Chosen, Justified, and Glorified

I was chosen to receive salvation. I only needed to accept it. I was then justified as a result of my accepting salvation and repenting of my sins. And then I am glorified in the name of the LORD thanks to my justification which is thanks to my salvation.

“³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” — Romans 8:30 (ESV)

When I read the verse above, I see the word “predestined” and wonder of my salvation, what if I were not predestined. I then have to remember that salvation is available and should be presented to all. It is the free will of the individual to accept salvation. All are chosen to receive salvation, not just the righteous or the Baptist, or Catholics, or Presbyterians, or any specific religions. Jews and Gentiles are presented the Word of God and all have the chance to accept.

I have to remember that before my salvation I was no different than the rest of the world, a sinner without salvation. Now, I am a sinner still, but I have salvation and forgiveness and will spend eternity with Christ in heaven. I was chosen to receive salvation and with my acceptance of this free gift, I am justified in Christ. My sins, those I have committed and those I will commit will be wiped away thanks to the forgiving grace of God.

Now that I have been, and will continue to be justified, I know that I will be glorified in heaven when it is my time to be united with Christ. I will be glorifying Him and He will be glorifying me as I find myself in His physical presence in glory.

I was chosen to receive the gift of salvation from Christ. I chose to accept that gift of salvation and as a result was justified in Christ. With my justification I will be glorified again, thanks to my acceptance of the gift of salvation I was chosen to receive.

What does your life look like as relates to you being chosen to receive salvation? Are you waiting for something else to be offered? What if you accept the gift and be justified which will lead to glorification all as a result of being chosen to receive the gift of salvation?

Justified by His Blood

I have to have faith in God and that is what justifies me in spite of my sin. I will continue to sin as I am a sinner and thanks to the salvation that was given by Christ, I have been forgiven. But, where did that salvation come from. What was done to allow for me to believe and have salvation. Christ shed His blood on my behalf.

“⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” — Romans 5:6-9 (ESV)

I was born a sinner. I am a sinner. I will always be a sinner. Yet, Christ died for me. He shed His blood to atone for my sin. Yes, Jesus walked this world over 2000 years ago, and yet He accounted for me and all that I am. Christ took on all of my sin and washed it away when He shed His blood of the cross. That is what was done to allow for me to believe and have salvation.

Yes, I did not need for Christ to shed His blood and my faith in Him is certainly enough. Look at those of the Old Testament that believed and had faith in God even before Jesus came. Abraham, Moses, Noah, Solomon, David. All of them put their faith in God and all came before Jesus walked this world. Jesus came and died so, as noted in verse nine above, “much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God”. Jesus is better and made it better for me.

I owe a debt of thanks to Jesus. He provided me a way to be made whole in the eyes of God and then made it even better with the shedding of His blood on my behalf. I have been justified by the blood of Jesus and my sins have been washed away.

Having faith true to be justified, what is/was done to take it up a notch? Are you still living your life like a sinner thinking, “I believe and have faith so I am good”? What if you took a step back and understood that you have faith thanks to God and it is better thanks to the shed blood of Christ?

Believe and Be Justified

There are no works that I have to do in order to be justified. I cannot “win” God over by extraordinary gestures. I cannot buy my way to justification with a load of money. Being famous (not that I am) does me no go in the eyes of God. It is only my belief in Him that allows me to be justified. In fact, my justification thanks to belief in Him is really in spite of all that I might do or have.

“³For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” — Romans 4:3&2 (ESV)

All that Abraham had was of nothing in the eyes of God. Abraham could have been boasting to all that he had and did in the world and where the world may have been impressed, he would not and did not impress God. It was through his belief in God that Abraham was counted as righteous and for which God justified him.

I am the same. It is not what I do or what I have that makes me who I am in the eyes of God. It is my belief in Him and only my belief in Him. Yes, I do have work to do in His name and that should not be counted out, but it is in His name only after my belief and faith in Him. I do the works, as I have studied and written before, because of my justification not to earn it.

What are you doing to be justified by God? Are you out there working yourself ragged to “earn” your justification in the eyes of God? What if you simply believed in Him and turned your faith to Him and then did the works because of your justification?

Justified by Faith, Not Works

I know, I just recently wrote “Doers are Those Justified”, so how does all of this fit. Well, what I wrote in the first paragraph is more indicative of what is meant: “It is NOT about the works, although the works are an indicator.” It is not what you do that is justified, I do the works because I am justified. My being justified comes through the gift of God through Jesus Christ.

“²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” — Romans 3:23-24 (ESV)

I have to remember that it is not what I do that justifies me. My faith in Him and His salvation for me is what justifies me in His sight, and that is what matters.

“²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” — Romans 3:28 (ESV)

I am justified in spite of my works. Once I have have accepted Christ as my Savior, I am justified regardless of my past and in spite of my future. The LORD gifts salvation and justification to me at that moment. I am then to follow Him and in doing so, will do the work He has for me. I will do the work, not to gain favor, but because I have been given favor already. I am now in the position to do the work of God within the boundaries of the law and not because of the boundaries of the law. I do not have some cornering on the law and do not have the right to go outside the boundaries, I will do that which is right, because it is right.

“³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” — Romans 3:31 (ESV)

It is my faith in Jesus Christ that justifies me. I have been given the opportunity to be free from the sins of my past and those sins I will commit in the future. Where the sins of the future have been forgiven already, I am less likely to commit conscious sin thanks to the salvation I have received and will do the work of the LORD thanks to my salvation and justification. I will no longer do the work in hopes of justification.

What works are you doing? Are you doing them to gain some kind of favor with God? What if you simply accepted the salvation given, knowing that it is enough and then did works because of your justification as opposed to gain it?

