sometimes talk isn't cheap

The Word for today:

Romans 3:1-20

mark this:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  (from Romans 3:23-26)

Yesterday, we wrote that only the cross can make sense of seemingly irreconcilable ideas in the Bible.  We pointed to Romans 1:17 and 1:18, back-to-back verses which would logically nullify one another, were it not for the cross.

Then we pointed to Numbers 14:18, which twists our intellects into pretzels, were it not made coherent by the cross.

Today we see one more example of a scripture which renders our logic useless:

God is both just and justifier... (Romans 3:26)

"God is just" means that he enforces the distinction between right and wrong by rewarding the former and punishing the latter.

"God is justifier" means that despite my sin, he sees me just-as-if-I were Jesus!

So how can God be both just and justifier?  Because the cross dissolved the contradiction.

***

God can't forgive like we do.  When we say, "I forgive you," what we mean is that we will overlook a transgression.

But that's something God can't do!  If he were to overlook the distinction between right and wrong, then he would nullify his moral authority and effectively cease to be God.  

God can't just wink at sin, because the wages of sin must be paid  (Romans 6:23; Ezekiel 18:20). With this in mind, we can no longer get so familiar with some "familiar" verses.  Consider Jesus' remark to the Pharisees when they questioned his ability to forgive sin:

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he said to the paralytic-- "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home."  (Mark 2:8-11)

Jesus, we're generally taught, was illustrating the principle that talk is cheap--but that the proof of the pudding is in the visible miracle, when the paralytic rises and walks home.

But I don't teach it that way, because throughout scripture we see instances where diabolical forces can exhibit miraculous powers (1).  Meanwhile, only God can say "Your sins are forgiven"-- and only because he paid the price.

Sometimes, talk isn't cheap.

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(1) For examples, see Exodus 7:11; 7:22; 8:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10; Revelation 13:14; 16:14.