Justification - Topic Continued

For those of you who were unable to make the High School Bible Study last night, we continued our discussion of "What Does It Mean to be Saved?" After having looked at man's sinful nature and God's wrath, we then looked at God's calling us out of death, regenerating our hearts, converting us (and allowing for us to respond in faith and repentance). Last night we looked, in particular, at the doctrine of Justification.

Justification is God's work in saving us by pardoning our sin (pouring out his wrath on Christ at his death) and granting us righteousness (crediting Christ's life to us). So, in God's eyes, we are made righteous once and for all. This applies to us in many different ways. We are made right with God, we are made right with man, and we are made right with ourselves. Of these three, it is most difficult to understand how the being justified in the eyes of God applies to our relationships with others.

In an article written by an RUF Campus Minister, Jason Harris, he has an excerpt that discusses how being justified by Christ's work affects our relationships with others.

"Secondly, justification transforms the way we relate to others. One of the sharpest contemporary critiques of religion is that religious faith leads to the exclusion of those who do not share the same views. That is why one author, for example, rejects religion in all its forms as “an enormous multiplier of tribal suspicion and hatred.” Jesus, however, was not naïve. He recognized the problem of human oppression, particularly as a result of religious faith. After all, he directed the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee to self-righteous people who treated others with contempt. But Jesus told the parable in order to show that justification by grace alone through faith alone not only heals our relationship with God, but also provides us with the ability to embrace others in genuine humility and love.

The problem with self-justification is that it makes us radically insecure because we are never sure if we have ever done enough. As a result, we are driven to compare ourselves to other people and to marginalize and exclude others in order to prop up our unstable sense of significance and security. But if we believe that God loves, accepts, and welcomes us on the basis of what Jesus has done for us rather than what we have done for ourselves, then it is impossible to turn our faith into a factor that leads us to oppress others. If we believe that God relates to us on the basis of grace rather than merit then we know that we are no better than anyone else. And the more we understand our need for God’s compassion, the more we will be able to extend compassion to others."

What do you think this excerpt is trying to say? How does God's work of justifying Christians free them to love better?

Reflective Question (meaning don't answer it here): What people should you do a better job of loving?