How am I made right before a Just and Holy God?

As a good primer for this post, read my previous articles that are linked below.

When we think of God’s forgiveness, do we think in terms that He just excuses our sins? Overlooks them? 

Certainly, there are verses in scripture that can sound like this is the case when taken out of context. But let us consider some things about God, Justice, wrath, mercy, atonement, and justification. In my last blog post, “Sin, Transgression, and Iniquity. Am I guilty of it?” we dove into what defines those terms, and (spoiler alert) yes, we are guilty of them. So, being we are sinful in nature to the point that we are spiritually dead, at enmity (hostile, enemies) with God, and in need of salvation, it leads us to ask, how are we forgiven, justified, and redeemed from spiritual death? In this blog post, I plan to break it down so that we may appreciate, admire, and joyfully thank God for His truly amazing grace.

Now, to be clear, God’s forgiveness comes in and through His Son Jesus Christ. He forgives us because of what Christ has done, not through anything we have done. So how does that work? It’s not as simple as Christ saying to the Father on your behalf, “Father forgive them.” It is more akin to “Father, I will take the punishment for them.” Because of our sin, we are under the wrath of God. Damned, to experience the full wrath of God in judgment for our transgressions against a Holy God. And justly so. But forgiveness doesn’t mean that God overlooks our sins; it takes saving us from His wrath. And that leads us to the atonement.

Atonement means reparation (repair) for an offense of injury, to reconcile. For example, if I say something hateful to my wife and she becomes upset, then I, to mend our relationship, need to atone for my act of speaking hatefully to her to bring us back together. It pales in comparison to God, but we have offended God’s Holiness due to our sin. Therefore we are separated from His love in spiritual rebellion, thus damning us to hell to experience our just punishment in the full wrath of God. Romans 1:18 says “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth”. Being we could not meet God’s requirements of righteous holiness (see my post on the Law), we need a savior, someone to atone for our acts, and take away the enmity that we have with God, being none of us are righteous. Romans 3:10-11 tells us, “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God”.

The only one who could do this was Christ. Being God in the flesh, the incarnation of the Holy One, He lived a life that was Holy in our place to fulfill the Law so that He could appease the wrath of God by taking our place. The term propitiation is what the Bible uses to describe what Christ does for us. Propitiation means to appease someone. Going back to the illustration of my wife, to appease her being upset with me, I may offer a heartfelt apology accompanied by flowers and chocolate. With God, the appeasement of sin is death. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. It is the only way His wrath is appeased. 

In biblical terms, propitiation takes away guilt by paying the penalty or offering an atonement. Through the process of propitiation, we are restored into fellowship and favor with God. God’s anger is turned away for those whom Christ died for. He who knew no sin became sin for those who have faith in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). To appease the wrath of God that was to be poured out upon us as punishment, Christ took that wrath upon Him on the cross and died for our sins, in our place, and gave us His righteousness (imputed righteousness). He was our whipping boy. 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed”.

He was our atonement so that we may have true peace with God. Because when the Father looks at us, He does not see the sinful, wretched, vile person that we truly are, but sees the righteous holiness of His Son Jesus Christ. Thus, like in the case of the Passover, the blood covers our sins, and we have true “shalom” (peace) with God. His wrath against our sins must be satisfied. There is no “ignoring” our sins. Thus, Christ took our place and became the propitiation for our sins, reconciling us to God so that we are adopted into his kingdom. So, when we are saved, it is not that God is overlooking our sins, as if there is no punishment for them, if he did, he would not be just. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

In Justice, we all deserve to be cast into the lake of fire with the devil and his demons. We are slaves to sin, dead in our trespasses. But Christ is our substitution, in love He died for us. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

But here is what is just mind-boggling to me, God the Father sent His Son in love (John 3:16) that He would die for our sin, God who would be just if He did not save one soul, would totally be justified. Still, in great love, mercy, and grace, decided before the foundations of the world to save His church (Ephesians 1:3-14), those who would have faith in Him. Even though we do not deserve it. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 3:25 “Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

That is why amazing grace has a sweet sound. This should lead us to great joy in our worship of Him who saved us!

For further study, read the following text in thier full context:

2 Corinthians 5:19 That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Titus 3:5-7 He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

  You can also read The 1689 BCF chapters 6,7 & 8