A Justified People

It is not uncommon for Christians to think of their salvation in Christ in purely personal terms. This is not surprising because each of us must respond to Christ's atoning sacrifice on our behalf personally in repentance and faith. It is often a great cause of thanksgiving and encouragement to Christians to realise and frequently remember just how God lovingly drew them to Himself as individuals; through their individual circumstances. No two paths to faith are the same. This is His grace towards us.

But there is another side to this in the Bible that we cannot ignore. In fact, if we do, we miss the very purpose God has in redeeming anyone, namely that His intention, according to the Bible, is to redeem a people.

'But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness in to His wonderful light.' 1 Peter 2:9

What exactly did Jesus come to do? When the angel told Joseph that his betrothed Mary was going to have a son by the power of the Holy Spirit, he said ' ... and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.' (Matt.1:21). So Jesus has a people. At first thought we assume that this is a reference to the ancient People of God into which He was born. But we know from the further revelation in the New Testament, that, referring back to God's promise to Abraham, God's 'People' will extend to all the nations on earth. This serves to emphasise that no-one can be saved as an individual without being saved into the People of God. It comes together - when we are justified we also become a member of God's justified people.

Perhaps to make this observation more real to us in our daily lives we could re-phrase it by saying 'When we become a Christian, becoming a member of the Church is part of the package!' Becoming a member of 'God's people' may sound rather theoretical and esoteric, but becoming part of the 'church' - in both its local and worldwide manifestations - has enormous practical implications that will (and should) change and shape our lives, in terms of both privileges and responsibilities. We must take on board that when the apostles in their NT letters use the word 'you', which in English is ambiguously single or plural, they usually mean it to be understood in the plural. This says much about their understanding of our Christian lives being lived corporately.

We cannot think about almost any aspect of justification without reference to Abraham. In particular we may go back to God's gracious promise to him in Gen12:2,3

' I will make you a great nation and I will bless you;

I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse

and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'

So Abraham is to be the father of a great nation.

As we commented before, our thoughts go immediately to the Hebrews - Israel - God's chosen people, as the fulfilment of that promise. But Paul insists that Abraham may be seen as the father of a greater nation. Because Abraham was so supremely a man of faith, Paul declares in Rom. 4:11

Now Abraham was justified through faith; his faith was credited to him as righteousness. He is the great example from way back in biblical history which demonstrates the basis on which God has always accepted anyone. So since Abraham is the father of those who have faith (in Christ), he is the father of God's justified nation. In Gal.3:7-9 Paul puts it like this...

'Understand then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham "All nations will be blessed through you ". So those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, the man of faith.'

So faith is the hallmark of God's People; faith in Christ is their common identity. No matter what their race or culture, status in society, age, gender, or generation -they are God's justified people. They are a nation which is ' holy' - that is set apart for God and to serve Him in righteousness. This was exactly how God referred to the people of Israel. So combining all this together, especially bearing in mind Peter's important words that we have already seen, we can justifiably conclude that all those (Jew and Gentile) who have put their faith in Christ alone for salvation have become the New Israel. Paul clinches it in gal.6:16 by calling all those are a new creation in Christ 'the Israel of God.'.

There is another line of thinking that brings us to the same point. It begins like this. Jesus was the personification of all that God wished the people of Israel to be. So He is the true Israel. He obeyed the law of God absolutely perfectly ...... in every decree to the utmost degree.

So Jesus kept perfectly Israel's side of the covenant that God made with them at Mount Sinai. There is a striking demonstration of this. In Matt.4:1-11 and Luke 4:10-13 there is the account of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. Each time Satan attacks, Jesus beats him off by quoting form the Old Testament. But what is particularly instructive is that every quotation is taken from Deut. chapters 6 and 8 which tell of Israel's temptations in the wilderness. Unhappily Israel failed but Jesus was totally victorious. In every way He did what they could not do: He is the true Israel.

