“WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE JUSTIFIED?”
“WHAT
DOES
IT MEAN TO BE JUSTIFIED?”
It
is an interesting
fact that under Scottish Law, when a man was put
to death
he was spoken of as being “justified”.
When
they executed a
man in Edinburgh, Scotland, they would put up a notice that read
“So
and So
was justified
at
Market
Square
this
morning at 8 o’clock”.
“Justified”?
Yes, paid
the penalty, executed
for his sin. In the Oxford Dictionary we read this:
“In Scotland, in the Middle Ages, the murderer taken red-handed … was
justified
without any unnecessary or inconvenient delays of process.”
He
was hanged. He was
justified. He was put to death.
So
the sinner who has
died is regarded as being justified. The account is settled, there is
no charge
against him, it has been paid and discharged.
So
when I see Christ
dying for me, and know my
old man has been crucified with him
(Rom
6:6),
I know my claim is
settled, that I have died and that God justifies me gratuitously in the
riches
of his grace. I have been justified. I have been put into the death of
Christ.
A few
years ago, a certain young man went up to a
preacher after he had spoken and took exception at what had been said.
The
preacher said “But you are a sinner are you
not?”
The man
replied “Oh yes” and went on “we are all
sinners’.
The
preacher said “As a sinner you are condemned,
are you not?”
The man
said “I do not see that.”
“What!”
said the preacher “do you not see that the
just Judge of all the earth must condemn a sinner? What sort of a God
do you
believe in, an unjust God?”
“Well” he
replied “if it comes to that you are
condemned too!”
The
preacher said “Of course I am, but it may
surprise you to hear that I have been executed.”
The young
fellow looked at the preacher in perfect
amazement and said “What do you mean?”
The
preacher answered “I mean what I say, I was
executed in a most horrible manner. I was crucified. But thank
God, I
have had a resurrection, and that is why I am alive now. That is the
truth. In
Christ I have been executed. I have been brought to judgment. I
deserved
it, and the just and holy God was right in condemning me. But thank
God, in
the holy substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, I died. Therefore
having
died, I am justified from sin.
The
law has been
satisfied.
The
penalty that the
law demanded, that is, the death of a man, has been satisfied.
Christ
died in my
place. I have been put to death in Christ.
Standing
before God, I
can now justify myself for having broken his laws.
Can
you stand before
God right now and say
“My
penalty
for breaking your laws has been paid. I
am innocent of all charges. I can stand before you God ‘Just-as-if-I’d”
never
sinned. Christ has paid my debt in full!”
Dear
Reader, read Romans
6:1-11 for a full
understanding.
**** ****
Harley Hitchcock
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