|
"And [Jesus] said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15) We are not "justified" when we do wrong while following Jesus - rather we are forgiven for doing wrong. If we justify ourselves when we sin, though we use the name of Jesus to do so, how is that different from nonbelievers who justify themselves by other means? How then do we justify ourselves before God? Please listen to the teachings of Jesus: "...I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. "And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. "Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. "But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." (Luke 6:27-38) Clearly the follower of Jesus is taught to justify others through his or her faith in Jesus, and in God's Mercy, and not taught to justify themselves. Here is Jesus again from the book of Matthew: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. "And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:38-48)
Jesus says justify
your enemies, justify them that persecute you, justify them
that desipitefully use you, and you will be justified before
God. When God sends His rain on both good and evil, this is a witness
what God does, He justifies the existence of all men. Why Justify Others?
If we don't justify the people who dislike us as well as the people who love us, we will judge those people, we'll fall into hate and fall away from God, we will cast people out from among us and exalt ourselves over them - which is the original sin Jesus teaches us to overcome. Self-exaltation is the foundation of all evil - because it causes us to ignore fellow human beings, fellow creations whom God Loves as much as He loves us. Justifying others in their sins are the Spiritual works that make our faith real. Works of the Spirit. Paul wrote much about works of the Law, people who attempted to keep the Law perfectly would fall into the trap of Spiritless judgment of others, as the Pharisees did: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." (Galatians 2:16) Please Stop Justifying Sins, Rather Justify Those Whom God Would Save!
We justify others by our faith in God, and also by the Spiritual works of the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus witnessed to us - caring for all. When we justify the existence of others as God does, we will also be able to love them, because we will always be reminded that God Loves them as much as He loves us. If we sin, we are forgiven by God's Mercy as it was witnessed to us by Jesus - but if we fail to justify our fellow beings on earth, we will be judged by God as we have judged them. Justifying our brother and sister creations before God is true justification by faith in God's Love. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:3-6) God wills that all men come to Him and be saved... have you judged anyone as unsavable by God Himself? Jesus died that partly that we might understand that God intends that all men be saved. He did not kill to defend Himself, God will certainly not kill what He has created. Let us stop casting people out from among ourselves, judging them as unworthy of God's Love while we claim we are saved through justification of self by faith. Jesus justified all men by His Blood - As followers of Jesus, let's not participate in making His sacrifice meaningless by separating yourself from the world He sent us into to save. I am justified by your faith in God, you are justified by mine if you are reading this. We are brothers and sisters, all of us justified before God by our faith in God. Are we thankful for His Mercy to us? Become a reflector to others of His Mercy to you!
|
esus
Christ did not teach us that we justify ourselves through our
faith in Him.