Justified
or Condemned
You are loved by God as He loved His own Son.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Romans 5:8-9).
Because of the atoning death of Christ for our sins, there can be
justification instead of condemnation for the guilty sinner. There is justification
“through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (3:24).
The Lord Jesus Christ makes it emphatically clear that death is not
the end of personal existence. Your relationship to Him determines the kind of existence
you enter into when you die physically. There are two forms of existence beyond
death—one good and one horrible. You cannot avoid your eternal destiny; however, what
you do with Jesus Christ determines where you will spend eternity.
Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in
which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the
good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to
a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and
My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent
Me” (John 5:28-30).
Beyond the grave there will be a resurrection unto life for the
person who believes on Christ as his savior and a resurrection to condemnation for all who
reject Him. When a person dies these destinies are established for eternity.
When God saves a person He saves him for eternity.
The Bible makes it very clear that God will hold us accountable if we
persist in sin and refuse to yield to His rightful Lordship.
We deserve the fierce wrath of God and condemnation because of our
rebellion, but God has demonstrated His great love for us at the cross. Instead of wrath,
He has extended His grace to us. Instead of condemnation, He has borne the judgment for
our sins and sets us free. Only a gracious God would do that.
Everyone is so deeply trapped by sin and depravity that apart from
the grace of God we are not able to repent and believe on Christ. It takes the power of
God to change our hearts.
God commands that all people everywhere repent of their sins because
He has set a day when He will judge the world by His justice (Acts 17:30-31).
Sin is rebellion against God. The sinner refuses to listen to the voice of God.
He insists on his own way. He refuses to be obedient to God's commands. Sin is a turning your back upon God. The apostle Paul declared, “All have turned away, they have together
become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:12).
God in His marvelous grace has set His love upon us. That is the
one thing that brings about our salvation. God loves us in the same way He loves
Christ. We are Christians because of His infinite grace.
Men are condemned by God’s holiness because they are sinners,
but God in His grace and mercy saves sinners from eternal condemnation (Gal. 2:16; 3:26).
God’s righteousness and justice sends the sinner to hell. He cannot and will not
tolerate sin in His holy presence.
However, if you come to Christ as one who has believed on the Lord
Jesus and in His atoning death for you, God promises to receive you as He receives His own
Son, Jesus Christ.
“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ”
(Rom. 8:1). He will take you to heaven as one whose sin has already been punished on the
cross of Jesus.
The grace of Lord Jesus Christ pardons all sin. Left to ourselves, we
are all spiritual corpses (Eph. 2:1). We can do nothing to save ourselves. Only God can
save us. Jesus who is equal to God is the only one through whom a person can know God (Jn.
14:6; Acts 4:12).
Will your judgment be “unto life” because of your personal
relationship with Christ? Or will your judgment be “unto condemnation” because
you have stubbornly refused to put your faith in Him?
Are you trusting in Jesus Christ for your salvation? If you have
never put your trust in Christ, it is my prayer that you will right now. Can you say,
“Once I was condemned and subject to the just wrath of God, but now I have been saved
by the blood of Jesus Christ, and I have received the gift of God’s righteousness
through faith in Him?” If so, you are no longer condemned; you are justified.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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