Signed, Sealed, Delivered – I’m His!

While we are responsible for our own response to God’s calling and conviction, He has done the rest for us. At the moment of belief and confession unto repentance, there is a culmination of multiple events that instantly occur within us including redemption, imputation, and justification, all miraculously altering the course of our earthly lives and the trajectory of our eternity.

Redemption noun:

re·​demp·​tion

gaining possession of something in exchange for payment; clearing a debt.

Christian implication ~ redemption = gaining possession of eternal life as a result of the payment made through Christ’s death, freeing us from the debt our sin had caused and its eternal penalty

There was absolutely nothing we could do to pay the wages due for our sin. We were helpless and hopeless, doomed to an eternity separated from God.

But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. Eph. 2:4

But God…

When we were hopeless, God stepped in and made the ultimate sacrifice because of His great love for us.

Imagine you are walking through the highest end store, convinced that your good looks and great personality are going to suffice as the currency required for the priceless items in your hand. Furthermore, suppose that you believe your charisma should allow you to walk straight through the front door without payment. You would obviously be stopped by security and likely have charges pressed against you for theft. Imagine then if those charges led to the death penalty. Knowing now that your persona is not enough, you crumble in panic realizing you face a penalty beyond your escape. What would it mean to you if in that moment someone walked into the store and placed the full payment into the cash register at their own expense?

Christ is our ultimate Redeemer. He died at no fault of His own, but out of His pure love and grace, chose to clear our debt so that we could gain full possession of salvation at His expense. Our spiritual cash register was empty as we held it in front of our ultimate Authority who had every right to press charges. But Jesus stepped in and filled it to the extent that it paid our debt in full and nullified our penalty. Our penalty wasn’t an earthly death, but an eternity separated from God in hell. Our redemption is priceless.

But wait, there’s more…

Impute verb:

im·​pute

to ascribe, attribute, or reckon something to someone; the action of attributing a person with knowledge, liability, duty, or other various forms of responsibility

Christian implication ~ impute = Adam’s sin was attributed to all mankind as sin nature, and all are liable for its penalty. Jesus’ righteousness is attributed to all who confess Him as Lord and we are reckoned innocent before the Lord.

Not only did Jesus pay our debt in full, He took our sins upon Himself in order to purchase our salvation. When we accept His gift of rescue, He ascribes His own righteousness to us, covering us with the purity required to enter the Father’s presence and spend eternity with Him.

Jesus, who had never sinned, became sin. The entirety of our sin was imputed (attributed) to Him so that He could take it upon Himself and pay its penalty. Conversely, when we surrender our lives to Him as our Lord, He imputes (attributes) His righteousness to us, crediting His righteousness to our account so that when God looks on us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus. He literally made a way for us to become the righteousness of God through Him.

Justification noun:

jus·ti​·​fi·ca·tion

the action of showing something to be right or reasonable

Christian implication ~ justification = to be declared not guilty before the throne of God

You went home after your close call with the death penalty due to your shoplifting escapade and today is your court date. The debt was paid and you were sent home, but the judge still has to render his verdict. You’re concerned because you now realize how foolish you’d been and wonder if the judge might render a harsh verdict in order to teach you a lesson. However, the moment you walk into the courtroom, you hear the gavel slam down on the judge’s bench and his booming voice declares, “Not guilty! You’re free to go!”

There is no waiting or nervous anticipation for the one who comes to Christ in repentant surrender. As mentioned before, at the moment of belief and confession unto repentance, the culmination of redemption, imputation, and justification supernaturally and instantaneously alter the believer’s earthly and eternal life. The ultimate Judge, God the Father, looks on His us as new child in Christ and sees the righteousness of His own Son, the spotless Lamb slain for sinners, and declares once and for all, “It is finished, not guilty, this one is Mine.” Hallelujah for the cross!

Continue Back to Basics – TBD glorification

Angie Ward

Find us on Facebook