ROMANS 3:26

“for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Boy, we are good at justifying ourselves, aren’t we? We can justify (claim it’s right) just about any behavior when we are caught. Well, I wouldn’t have done that if they hadn’t done that to me. God just made me this way. We’ve all heard these or said these. The fact of the matter is we are just sinful creatures looking for a way out of our mess. We’ll claim anything or blame anyone to remove our guilt.

But there is only One Who can do that. Paul tells us so in today’s verse. He says, “so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” The word “justifier” is really a Present Participle and is better translated as “the One who is justifying.” The NIV translates it as “he makes sinners right in his sight.” I really like that. The Amplified says, “the One who justifies.” Whatever translation you use, look back at the original text to check it out.

APPLICATION

“The believer is ‘made righteous/justified’ (dikaióō) by the Lord, cleared of all charges (punishment) related to their sins. Moreover, they are justified (dikaióō, ‘made right, righteous’) by God’s grace each time they receive (obey) faith.” (HELPS Word Studies) Our justification comes only through Jesus. He makes us right in His Father’s eyes. I love Romans 8:33 which says, “Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;”

In Luke 10:25-29 we have the story of a lawyer who questioned Jesus about how to inherit eternal life. Of course, Jesus asked him a question in return, to which the lawyer answered correctly. Look at how this story ends. Verses 28-29 read, “28 And He said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.’ 29 But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” That’s us right there. We want to justify ourselves. Stop trying to do that.

Take a moment right now and give thanks to the Lord for your justification (if you are a believer). Thank Him for making you right in His eyes. And when you’re through thanking Him, tell someone else about Jesus so He can make them right too. Let’s all “Make Heaven Crowded.”

Father, I praise You for being my justifier and for making me right in Your eyes.

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