Justification is often viewed as God switching us from the Unrighteous column to the Righteous column in His heavenly ledger book.
Being counted righteous, or being justified, is not just a switch in God’s mind about you.
To be counted righteous, to be justified, means you have been made righteous!
Actually, in a real-life way, you can be made righteous, to the extent that righteousness shows up in your life.
This is the regenerating power of the Gospel!
You who were born in sin, a child of wrath, have been reconstituted, remade to do what is righteous!
Nothing else has that power. Nothing and no one can make unrighteous people suddenly do righteous things except God alone.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ rebirths us. It raises us up to newness of life. It is the power of God unto salvation.
There is power, re-creative power, in the Gospel. It frees from sin, it liberates the soul from the clutches of Satan and his evil, and frees you to do righteousness.
Nothing else can do this. You can’t do it. The law can’t do it. Good intentions can’t do it. Happy thoughts can’t do it.
Christ alone can do it.
And He does every time someone believes that He can.
The whole point of God redeeming a person is so they would do righteousness.
We are created to do good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.
He redeemed unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Salvation is not there so when you die you don’t go to hell.
Salvation is here to transform your life. To remake you with a desire and the ability to finally be able to do what God desires.
This is the longing of the soul that Christ answers. This is the glorious water of life that is poured into those who thirst after righteousness.
Unfortunately, we’ve sucked the Gospel’s power away. We tell people they are saved because they did a thing we told them to do and then pat them on the back as they go back to their sin.
We bring people to the Gospel without even mentioning sin or a new life. We make it about what happens after death. We make it all about later and nothing about now.
Release from sin now is what the Gospel can do. To not want to be released from sin is to not want the Gospel.
Instead of dealing with the sad fact that most people don’t want the Gospel, we invent a false Gospel that tells people “Jesus is fine with your sin. Nothing can stop it, you have to sin.” Oh well, guess even Jesus and the Gospel can’t stop your awesome power to sin.
How sad. If only God were more powerful than sin. Imagine what the Gospel would look like if that were true?
Guess what? It is true!
Stop believing lies and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel’s power, which is able to make you a child of God, freed from sin, and released into righteous service.
Ian Thomson 