Objective and Subjective Justification

Dan — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:47:32 +0000

Charles Lehmann over at Drowning Myself Whenever I Can has begun a great new weekly series focusing on key theological doctrines, beginning with the foundational truths of objective and subjective justification.

Charlie is unashamedly teaching Lutheran doctrine, but these truths of justification are foundational to the Christian faith and to all denominations (despite the fact that everyone has slightly different interpretations of justification).

Justification simply means “being justified before God.” A helpful memory trick is thinking of being justified as “just as if I’d never sinned.”

If you have ever ever had any of these questions, I’d encourage you to read his posts:

Did Jesus die for everybody, or only for “the elect?”
If Jesus did atone for everyone’s sins, then won’t hell be empty?
If not, why are some saved and not others?

Charlie has answered these questions and will continue to answer more each week as he posts on a new topic. Check it out!

A Note on Theological Posts
Theology is important because it affects people. The doctrine of justification is of extreme importance because it is the belief about how we are saved by God from sin, death, and the devil. I am not trying to engage in arbitrary discussion about lofty theology, this is very practical because it deals with how men and women become believers in Jesus Christ. The doctrines of objective and subjective justification are consequently the two most-attacked and confused doctrines of the Christian Church. I hope you find Charlie’s posts helpful.

Come as you are

Dan — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:30:33 +0000

I remember listening to Kurt Cobain singing “come as you are” in the 90′s. I also remember hearing dozens of churches latch on to this statement. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think people need to be all polished up before coming to Jesus, nor do I think folks need to dress up on Sunday mornings (I always wear jeans and a t-shirt). But I think “come as you are” sometimes gets interpreted as “you are acceptable just as you are,” and that’s simply not true.

I know that statement just raised red flags in a few readers’ minds, but hear me out. I absolutely think people should come to Jesus in whatever state they are currently in. After all, if people could get free from sin all by themselves why would they need Jesus? But people must also understand that outside of Christ they are completely unacceptable to God. Consider the following quote:

Truth be told, Christ has not welcomed you just the way you are. He has paid the dearest price of all in order to welcome you: sacrificing His life for you on the cross. Christ welcomed you through the anguish of His betrayal, trial, and death. He did not welcome you freely but in order to set you free from your sins! (LSB, p. 1907).

God is holy. The word holy literally means “set apart, consecrated.” Holiness is like light, and anything else is darkness. When light enters a room, darkness flees. God cannot coexist with evil, and apart from the shed blood of Jesus Christ we are completely unacceptable to Him, we cannot come near Him. But Jesus Christ has created the way to the Father by taking our place on the cross, serving our death sentence. His righteousness gets credited to our account by faith and we thereby become acceptable to God.

Too many people have a view of justification that assumes God simply lets our sins slide. The problem is, “the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23), they must be paid for. Jesus pays for them at Calvary and now offers us eternal life as a gift, which is what the rest of Romans 6:23 says: “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So please come as you are, but know that you are entirely unacceptable to God apart from the righteousness that is imparted to you through a living faith in Jesus Christ.

prayeramedic.com » justification

Objective and Subjective Justification

Come as you are