Interplanner
Well-known member
Heir,
the exact same. Most confusion about the Gospel and about salvation generally is over sin as debt vs sin as impurity. Sin as a debt is dealing with all our sins as things we did in the past, whether we are young or old. In Christ we are justified from those sins. Justification is not in the category of the modern term 'rationalization' because it would then be allowing a license to sin (I mention this because someone here at TOL just used justification in that sense yesterday in a thread. Not.). Instead, justification is a term from court proceedings and means the Judge has canceled the list of charges (Col 2:14) against a criminal, and at the same time, is crediting that person with a clean bill of righteousness. This term crediting is what imputed or transfered righteousness means in the NT (2 Cor 5:18). It is not inherent in the person; it is not something he has done. It is something another true human has done, however, and that was Christ. He was made a sin offering for us so that we could be the righteousness of God in Him.
Therefore:
Justification is God's work for us in Christ.
But sanctification is God's work in us through the Spirit.
Now let's talk about sin as impurity. These are the current ongoing sins or areas we are trying to improve on. With God's help of course, but not the past, historic, debt-clearing Christ did. Justification inspires sanctification; we clean up our act out of honor for Christ who loved us and gave himself up for us (Gal 2). We will never get total victory. Not until glorification in the new creation.
Since we will never get total victory, we are sent back to the Gospel to reinforce our hearts "whenever they condemn us" (I Jn 2) that we are justified from our sins. This is the new power of the Spirit over sin.
You can check some of the great hymns of our faith, and it will relate these clearly yet distinct:
"Rock of Ages...be of sin a double cure...save me from its guilt and power."
He means that two things are going on and we need the Gospel for guilt and then we need its inspiration and love for power over ongoing sin. That love for God is what 'kills' sin or 'puts it to death' (Col 3:1-4). There are several NT passages that show that we never 'outgrow' justification because anything we do in the future (any failures) will be things we need justification from; I Cor 2, 15, Rom 8.
This is the power of the new creation already at work. It is the way of the Spirit because the Spirit dwells in us richly (Eph 5:18) when the Word of Christ dwells in us richly (Col 3:16).
No need for two Gospels when you've grasped this one!
the exact same. Most confusion about the Gospel and about salvation generally is over sin as debt vs sin as impurity. Sin as a debt is dealing with all our sins as things we did in the past, whether we are young or old. In Christ we are justified from those sins. Justification is not in the category of the modern term 'rationalization' because it would then be allowing a license to sin (I mention this because someone here at TOL just used justification in that sense yesterday in a thread. Not.). Instead, justification is a term from court proceedings and means the Judge has canceled the list of charges (Col 2:14) against a criminal, and at the same time, is crediting that person with a clean bill of righteousness. This term crediting is what imputed or transfered righteousness means in the NT (2 Cor 5:18). It is not inherent in the person; it is not something he has done. It is something another true human has done, however, and that was Christ. He was made a sin offering for us so that we could be the righteousness of God in Him.
Therefore:
Justification is God's work for us in Christ.
But sanctification is God's work in us through the Spirit.
Now let's talk about sin as impurity. These are the current ongoing sins or areas we are trying to improve on. With God's help of course, but not the past, historic, debt-clearing Christ did. Justification inspires sanctification; we clean up our act out of honor for Christ who loved us and gave himself up for us (Gal 2). We will never get total victory. Not until glorification in the new creation.
Since we will never get total victory, we are sent back to the Gospel to reinforce our hearts "whenever they condemn us" (I Jn 2) that we are justified from our sins. This is the new power of the Spirit over sin.
You can check some of the great hymns of our faith, and it will relate these clearly yet distinct:
"Rock of Ages...be of sin a double cure...save me from its guilt and power."
He means that two things are going on and we need the Gospel for guilt and then we need its inspiration and love for power over ongoing sin. That love for God is what 'kills' sin or 'puts it to death' (Col 3:1-4). There are several NT passages that show that we never 'outgrow' justification because anything we do in the future (any failures) will be things we need justification from; I Cor 2, 15, Rom 8.
This is the power of the new creation already at work. It is the way of the Spirit because the Spirit dwells in us richly (Eph 5:18) when the Word of Christ dwells in us richly (Col 3:16).
No need for two Gospels when you've grasped this one!
