“Moreover whom He [God] did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
Romans 8:30 (KJV)
Have you ever been to a court proceeding before? If you haven’t, I am pretty sure you must have seen a film of the crime drama genre; those ones which are centered around court proceedings. If you have, you might be familiar with these phrases:
- Guilty as charged, and
- Discharged and acquitted.
Whereas the first phrase carries the idea that the accused has been proven to be guilty of the said charge(s) against him/her, the second phrase carries the idea that the accused is, most often than not, innocent.
The Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the church in Rome, as seen in our theme Scripture above, being quite acquainted with the four walls of the courtroom, paints a picture of a proceeding in the courtroom of heaven. The accused; the Believer. The accuser; Satan. The Judge; God Almighty.
… for the accuser of our brethren [Satan] is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Revelation 12:10b (KJV)
Satan, in his office as the accuser of the brethren, is dumbfounded as to how the Holy God could call sinful man into his family and, to top it all, this Holy God, who is also just, passed a not guilty verdict on the Believer. How could man be innocent?!
In truth, God is both holy and just, and would not declare a guilty man innocent, but, rather, will demand the full requirement of the law from the guilty.
“So make it make sense”, the devil must be asking.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
The word translated “new”, in the above, in the koine Greek from which the text was translated, carries the idea of something that has not existed before. In other words, the Believer standing accused by the devil is not the man who sinned. The man (old man) who sinned paid the price for his sin, having died with Christ. The man standing accused (the new man) has a clean slate having resurrected with Christ, spotless.
What a mystery!
If you have not answered God’s call for you to enter into his fold, there is no better time than now to do so. If you are tired of being guilty as charged and would love to stand not guilty before the just God; the One who glorifies those He justifies (declares not guilty), say this prayer with me:
Heavenly Father, Holy and Just, I come before you right now identifying with the finished work of your Son, Jesus Christ. I believe that He came to this world as a man; suffered and died for my sins, and resurrected on the third day. I accept Him, Jesus Christ, as my Lord and Saviour, this day. Thank You, Father, for accepting me into your fold, in Jesus’ name I’ve prayed. Amen!
It feels great to be discharged and acquitted, doesn’t it?
See also: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23 and Galatians 2:20