The Blog

Let’s consider the Old Testament picture of justification.

Leviticus 13 deals with instructions concerning those who had contracted leprosy (a picture of sin). A small, white patch was called chronic leprosy. But when the leprosy had spread across the entire body, the man was declared “clean”. But if even a small spot of raw flesh came up again somewhere in his body, he was categorized as leprous again. If it again became totally white, then he was regarded as clean once again.

Let’s understand the parallels between this example with our present society. As long as we think there is something good in us, we will always be unclean in God’s sight. But the moment we acknowledge that we are totally corrupt, without even the slightest patch of goodness, then God will declare us clean.

If some action of ours has brought confusion or hurt to others, and we justify it by saying that our intentions were good, then we still have leprosy.

But if we confess that our flesh is totally corrupt, and we have no desire to seek God without him rescuing us, then God justifies us. We are clean.

This is what I want all of us to grasp. God justifies those who do not justify themselves. The Pharisees would always be able to find some “good” in themselves, which led them to be condemned by God. But the tax collector who saw nothing pure in himself surrendered his heart to God and pleaded for forgiveness.

We must be quick to acknowledge our total depravity, so God can justify us immediately.

Personal Reflection:
How can we fight back against the accusations of the devil?