Justice

I was laying in bed last night and this whole thought process came to me. I wanted to share it with you because I believe it's beautiful. (Warning this is long but is worth the read.)

A while back the question was posed to an audience that I was a part of. The question was, What is the meaning of justification? The answers were feeble and no one seemed to be able to explain it. The speaker eventually said something along the lines of "Justification means the act of being made just or right". Which technically defines it but doesn't help us understand anymore than we did before.

Let's look at scripture and then at our judicial system to see if we can bring a better understanding of the word.

Justification
Romans 4:25 Jesus "who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."
Romans 5:18 "Therefor as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation: even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life"

Justified
Acts 13:39 "And by him (Jesus) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."
Romans 2:13 "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."
Romans 3:24 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
Romans 3:28 "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

And there's tons more but those give us a good foundation. Now let me give you a summary of my thoughts from last night and see if I can get them to make sense.

When someone commits a crime of stealing we can say that (s)he has committed an injustice. By committing the crime (s)he went from just to unjust. Once an injustice has been committed, justice demands a price to be paid in order to bring that person back into a state of being just. In the case of stealing the price is usually a fine and/or prison time. In some extreme cases the price requires life, we call this the death penalty.

Now, let's back up a tad. Without an all-knowing judge a person either has to be proven guilty or admit to the crime in order to have the sentence carried out. Prior to the confession the person is unjust regardless of whether they are caught or not. They broke the law and moved from being just to unjust and will be unjust until a price is paid to bring them back into the state of being just again.

For application sake, let's say that this person confessed to the injustice. It is only then that justification can take place. Justification being the act of bringing this person back into the state of being just. Another way to say it is that (s)he's now paying the price of the injustice.

The other option is that proof is brought before the court that (s)he is guilty. Justice demands a price to be paid for the injustice and the sentence is given. Justification will then take place. The price will be paid one way or the other.

Once the price has been paid the person has returned to the state of being just, we can then call that person justified. That is not to say that what they did was correct. It means that the price, required to be paid for the injustice, has been paid. They have returned to the state of being just and are no longer unjust.

Let's move back into the religious application of the word, keeping the scenario's application. We have all sinned (committed an injustice) against God's law. Unfortunately when we break God's law, justice demands life to be paid (2nd death) in order to bring justification. If it weren't for Christ we'd all be doomed to pay this price.

Romans 4:25 Jesus was delivered (given up) for the payment of our injustice. But then was raised again for our justification. Since He paid the price we can be returned to the state of being just.
Romans 5:18 Because of Adam injustice entered into all of the human race. Justice demands the 2nd death be paid. But because Jesus was righteous and paid the price we can return to a state of being just which results in life.

See how cool that is? Also, notice that if we confess our sins it is only then that our injustice is transferred to Jesus and the price required will be paid by His death. Justification via Jesus can only happen if we confess our sins. If we don't confess then justification will be brought about by our own death. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Once the injustice is transferred to Jesus and His death pays the price we have been "justified". Or another way to say it is that we've returned (past tense) to the state of being just (no longer unjust). Let's apply the "justified" texts as the last part of this really long blog. :)

Acts 13:39 Because of Jesus, anyone that believes will be justified from all things. It is not through the "law of Moses" that we are justified but through Jesus that we can be made just. Romans 2:13 says that it's the doers of the law that are justified. This isn't talking legalism, think about it. If we continue to break the law (hearers only) then we are in a constant state of unjustness and therefore cannot be "justified" (past tense).

If we combine Romans 3:24 and 28 we will see that it is by grace and faith that we are made just. This can only be done because of what Jesus did. Remember the verse in Ephesians 2:8, 9? "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, let any man should boast."

We must stop being in a constant state of sinning (committing injustices) in order for there to be a chance of a price to be paid for our past offenses. Obedience to the law merely means that we are no longer committing injustices. If we are made just through Christ then we will retain justness by not committing injustices. This of course can only be done through the power of Christ in our lives. But that's another blog for another time.

So in conclusion we have all put ourselves in the state of unjustness. Jesus paid the price that justice required to bring us back into a state of being just. Through His grace and His faith manifested in us we can confess our sins and He will forgive us our sins because He already paid the price. We can then be returned back to being just. We are then justified unto life. :)

Sorry this was so long, but I hope you enjoyed it.