But what has that to do with us belonging to God's people? Simply that by faith we are incorporated (merged, formed into one entity, united) into Christ. This is Paul's favourite way of describing the relationship between Christ and the Christian - we are 'in Christ' - in-corporated into the body of His people.

At the beginning of John 15 we find Christ teaching us that He is the 'true vine' and we, as the branches must 'remain in him'. In using the expression 'I am the true vine' there is an unmistakable clue (or even claim) that Jesus is identifying himself as the true Israel. In Psalm 80:8,9 and 14,15 where it is speaking of God's chosen people, we find these telling words:

' You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it and it took root and filled the land ... Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.'

Again in Is.5:1-5 God refers to Israel as His vineyard. Interestingly in the period just before Jesus was born some of the coins in use in Palestine had a vine on them.

So Christians have a spiritual nationhood. There is a simple yet very real experience arising form this truth. When we travel to a different church, a different town or even a different country, we find an immediate oneness with other Christians we find there. This is very thrilling and a great encouragement. It is eons more significant than finding eg fellow golfers or keen gardeners or even aid workers. It is a sigh of our Christian nationhood and taste of heaven, where being the people of God will realise its fullness.

The People of God are a 'called-out' people. 'those He called, he also justified.' (Rom.8:30). The Old Testament uses the word 'quhal' which means 'gathering in response to God's call' and in the NT the call continues to go out ...

Mark 1:15 'The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news.'

Luke 5:27 ' "Follow me" Jesus said to him and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.'

John 5:24 ' I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life ..'

Jude 1 'to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.'

1 Peter 2:9 which was quoted at the beginning is steeped in OT language. Listen t Exodus 19:5,6

'Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant .... you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'

Therefore since Jesus obeyed fully and kept God's covenant perfectly on our behalf AND we are incorporated into him then we are a kingdom of priests. But what do priests do? According to 1 Pet.2:5 we are ' a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.'

This reminds us strongly of Rom.12:2 where Paul urges us to 'offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God - which is your spiritual act of worship.' We are to live for God with everything we've got! (Incidentally by 'body' Paul surely includes the 'mind' our body houses - he is not making any distinction here)

Again according to 1 Peter 2:9 we are to 'declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.' And in Hebrews 13:15 we find '

Back in Exodus so much of what God says to Israel about them being His People is related to ( and demonstrated by) the fact that He dwells with them (25:8). They are His 'treasured possession' (19:5). In Deut.7:21 we find 'for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God'. So it is with the New Israel, the justified people of God, Jew and Gentile, for He dwells amongst by His Spirit.

'my chosen people, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.'

If that was true of the people of Old Israel how much more must it be true of the people of the New Israel ..see Titus 2:13,14

'.. our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people who are his very own, eager to do what is good.'

So we humbly conclude that God has chosen a people out of His own love and grace to be His own. the people he has chosen have no cause for pride, there is nothing about them that could attract His attention ..

'To the Lord our God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord has set His affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendents, above all nations ..' Deut.10:14,15

O come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the Lord our maker;

for he is our God

and we are the people of his pasture,

the flock under his care.' Ps.95:6,7

'The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers ... Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.' Deut.7:7-9

'Shout to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord he is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.' (Ps.100)

And so it continues to be with the new people of God. We have no claim on God's love and forgiveness.

'you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.' 1 Pet.1:8,9

'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open the seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them to be

a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth.' (Rev.5:9,10)

Such is the joy and confidence of those who, by faith alone in Christ alone, belong to the justified people of God.

Israel's joy and security arose from its covenant relationship with God, in which He had committed Himself to them. The same applies with the New Covenant and the new People of God. A comprehensive treatment of the meaning of 'covenant' may be found on this website on the Bible Overviews page. When the OT refers to God's 'unfailing love' or 'steadfast love' it is using covenantal language, for God's love is founded on His sovereign commitment to those who trust in Him. (Sadly the NIV has not preserved the references to 'steadfast love', using just 'love' or 'unfailing love'. This is a pity.

