to hear different people’s perspectives.
No Christian has the power to convert anyone–and any Christian who thinks he or she can talk you into faith is kidding themselves. My conviction, Trisha, is that only God can convert you. All I can do is share information, answer questions, and help people understand. The rest is in God’s hands.
If my little discussion has helped you understand the Christian faith a bit better–whether or not you believe it–then that’s great. 🙂
You packed a lot in those 500ish words. Words like “justification” and “sanctification” always seemed so big. I think it’s only in the last couple of eyars that I’ve managed to get any real grasp of them.
While I can spend many happy hours snuggled with a systematic theology, that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. 🙂 By keeping to a 500 word limit, my aim was to present what the word essentially means to the Christian, and leave more in-depth discussion and unpacking of ideas to questions/comments. The concepts behind the words certainly deserve a lot more than 500 words, and as much as I hope this helps non-Christians better understand Christianity, I really hope this whets the appetite of Christians to dig deeper into what it means to be a Christian. Thanks for reading and commenting, Carol! 🙂
This was a very interesting post, thank you for writing it! I do not know as much as I would like about my religion, I have always wanted to learn more.
Thank you–and you’re welcome, Anna! I’ve toyed with doing posts like this, but I’m not sure how interested my readers would be. Perhaps keeping them to 500 words helps. It certainly challenges me. 🙂
I’m super late in reading/replying to this as I’ve just found your website (after you found mine 🙂 but I had to say how wonderfully concise you present this theology. I’m looking forward to exploring the rest of your writings.
As a Christian, I find it increasingly sad, frustrating, and even frightening how many people who don’t know Jesus believe Christianity is all about politics, war, and factions, spotlighting only those who bring attention to themselves by both saying they’re Christian and then doing something very un-Christ-like, in the media or what have you.
I wish people could understand that what you’ve summarised here is what true Christians believe, and strive to live by. We fail, but we strive. Everything else is what humans add on — the political agendas, the arguments, and so forth. This, and loving others as you love ourself, should really be *all* that links Christians together. Not the news headlines of abominable actions, which can be made by anyone of any belief, or no belief. It’s refreshing to see someone succinctly state, “this is what’s important.”
Thank you, Cheyenne. It is incredibly frustrating to see our faith misrepresented, especially by those who claim to hold to it! If this in any way helps people understand what it is we Christians actually believe, and why we’re so reluctant to be shaken on these core foundational truths, then I’ll be very happy.