Justification's Implications for Sanctification

Quoting D. A. Carson from his Crossway sponsored lecture on evangelicalism at the 2009 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society:

Justification has huge implications for how you live. What is the opposite of justification? Non-justification? Pastorally, the opposite of justification is self-justification. Over against being justified by someone outside ourselves—being justified by God, through what he has done in Christ—we justify ourselves.

So the man, for example, who approaches Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”, whence Jesus gives him the first round of responses, he asks another question. Luke’s comment is, “He, wanting to justify himself, said….” And then a few chapters farther on, further people approach Jesus “wanting to justify themselves.” Or the parable of the Pharisee and the publican going up to the temple together, the Pharisee saying, “I thank you God that I am not as other men are, including this wretched publican over here.” What is that but self-justification?

So now you have come out of a rotten background where you never could gain enough of your parent’s approval. They were just so harsh and miserable all of the time. And you’ve become a Christian, and you know that you’re justified before God. What is it in you, then, that is constantly trying to show yourself good enough to be accepted by others, to be loved by church people, to be accepted by your siblings? Isn’t that a form of self-justification that is denying the justification that you have experienced in the onset of the gospel?

There is so much of Christian discipleship and growth that is bound up with the cross-work in justification. What sins do we commit where we are not tripping over self-justification? Self-justification in our publications, in our schools, in how our spouses think of us, in how we think about ourselves? Self-justification, even though at some level we know we’ve been justified by another?

If the gospel is rightly understood, if the gospel is rightly conceived, the glory of being justified by God himself through what he has provided in his Son by grace alone through faith alone begins to transform all of our relationships. In one sense, sanctification, understood in the Reformed sense (not always in the Pauline sense), is nothing other than the progressive application of justification.

The Queen of the Castle

The pup has doubled in size since we got brought him home from the shelter at the end of May. He stands a hand taller and half again as long the eight-year-old golden retriever. He’s much stronger and more athletic, too. But as the latest arrival and most foolish member of the pack, he still finds himself at the very bottom of the pecking order, right below the three cats.

The pup is not, however, completely content with his lowly status. He’s trying to move up, but so far, it’s not worked for him, and he’s had a few scratched noses and some hurt feelings to show for it.

Both dogs acknowledge youngest son as the supreme leader. He is, after all, the one who rides his bike on the bush trails everyday so they can race after him. What’s more, he lets them both sleep at the bottom of his bed. Where ever he goes in the house, he has two dogs trailing, and when he uses the bathroom, there are two dogs curled up on the floor outside the door.

When youngest son sits on the couch, he often sits in the middle with one dog on each side. Last night, as he sat between them, the young one put his puppy face on son’s lap and then squirmed until his shoulders were there, too. That seems innocent enough, doesn’t it?

Not to the official enforcer of the household pecking order. Nope, according to the golden retriever, that sort of behaviour is downright come-uppity. She got down from her side of the couch, walked over to the other, pulled herself up and sat down squarely on top of the bumptious one.

He let out a few low growls, which she ignored, so he gave it up. There they sat, double decker on one corner of the sofa for half an hour or so, she with a big smile and he without.

I could have photographed it but some things are better left undisturbed.

We're Happy

Youngest son is home for a while. I have someone to shovel snow for me (We got another dump of snow yesterday!) and Taffy has a more attentive companion.