Bible Reading: Titus 3:3-8
When a person is acquitted of a crime, he is declared to be innocent of the crime, but the crime still happened. Someone, somewhere committed the crime.
When God “justifies” us, he goes beyond declaring us innocent of the “crime” of disobeying God. That’s what verse 7 of Titus 3 teaches us. This verse tells us that we have “been justified by his [God’s] grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” God declares us innocent, then He acts as if we had never disobeyed Him, as if our sin never existed. When He does that, He opens the doors of heaven and invites us in.
God doesn’t justify us because we’ve done more good things than bad things, because we are really, really sorry for disobeying Him, or because of anything else we’ve done. God justifies us because Jesus obeyed God perfectly.
If we admit that we’ve disobeyed God, then believe that God will accept Jesus’ perfect obedience – including His death and resurrection – in the place of our own disobedience, God will justify us. God will act as though Jesus’ perfect obedience was our perfect obedience. In essence, in God’s eyes, it is as if our sinful past never existed. Through Jesus we have been made perfectly right with God.
Have you accepted Jesus’ gift of forgiveness and justification?
“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38 & 39
Prayer: God, I want to trade my disobedience for Jesus’ obedience. Forgive my sins and justify me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.