justification
Justification seems such a piece of christian jargon, coming from a time when legal metaphors for salvation made sense. But what does it mean for us to say we have been justified by Christ, in our 21st century world?
The place I most often encounter justification is word-processing. Microsoft Word has a series of "justify" keys- I can choose to right-justify, left-justify or centre-justify. And probably, if I wanted to, I could set up my own personal justification settings. You see, I'm the author of what I write, and I get to decide what it ought to look like. Even if something goes wrong as I write, and the words end up all over the place, with a press of one key, the whole thing leaps into place and looks exactly as I intended it to.
I like to think that the story of my life is a bit like that. As I write the events of each day, they look a bit of a mess. There are crossings out, bits started and never finished, words jumbled up all over the place and even words I wouldn't want anyone else to read. But with one stroke, God can justify this messy story. Somehow, my story becomes part of Jesus' story and it looks just like God intended it to be. He is the author, He knows what I was created to be, and He can straighten out all the mess I make. Because of justification, my life is poetry
Maybe it's not quite what Paul had in mind when he was writing about justification in Romans, but the writer of Psalm 139 says
"Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do."
The place I most often encounter justification is word-processing. Microsoft Word has a series of "justify" keys- I can choose to right-justify, left-justify or centre-justify. And probably, if I wanted to, I could set up my own personal justification settings. You see, I'm the author of what I write, and I get to decide what it ought to look like. Even if something goes wrong as I write, and the words end up all over the place, with a press of one key, the whole thing leaps into place and looks exactly as I intended it to.
I like to think that the story of my life is a bit like that. As I write the events of each day, they look a bit of a mess. There are crossings out, bits started and never finished, words jumbled up all over the place and even words I wouldn't want anyone else to read. But with one stroke, God can justify this messy story. Somehow, my story becomes part of Jesus' story and it looks just like God intended it to be. He is the author, He knows what I was created to be, and He can straighten out all the mess I make. Because of justification, my life is poetry
Maybe it's not quite what Paul had in mind when he was writing about justification in Romans, but the writer of Psalm 139 says
"Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do."
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