Romans 3:23-26 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Today’s name of Jesus is Justifier.
What things in your life do you try justify? Things that came to mind right away were:
- How I spend my time
- Over eating
- Procrastinating
- Spending money
- Watching church from the couch (when not in quarantine!)
As sinful people we find the need to justify ourselves when our actions don’t match up with our beliefs. Ultimately I realize that my attempts to justify my actions are really a defense against my sin. I want to justify laying around on the couch all day, over eating, and buying things on Amazon that I don’t need! Justify means to show or prove to be right or reasonable, or to declare or make righteous in the sight of God (Google Dictionary). Unfortunately I don’t have the power to truly justify myself or my sin. The consequences of my actions and the guilt from poor choices linger. The choices I make on the daily are written all over my life. This is the painful part of being human. We all make mistakes and they can ruin us if left without resolve or justification. This is why Jesus came and died for you and me. It is only by the Blood of Jesus that we are made clean or justified before God. It is a gift that we cannot do on our own. We cannot earn it or buy it. We only have to accept it! This is not a license to continue sinning and then seek repentance over and over. It is an invitation to have a relationship with the one who already took our sins upon himself on the cross. Jesus chose to be our justifier (Google Dictionary definition: a person who declares or makes righteous in the sight of God) when we are unable to justify ourselves. There is no sin that is truly washed away except by the Blood of the Lamb – Jesus. For those who don’t know Jesus and are hearing this for the first time it may seem too easy. That’s the beauty…..it is that easy. We will never be without sin. But because of our justifier we have the opportunity to repent, be cleansed, and mature in our faith. Jesus doesn’t want us to continue to sin but rather grow in our relationship with Him to the point that we see our sin and start to make different choices based on His plan for our lives.
Thank you Jesus for being our Justifier!
Shelly