In the Bible a covenant occurs when God initiates and commits Himself to a relationship based on His own promises. It is God's sovereign grace in action. Covenant is so important in the Bible that we can make the following fundamental statement:

On the OT, after the Fall of Adam and Eve, there are five recognised

covenants which progressively reveal God's plan of salvation. Each of them has particular features which point ahead to to their completion in Christ and the new age he will bring in. These are traced more full on the Bible Overviews page, but in brief, they are as follows, with their special feature:

As you can see all these special features come to full and final realisation in Jesus Christ.

'For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "yes" in Christ' " 2 Cor.1:20.

The OT covenant witness to the coming messiah is really exciting. It must have been this sort of thing that Jesus talked about to the distressed disciples on the road to Emmaus and later to the assembled disciples as He taught them before His ascension (Luke 24).

God's covenant with Moses was one of 'obligation'. God chose Israel first as His own People and then told them that the full blessings of the covenant would be experienced by them only if they kept His Law, which He them revealed. (NOTE: Israel was chosen by grace first then given the Law. They did not earn their privileged position by obeying the Law) It was made clear the them in Deut.28, that disregard for the law, however, would result in the blessings being withdrawn and replaced by judgement. This of course is exactly what happened. God would never give up on them, but His blessings would not and did not fall upon them. God's judgement fell when they were taken into exile in Babylon.

Now it is Christ who has fulfilled the requirements of the Law perfectly and completely: we haven't. God's new covenant is with Christ, not us. That is why this covenant is so absolutely secure. We and all God's redeemed people are incorporated into it through faith in Christ. We are 'in Christ'.

so God's people are going to be a 'law-abiding' people - not in order to win God's approval but because we already have His approval in (because of) Christ. Thus the new people of God are called to careful obedience to the precepts of the covenant as an expression of their faith in Christ. Their faith is a faith that produces obedience. In James 1:22-25 we find

'Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.'

'Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.'

(Please note that in Scripture 'the righteous' are not just the good-living, but those in whom that living arises from their faith-relationship with God.)

The fact that God, as an act of sovereign grace, has committed Himself to His people puts us in a unique relationship with him ...

He is not for us one day and against us another. If things do not go well for us, we must hang on to the fact that God is still FOR US, even if it looks somewhat different from our human point of view.

'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to His grace.' (Rom.8:28)

'What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His won Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is it that condemns? .... Who shall separate us for the love of Christ?' (Rom.8:31-35)

So it is for the justified covenant people of God: a people who on the Last Day will be vindicated before all the world as God's own people. The world may have scorned, reviled and persecuted them; thought them to be utter fools only to be despised. But they are God's won people ...

'After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried with a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the lamb." '

(Rev.7:9,10)

Although it is the New Testament which declares the resurrection of the believer in its fullest force, the Old Testament more than hints about it as the destiny of the people of God. Isaiah 26:19 says

' But your dead will live;

their bodies will rise.

You who dwell in the dust,

wake up and shout for joy.

Your dew is like the dew of the morning;

the earth will give birth to her dead.'

'There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until now. But at that time your people - everyone whose name is found written in the book - will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.'

Paul in 2 Cor.5:17 tells us that 'if anyone is on Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come,'. We would do well to understand this not only in its individual sense - for it is certainly true of you and me individually - but also in its corporate sense, in the context of the people of God. For what each of is by grace, the assembled people of God must be too. When God finally makes all things new, they will indeed be newest new. We find Isaiah declaring (interpreting 'Jerusalem' as the supreme city of God, rather than in its purely geographical sense.)

'Behold, I will create a new heaven and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I shall create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

and its people a joy.

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and crying

will be heard in it no more.'

(Isaiah 65:17-25)

Thus all who are 'in Christ' through faith are the glorious people of God who are

'Praise the Lord, O my soul

I will praise the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God

as long as I live.'