“…that He [God] might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26b)
Let’s pretend that your brother has done something to hurt you very badly. What if when your parents found out what happened, they said, “Oh, we’ll just let that go – it’s all right. Just forget about it.”
No, you say! You have been hurt. You have been sinned against. Your parents would not be just unless they punished your brother for that sin. Right?
But let’s pretend you stepped in and said, “Punish me for what my brother did. I’ll take the punishment, and he won’t have to.” Then your parents would be just to forgive your brother, right? Someone else would be taking the punishment in his place.
This is very much like what God has done for us. We have hurt Him by our sin. Each one of us has gone against His perfect, holy law so many times, in so many ways, that we could never be punished enough to pay for it all. And yet He forgives us. How can He be just to forgive us?
The only way He can be just is to punish someone else in our place. And Jesus, His perfect, holy Son, took God’s punishment when He died on the cross. He was our substitute. He took the punishment that we deserved. If we turn to Jesus, trusting Him to free us from sin, God will forgive us for the sake of His Son.
God is just to forgive the sin of those who have believed on His perfect Son, Jesus Christ.
My Response:
» Have I accepted Jesus’ death on the cross as the payment for my sin?