The Christian doctrine of justification by faith alone states that sinners can be declared “Not guilty!”— “Justified!” before the Judge of the universe, based, not on their works, but on their faith in Jesus Christ alone. Practically speaking, this means that God’s love and acceptance of those who believe is not based on what they do, but on what Christ has done. This doctrine is the heartbeat of Christianity and ought to be the heartbeat of the Christian life.
I believe that our theology (what we believe about God, ourselves, and the world) is not meant to be something that stays in our heads, but something that transforms the way we relate to God, each other, and the world. With that in mind, I would like to pose this question: how does what I believe about my justification affect the way I deal with ongoing sin in my life? If we allowed what we believe in our heads to take root in our hearts, how would that change how we deal with our sin?
God doesn’t love you because you don’t sin; he loves you because he loves Jesus, and that will never change.
When I think about my own experience with sin, it often looks like a carbon copy of the scene in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, they immediately experienced guilt, shame, and fear. This was so overwhelming it led them to cover themselves with fig leaves and hide among the trees from the presence of God. In the moment Adam and Eve sinned, they believed God viewed them as criminals who needed punished. They viewed God as an avenger coming to execute justice. At the core of their response was the nagging fear that God didn’t love them anymore.
Even as Christians, we typically experience sin in the same way. We blow up at our children and are immediately overcome with guilt. We fall into pornography and are filled with disgust and shame. We mistreat our spouse and are struck by fear that God is coming for us. When we sin, our natural response is to believe that God is no longer for us, that he does not accept us, and that his love for us has dimmed or has been completely extinguished (depending on how bad we think our sin is). This all leads us to run and hide from God when we sin, rather than running to him with our sin. These moments prove how easy it is for us to forget our doctrine of justification and slip back into viewing God’s love and acceptance of us based on what we do.
You see, this is what is so transformative about the unique truth of justification by faith alone—it tells us that we are loved and accepted by God, not on the basis of what we have done, but based on what Christ has done. In other words, God doesn’t love you because you don’t sin; he loves you because he loves Jesus, and that will never change. If we put this doctrine to work in our lives, it would dispel the false thoughts and emotions that lead us to run and hide from God. It would free us to take our sin to God knowing that he will not receive us as a judge receives a criminal, but as a father receives a son or daughter.
If we are going to believe that there are no good works we can do to earn the love and acceptance of God, then we must also believe that there is no sin that will cause us to lose his love and acceptance. Breathe in this truth as often as you breathe in air. Allow it to give you the assurance God intends it to.
3 Responses
Thank you for sharing this powerful word!
So good! Thank you Kelsey!
Well said, Kelsey!
I’m so encouraged to see an article on justification in the Beacon, not least one that dispels any “nagging fear” that Christian doctrine is irrelevant to the Christian life. May your teaching ministry continue to enrich Fairlawn Mennonite Church, our conference, and beyond.
Your brother,
Matt