Were: Justified — Tuesday
Romans 4:5
But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. (NLT)
On February 23, 1993, Walter McMillian’s death sentence was overturned in Alabama after his 1988 conviction for an accused murder that took place in 1986. Mr. McMillian lived a nightmare after being arrested, tried, and convicted of a crime he did not commit. Had a tenacious young lawyer not fought for his life in the court of appeals, he would have been wrongfully executed by the state. The movie Just Mercy brings this gripping story to life.
Wrongful convictions are an awful reality for judicial systems all around the world. It’s a tragedy when innocent people are declared guilty and punished. However, God has made it clear that guilty people deserve punishment. From Genesis to Revelation, it is abundantly clear that sin makes us guilty and demands punishment. But our verse today points out the amazing reality we discussed yesterday: God justifies guilty sinners.
There are a few ways we can be justified in the legal sense. We can be tried and found not guilty based on our actions. If we are fully innocent, we have no punishment to face. Another way to be justified is to be found guilty and pay back our “debt to society.” Once our debt is paid, we are free to go on with our lives. Biblically speaking, neither option is possible because we are all guilty and have sinned against an eternal God (Romans 3:23), for which there is an eternal penalty.
The only possible way to be justified is to have God’s righteousness imputed or credited to the account of us sinners. Paul describes this in his letter, Philippians. He says that he wants to “be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ…” (Philippians 3:9). When we are justified, we are given righteousness by God that we do not deserve. It is His free gift of grace.
Tuesday’s Reflection
Thank God today for the truly amazing gift of justification by faith.
