Romans 3:23-24. 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
If your understanding of Christianity is primarily one of morals, you have missed it.
If your relationship to Christ is primarily one of imitation, you have missed it.
If you see God primarily as a parent saying “clean your room,” you have missed it.
Christianity is not primarily a moral system. Nor is it behavior modification. It is justification. Paul simply could not explain salvation to the Romans apart from explaining righteousness and justice (the same word in Greek). And neither should we.
Too often we think of justice simply as the punishment of sin or wrongdoing. But God’s justice is never merely punitive. It is always aimed at restoration. God’s justice always seeks to restore both the victim and the victimizer to a place of righteousness. God’s righteousness is his active movement to restore the world to the way it was meant to be. To fullness. To shalom. Righteousness is God making what is wrong right again.
Paul declares that we are justified by his grace. We are made right. We are rectified. We are returned to the state of righteousness. Not by law, but by grace. Law could never accomplish the righteousness of God, and bring fullness to our lives. Why? Because the law cannot change our hearts. Only grace can do that.
Paul is showing us that our salvation in Christ is more than just forgiveness. Forgiveness alone does not make everything right. Forgiveness is not justice. It does not restore. The forgiven murderer can kill again. The forgiven abuser may harm again. For there to be salvation, the heart of the victimizer must be changed, transformed, and restored. It must be justified.
And what about the victim? Are we to think that the victim can simply forgive with no hope of the abuse being made right? Can there ever be forgiveness without a promise of justice? Of course not. Therefore, God never separates forgiveness from justice. We do. Especially as Christians and as the Church. We call for people to “forgive and forget” with no justice in sight. But this is not the gospel. Yes, Jesus’ work on the cross calls for forgiveness, but never by forgetting that there is still the need for justice. We must never ask people to forgive without the hope of justice.
God brings justice to both the victim and to the victimizer in Christ. In his death and resurrection. By taking our place as the victimizer, Jesus has made it possible for justice to go beyond punishment to restoration. By God’s grace and our repentance, every victimizer (that’s all of us) can be forgiven. And by taking our place as the victim, Jesus experienced God’s restoring justice at the resurrection. Now Christ offers this restoration to every victim of evil. All shame removed. Everything stolen restored. Every unrepentant victimizer is eternally dealt with by God.
Only the cross of Christ could accomplish justice so full and complete. Every victimizer is offered a new heart by God’s mercy. And every victim is offered a new position by God’s grace. But remember, each of us is BOTH the victim and victimizer, the oppressed and the oppressor. Thus the necessity of the cross. Without it, we would all be destroyed.
To live is Christ means we are justified by God’s grace. No more guilt (victimizers) and no more shame (victims). Christ’s imputed righteousness has made us whole.
You: Can you see yourself as both victim and victimizer? Do you see your need for justice and righteousness?
You in Christ: How does your union with Christ offer you the hope of God’s justice today?
Christ in you: How does Christ’s justice in you empower you to seek justice wherever you are today?
To Live is Christ 