Justified, Yes, But Now We Know Sin

“²⁰For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” — Romans 3:20 (ESV)

I have been justified by the works of the LORD and have been and will be held accountable to the sins I have and will commit as I continue in this world. And that is the thing, I have and will continue to commit sins. And to go along with those sins, I have to continue repenting and seeking forgiveness for those sins I know of and even those that I am unaware.

Just because I have been justified does not mean that I am out of the woods as relates to accountability. It does not mean that I can just do whatever I want and not have to worry with pleasing or displeasing God. I am still a sinner, and even more importantly I now know of sin and that makes me even more accountable. I now know right from wrong and my sin is a choice at each instance. I now choose to sin.

As a small child, I was given certain liberties to knowing right from wrong. I did not know that taking something from the store was a crime and sin because I did not know the law. I did not know that lying was a sin as someone had not explained it to me yet and I did not understand the concept. But now that I am older (Ha Ha), I do know and if I do indeed take something from the store or tell a lie, I choose to do so and will be held accountable to that choice. The same holds true for the other sins in my life.

As a Christian and child of God, I now am aware of my sin and am held accountable to knowing when I am about to or have sinned. I have the knowledge and it is up to me to use that knowledge each and every moment of the day. I know what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of the LORD and I am responsible to abide by His Word each and every time.

How do I know? I have to study His Word each day. I have to dig into and work to understand what it is to abide in the LORD. He tells me in His Word and it is my duty to read study and understand so that I can abide in Him at all times.

Am I going to sin, yes, I am a sinner and just because I have been given and accepted salvation does not absolve me of what I am. I do however have a better knowledge of what I am doing and when I work to align myself with His teachings and doing as instructed by Him, I will find myself sinning less and those sins I do commit will impact others less. I will know I have sinned as some point in the day and I will know to ask God again to forgive me of those sins I have committed.

What knowledge do you have of right and wrong? Are you continuing to actively sin even though you know? What if you were to get into God’s Word and understand so that you would have a better chance to avoid sin?

Doers are Those Justified

“¹³For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” — Romans 2:13 (ESV)

The first thing I think when reading the above is that my justification is based on works. It is this “first thing” that gets the headlines and the lack of fully understanding. It is NOT about the works, although the works are an indicator. There has to be more study in place to understand. I have to dig deeper than just the single verse which is likely to be taken out of context when used in a discussion.

Doers of the law are those that use their salvation and relationship with God to do His work. It is not the work that leads to the justification, but the doing of the work in the name of God and for His glory. It is not about being seen by the world doing the work, but about being seen by God.

Knowing that which is right and doing that which is right are two very different things. Paul makes it clear as he continues his letter that it is the doing of what is right and not just knowing and professing which is right.

“²¹you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.” — Romans 2:21-23 (ESV)

See what Paul says here that even knowing what is right does not make your actions right. It is possible to even teach one thing and do another whether, stealing, adultery, robbing temples, and any breaking of God’s law. It the keeping of God’s law that we should be concerned with. It is doing the law of God for all to be aware. Even if no one of this world sees, God sees and It is what He sees that brings our justification.

I want God to see me doing His work and not doing the work of the world. Yes, is some cases those works align, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and the like. But, largely, the world sees things only from their own eyes and focus on doing things that others can see to ensure that they are “being good” and then behind the scenes, there is a full on assault on that which is good. Let it be known that where the world may not know, God does and it is in those actions that we are judged by God. It is “the doers of of the law who are justified”.

What are you doing, the work of God? Are you focused on pleasing the world because you know what is right and teach others, all the while going against it? What if you focused on doing the work of the LORD to ensure that you are justified for that work in the eyes of God?

The LORD is Justified

“How can the LORD do this to me? Doesn’t He love me and protect me?” I know that I have thought those words and likely have even said them aloud a time or two (or three, or four…). It is natural for me to think that way, especially when the essence of God is love. But, isn’t He my heavenly father, isn’t it the job of a father to hold us accountable to what is.

“⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,”

— Psalm 51:4a (ESV)

Frankly, to Him didn’t I do what is being called out. I was the one who sinned and any sin is a sin against God. It may have been something simple that “did not hurt anyone”, but it did, God and my relationship with Him. Sin is a wedge between the LORD and me. Where there is sin, there tends to be little to no room for the LORD. Yes, the LORD is light and darkness cannot remain in the light. Yet, with my sin I am doing all there is to cover the light so that the darkness can be prevalent. And just who am I accountable to for the removal of the light, God.

When I have taken action to remove God by sinning, whether intentional or not (as we will sin without really thinking or knowing), I am accountable to that sin and to God. Not the world as one might think. As note above, it may not have hurt anyone in the world and the world has repeatedly said and will continue to say to do what you think is right and what feels good to you.

I have to be concerned with the sin in my life, whether I know about it or not. That sin, where it may not be hurting anyone in this world, it is hurting the LORD and due to that, He is justified in holding me accountable. He has the right to take action against me as I have taken action against Him.

“⁴so that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.”

— Psalm 51:4b (ESV)

Just as any father has the right to hold accountable his children for doing things that are outside of what is deemed right, the LORD holds me accountable to do that which is right by Him. Sin is not right by God and therefor any sin is against Him and He should hold me accountable, whether I know of the sin or not. I have committed to Him and in that commitment I know what is right and should be held to that standard by the one that created the standard, the LORD.

What have you done that is sinning against God? Are you even thinking of the LORD as the one you are hurting with your actions? What if you were to accept that all sin is indeed hurting God and that He is justified to hold you accountable, how would you change your actions?