Who
Justifies
Who?W h o
Cleanses
W h o ?
An Age-Old
Question.
An Age-old Question! During Job's famous ordeal, a conversation took place between
him and three of his "friends". They were debating as to why God
seemed to be punishing Job. Having lost his possessions, his
children, and his health, the three friends assumed Job was being
judged for some sinful act. During the course of the conversation,
one of the friends, Bildad, posed this question:"How then can man be justified with God? or how can he
be clean that is born of a woman?" Job 25:4Bildad went on to comment on man's lack of purity and his
subsequent need of justification before a holy God (Job 25:5-6).
Many people (religious or otherwise) would tend to agree with
Bildad. They recognize a need to be justified before God.justified with God...?" However, the answer is hinted at in the
But the real
question is How?With so many
religions around
today, the average
person seeking to be
justified, scratches
their head and, like
Bildad, asks: "How
then can man be
TO BE JUSTIFIED means to be made
right, to stand before God guiltless. The
person who is justified is forgiven. God no
longer holds their sins against them; they
have been "cleansed" of their sins. You
could say that a justified person stands
before God "just-as-if-they-had-not-sinned."
To such a person, the entrance to Heaven is
assured.
second part of the verse: "...or how can he be CLEAN that is
born of a woman?"To be justified with God, we must be cleansed of the only thing
that stands between us and Him -- OUR SINS!
HUMAN NATURE [depraved] leads one to assume that justification lies in our
own hands, and that it's our responsibility to cleanse ourselves.
Often we picture God, arms crossed, angrily standing there tapping His
foot, waiting for us to make a serious effort toward making things right.
But nothing could be further from the truth!
In the following verse, notice God's gracious offer to the Jews (to
the whole world, for-that-matter) who at the time, were self-destructing
in sin. "Come now, and LET US REASON TOGETHER, saith the LORD:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as WHITE AS SNOW;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be AS WOOL." Isaiah 1:18God is reasonable. So much so that He is even willing to cleanse us of
our sins HIMSELF! If you recall, Bildad asked: "...how CAN HE BE
CLEAN...?" (Job 25:4 [b]) To which God answers, "Though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as WHITE AS SNOW."God is offering to do ALL the justifying and, friend, we have no other
choice but to accept His offer; we CAN'T justify ourselves. Nothing you
or I can do will cleanse us of our sins, not even working at keeping the
Ten Commandments. The Bible says: "Knowing that a man IS NOT
JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: FOR BY THE
WORKS OF THE LAW SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED." Gal. 2:16God didn't give us His Commandments as a means by which we can
justify ourselves. On the contrary, they were given to show us we stand
guilty before Him. "Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be
stopped, and ALL THE WORLD MAY BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there SHALL NO FLESH BE
JUSTIFIED in his sight: for BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN"
(Rom. 3:19-20). His law clearly show us that WE CAN'T justify
ourselves to Him.Honestly, when was the last time you went to a week without breaking at
least one commandment (e.g. lying)? The Bible says: "For whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend IN ONE POINT, HE IS GUILTY
OF ALL" (James 2:10). Break one commandment, and you've broken
them all. We don't stand a chance of keeping them. How could we
possibly justify ourselves?
God's law points us to the only means of justification: "Wherefore
the LAW WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER TO BRING US UNTO CHRIST,
that we might be JUSTIFIED BY FAITH." Gal 3:24
There's only one person who can wash away our sins and justify
us before God -- Jesus Christ. The Bible says: "...THE BLOOD OF
JESUS CHRIST his Son CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN." 1 John 1:7Christ died and shed His blood on the cross to cleanse our sins away:
"Jesus Christ...that loved us, and WASHED US FROM OUR SINS IN
HIS OWN BLOOD" (Rev. 1:5). Jesus Christ died in our place.
He paid the penalty for our sins, a penalty we can't pay for
ourselves. Christ was, "DELIVERED FOR OUR OFFENCES, and was
raised again FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION." Rom. 4:25He did it all because He loves us: "But God commendeth [PROVED] his
love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR
US. Much more then, being now JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall
be SAVED FROM WRATH THROUGH HIM." Rom. 5:8-9The Apostle Paul, addressing those who had stopped trying to justify
themselves and instead trusted Christ as Saviour, said: "...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 Cor. 6:11
Their justification wasn't earned, it was FREELY GIVEN to them by
God: "Being JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE through the redemption
that is IN CHRIST JESUS." Rom. 3:24Friend, it's no use trying to justify yourself to God; it requires the
cleansing of your sins, and the only one qualified to do that is Jesus
Christ. That was the whole reason for Him dying on that cross for you.
Justification is not something YOU earn, but a free gift bought and
paid for by Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:16-18). God wants to justify you to
Himself. All you have to do is REPENT, stop trying to do it yourself,
admit you're a lost, hell-deserving sinner in need of a Saviour, and CALL
UPON CHRIST to save you (Rom. 10:9-13).To learn more, please read the back cover [below]. Or drop us a post card.
IF you were to die today, are you 100% SURE
you would go to Heaven? The Bible says
YOU CAN BE SURE (1 John 5:13).BUT FIRST, you must realize that what keeps you
from going to Heaven are your sins, because:
"...your iniquities [sins] have separated
between you and your God," Isaiah 59:2.
In fact, in God's eyes YOU ARE A SINNER: "For
all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23.SECONDLY, you must realize that there is
NOTHING you can do to save yourself and earn
Heaven: "For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: Not of works, lest any
man should boast." Eph. 2:8-9 Baptism, good
deeds, church membership, self-righteousness are
all examples of good works that cannot save you,
because: "Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he [Christ] saved
us," Titus 3:5.THE ONLY WAY you can get saved is through
Jesus Christ. He said: "I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) THAT'S
WHY: "...while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us." (Rom. 5:8-9)THEREFORE: You must REPENT (change your
mind); admit that you are a Hell deserving sinner
and can't save yourself. And call upon Christ, and
Him alone, to save you. "if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus [REPENT], and
shalt believe in thine heart [TRUST] that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved." Romans 10:9SEND THE LIGHT
P.O. Box 815 Fargo, ND 58107
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