Jesus Provided for Our Justification

Jesus and His twelve disciples shared the Passover meal together in the upper room. Matthew sets up the story: "Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, 'Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?' And He said, 'Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, "The Teacher says, 'My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.'"' So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve" (Matt. 26:17-20).

As Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover meal, Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.' And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (vv. 26-30).

We still celebrate the Lord's Supper today as a memorial, or a ceremony, that reminds us of what Jesus did for us on the cross. There His body was broken for us, His blood was shed for us, for our forgiveness and to provide salvation for us. Our repentance, along with our faith in Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection the third day, results in our justification.

Through Jesus' death and resurrection God provided for our justification. And that is a key thought here. Justification is not something we earn on our own merit. It is a gift that God provided for us. The Greek noun translated "justification" refers to "the act of pronouncing righteous." It occurs twice in Romans and nowhere else in the New Testament. Its meaning is determined by the verb "to justify" which carries the idea of a person established "as just by acquittal from guilt" (W.E. Vine, M.A., Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Unabridged Edition, [MacDonald Publishing Company: McLean, Virginia, no copyright], 624). So justification has to do with a person being declared righteous by God.

Because of one's belief and faith in Christ, God declares the sinner to be righteous because he has come into a righteous relationship with God. Justification has nothing to do with any change in the sinner. It has everything to do with God's declaration about the sinner. Justification does not make a sinner holy; it declares that he is not guilty before God and is then treated as holy.

So, if you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, even though you are still growing in Christ, slowly becoming more like Him each day (sanctification), you are already considered or reckoned by God to be holy, as Jesus is holy (justification). What a wonderful God we have. Amen.