JUSTIFICATION

“Yes, I know what you've said is true, but how can a person be justified before God?" (Job 6:8 CSB).

In response to the counsel of one of his so-called friends, Job asks a very important question, namely, “How can a person be justified before God?” This question deals with our relationship with God and with our eternal destiny. Thus we want to note - why we need to be justified, who can justify, and where to be justified.

Why we need to be justified – We need to be justified because we have sinned. From the least to the greatest, the Bible declares that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Further, because God is holy, He cannot tolerate sin; therefore He must punish sin. No sin will be allowed in heaven. So if we are all sinners, how can we obtain heaven for our eternal dwelling place? We obtain it through justification. If we are not justified, we will not make it into heaven.

Who can justify - The answer to Job’s question is Jesus Christ. He is the One who can make us ‘just with God.’ God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die on the cross and pay the punishment for our sin. Christ died as our substitute. He died vicariously because He had no sins of His own. When we by faith receive Him as our Savior, justification takes place. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

Where to be justified – It is important to notice that Job is talking about being “justified before God” not before man. Most people are only concerned about being “justified” before man. They only seem to care about what other people thinks of them. But Job had it right. We need to be concerned more about what God thinks of us. Our eternal destiny has nothing to do with what man thinks of us but everything to do with what God thinks of us. Therefore, we need above all other things to seek to be just “before God.” Nothing else compares in importance.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Justification means man’s guilt gone and Christ’s goodness given!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Diligence

In 2 Peter 1:5 we read, “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge” (NKJV).

Diligence is the Greek word spoudē (σπουδή = spoo-day'). It means haste, speed, zeal, effort, earnestness, diligence. Spoudē denotes quick movement or haste accompanying the eagerness, in the interest of a person or cause. It can refer to an earnest commitment in discharge of an obligation or experience of a relationship.

In Classical Greek spoudē generally describes external action, to hurry or to be quick to fulfill a task. In the Septuagint spoudē also means to hurry. In the New Testament spoudē mean eagerness, earnestness, diligence, and haste. Spoudē is even used to portray the kind of commitment expected of all Christians in virtually every aspect of their lives. Further, believers must be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the body (Eph. 4:3), eager to maintain fellowship with one another (1 Thess. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:9; Titus 3:12), and must be earnest and diligent in helping those in need (Gal. 2:10).

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah’s coming glory (Mal. 3:2-3)

New Testament Fulfillment – Luke 3:17

Bible Facts

Pest control (Lev. 25:1-24). Farmers are plagued today with insects. Yet God gave a sure-fire remedy to control pests centuries ago. Insects winter in the stalks of last year’s harvest, hatch in the spring, and are perpetuated by laying eggs in the new crop. Moses commanded Israel to set aside one year in seven when no crops were raised. If the crop is denied one year in seven, the pests have nothing to subsist upon, and are thereby controlled.

Bible Quiz

What did the Son of God say He would do to the “lukewarm” church according to the Book of Revelation?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: Which two employees did the Pharaoh throw into jail with Joseph? The butler and the baker (Genesis 40:1).

That’s in the Bible

"Mote in the eye”

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matt 7:3 KJV).

“Mote in the eye” - The expression “mote in the eye” carries idea of accusing others of faults that we have ourselves. It is a vivid picture of a person who ignores his own grievous sins while trying to correct the relatively minor shortcomings of another. In fact, the things we criticizes the most loudly are often the things that are own faults or secret sins. If we do not honestly face up to our own sins, and confess them, we blind ourselves to ourselves; and then we cannot see clearly enough to help others.

Did You Know - Christian History

Samuel Marsden was born June 25, 1765 in Farsley, Yorkshire, England. He was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand.

In his early twenties, Marsden reputation as a lay preacher drew the attention of the evangelical Elland Society who gave him a scholarship to Magdalene College, Cambridge. However, he abandoned his degree to respond to the call of the evangelical leader Charles Simeon for service in overseas missions.

By the 1800s, Marsden had developed an interest in evangelizing New Zealand. Further, he was concerned that that a small community of Europeans that had formed in the Bay of Islands were corrupting the Maori way of life, and lobbied the Church Missionary Society to send a mission to New Zealand. No one was interested in taking the Gospel to the Maori of New Zealand for fear of being killed and eaten on the islands.

Using his own money, Marsden purchased a brig, the Active, and risking his own life set sail for the Bay of Islands in 1814. The first known Christian sermon on New Zealand was preached by Marsden at Oihi Bay on Christmas Day, 1814. The theme of the sermon was, “Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy.”

Marsden is favorably remembered in New Zealand, which he visited seven times. The Anglican school, Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Karori, Wellington and Whitby, Porirua were named after Marsden. Houses at King’s College, Auckland, King’s Prep School and Corran School for Girls are also named after him.

In 1819, Marsden introduced winegrowing to New Zealand with the planting of over 100 different varieties of vine in Kerikeri, Northland. Marsden died May 12, 1838 during a visit to the Reverend Henry Stiles at St Matthew’s Church at Windsor, New South Wales. He is buried in the cemetery near his old church at Parramatta, New South Wales.

A Little Humor

A funeral happened to pass by an armored truck at an intersection. Since the truck could not get through the procession, the driver pulled out and joined in the funeral. An onlooker saw the armored in the funeral procession and remarked to a friend, “What do you know? You can take it with you.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Christ believed is salvation received!”