21But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21–26 (NASB95)
We, as people, tend to implement and act according to our own sense of justice. We are quick to desire an accounting from those who have wronged us. Quick! We expect justice! Or do we?
Truthfully, we clearly see offenses toward us committed by other. We can catalog these, detail them, enumerate their consequences even…line by line. We can rush over to the dog-eared pages of the scriptures to verses that affirm our viewpoint. Verses that seem to stoke the flames of righteous indignation. And this with other believers in mind!
In my time with the Lord this morning, I was reminded (if you will) that such actions are not some small missteps with the Word; rather, they put us squarely in the crosshairs of God’s judgment toward us.
When God looks at the sins of our brothers and sisters in Christ, He sees justification (forgiveness for sins). After all, the same plea of grace that we cry before Him is voiced by our brethren…even when their sins are against us! We place ourselves at odds with the Lord when we claim some special victimization, as if the sins against us were of such a heinous nature that God’s justification could not absolve them.
As we see in Romans 3 above, our only hope and plea for our lives is the righteousness of God in Christ. Our justification is a gift by His grace. The cross was a demonstration of God’s righteousness because He did not simply declare sins forgiven but gave the required and sufficient sacrifice of the Son of God in our place. In so doing, God is just in His handling of sin, and justifier, in His grace toward us. There is NO SIN that is not atoned for…including the sin against us.
To hold a grudge or to withhold forgiveness is to set ourselves at odds with God’s grace. To demand justice is to declare the insufficiency (in our mind) of Christ’s death for the sin against us! This may seem hard…but let it sit for a moment. Christ is sufficient. His death satisfied. If He pronounces something forgiven (a person’s past, present, and future sins) then the position of faith and the battle for faith is to yield to Him, mirroring His forgiveness, and depending on His gracious gift of tuning our hearts to walk in the same truth.
25“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”
Mark 11:25–26 (NASB95)
May the Lord help us, as His people, to walk in the light of this truth and in the comfort of knowing that His grace is sufficient for us in even this.
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