The mystery of justification by faith
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1 KJV)
After briefly considering the meaning of righteousness and justification, let us quickly review a profound truth about our salvation: justification by faith. Justification means to be declared righteous or in more practical terms to be made righteous. It is not as though God merely chooses to see us as righteous though we are not. No. We are indeed righteous, made to be, through faith in Christ. When God looks at us, He sees the very righteousness He sees in Christ. How did we obtain that righteousness?
Fundamentally, the only means to demonstrate that you have complied with God’s laws or righteous commandments is by acting in line with those commandments. Justification means we are in line with the laws or requirements of God, and the only logical way to do that is that we were given the rules and acted out of our free will to obey those laws. That is what happened to the Jews in the Old Testament. They had to obtain righteousness by keeping the law. It is called the righteousness of the law because it is obtained by complying with God’s requirements.
However, something beyond human comprehension occurs in grace. When a human being believes in Jesus, they obtain the very righteousness of Christ without doing one single thing right by themselves. Faith is a mystery that connects humans to the Person and Work of Christ, such that whatever Christ is and accomplished passes down to them. We are justified without works. We are justified by faith! If we ever dream of living a holy and righteous life practically now, then this message of being justified by faith must be fully understood and believed.
MEDITATE
What is justification by faith? Do you truly believe it? How does that relate to your practical day to day life?
APPLY THE WORD
Justification by faith is at the heart of grace. The Jews vowed to kill Paul because of this message. They could not handle his teaching that they do not need to keep the Law to be justified. Strangely enough, many Christian circles still struggle with this teaching. However, until we receive this truth, we will never be empowered to live a righteous life practically. Please take a moment to understand and believe this mystery!
PRAY
Ask the Lord to unveil the mysteries of the riches of the grace in Christ Jesus.
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. (Leviticus 20:7–8, KJV)
As the Great I AM that I AM, God revealed Himself as the Lord who sanctifies His people in the Old Covenant—Jehovah Mekaddishkem. But this was only a shadow of something greater that was coming in the New Testament.
Jehovah Mekaddishkem is the English transliteration of the Hebrew words for “I am the Lord which sanctify you” ( “mekaddish” = sanctify, “kem” = you). Divine names and titles in the Old Testament often reveal an aspect of God in relation to His people.
There are three keywords that underlie the meaning of sanctification: “wash,” “consecrate,” and “separate.” Sanctification essentially means to make something holy. Sinlessness is a core aspect of holiness, but there is more to holiness than sinlessness. It is the very nature of God. However, when used in reference to us humans, it means to be cleaned from sin, set apart for God, and consecrated to Him.
In the passage above, God tells the people first to sanctify themselves and then reveals He is the One who sanctifies them. Thus, He gives us the two sides of sanctification—the God side and the human side. There’s something God does and something His people do for their sanctification.
This truth was only a shadow in the Old Testament. It is in Christ that we see God fully revealed as Jehovah Mekaddishkem to His people through the sanctifying work on the cross. In speaking to the Corinthians, Paul revealed,
“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV)
This is Jehovah Mekaddishkem fulfilled in Christ: We were washed and sanctified. Note that these are in past tense, describing something God has already done. The day you received Christ, you received the bath of your life, a heavenly bath by the Spirit of God that removed every stain of sin through the precious blood of Christ. And as you continue to live on earth, the Spirit continues to sanctify you daily.
Following the sanctifying work He has already done in us, He commands us,
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, KJV)
Now that you are clean, washed, and sanctified, He tells us to put that sanctification to work outwardly. Paul explicit states it is what God wants—His will. He gives us a very specific example of sanctification here: abstain from sexual immorality. Few things defile us, like sexual impurity. But sanctification certainly includes more than abstaining from fornication or adultery. As above, it includes living a consecrated and separated life to God daily in the way we talk, act, think, feel, and handle our bodies.
He is Jehovah Mekaddishkem, the God who has Sanctified you in Christ and continues to sanctify you every day.
Meditate
Is our sanctification completed, ongoing, or both?
Apply the Word
This is the crucial part of this devotional. Until you receive the truth that God has already sanctified you by His Spirit, you will not be empowered to be sanctified practically. Put God’s sanctification power to work in your life daily by faith in the finished work of Christ.
Pray
Ask the Lord to help you in your daily walk of sanctification.
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