"Better To Be Justified"

"The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth." (Psalms 107:42)

 As I examine the Scriptures from the view at the foot of the cross, it becomes perfectly clear to me that this whole plan of God's was never going to fail, ever! To cut to the chase, we have only two choices that matter towards our eternity: are we going to accept God's gift of redemption or are we going to reject it? That is it! There is really nothing else that matters after that, as far as making choices, except to stay committed to the right choice that you have made; regardless of the doubt, regardless of the guilt or shame, and regardless of any discouragement that might come your way. I heard about the new movie about Paul, that it did not portray him as a man with confidence in what he preached, and that it shows him as a man of sorrow, not as man that rejoices in the Lord. It is easy to gain that sort of perspective from some believers; but I seriously doubt Paul was such a man. He was serious about what he preached because his life had been transformed; more than that, he had been made justified by the blood of Christ. This is what this verse speaks into my heart, that there is always a reason to rejoice, no matter what situation or circumstance might overtake you, you always have a special never changing reason to rejoice! We have been made righteous by non-other than God. The Creator of the universes has made you righteous and there is nothing that anyone else can ever do to undo what He has done; I hardly doubt that even ourselves have the power to undo a new spiritual birth, even though there are ways we think that it is possible. I believe that iniquity is in the female gender because it gives birth to so many other negative qualities, like guilt and shame, and serious discouragement. This is where justification comes into play! When God sets us free, we are free! When God accounts us righteous, we are made righteous! And when God makes us justified, we are just as if we had never sinned; even iniquity is washed away and must stop talking...

""Before the birth pains even begin, Jerusalem gives birth to a son. Who has ever seen anything as strange as this? Who ever heard of such a thing? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the time Jerusalem's birth pains begin, her children will be born. Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth and then not deliver it?" asks the LORD. "No! I would never keep this nation from being born," says your God. "Rejoice with Jerusalem! Be glad with her, all you who love her and all you who mourn for her. Drink deeply of her glory even as an infant drinks at its mother's comforting breasts."" (Isaiah 66:7-11) NLT