Justification in Pregnant Time

Romans 5:1-8  "In the nick of time . . ."

Justification is the subject of this passage and also was the subject of Annual Conference. Not Annual Conference in May, 2001 but the very first Methodist Annual Conference, which took place June 25, 1744. In attendance at that Conference were six Anglican priests including John and Charles Wesley. The priests’ first decision at the first Annual Conference was whether or not they could JUSTIFY the admittance of four laymen into the room. These four laymen were JUSTIFIED by the priests and thus allowed through the door into the Conference.

The second decision was that justification might be "fully debated and bolted to the bran." After all, justification is the foundational and fundamental teaching of our faith. To put their definition into a nutshell (not an easy task), the Conference defined justification in these terms:

(1) Justification meant that one was pardoned and received into Elohim’s favor.

(2) If one continued in justification, then that one would be saved in the end.

(3) One can’t be justified without faith, repentance, good works and the keeping of the set-apart ordinances.

In regards to the faith necessary for justification, it is "a supernatural inward sense or sight of Elohim in Messiah reconciling the world unto himself." So justifying faith works this way:

(1) A sinner is convicted by the Set-apart Ghost that "Messiah loved me and gave himself for me."
(2) The Set-apart Ghost bears witness that "Thou art pardoned, thou hast redemption in his blood."

(3) The justified person knows when this happens, for "faith after repentance is ease after pain, rest after toil, light after darkness...."

In regards to the immediate fruits of being justified: "peace, joy, love, power over all outward sin and power to keep down all inward sin." In addition, the result of justification is that a person will no longer willfully sin. If one does willfully sin, he or she forfeits pardon and again becomes a sinner until repentance and the evidences of justification are again experienced!

Over the years, and under the influence of other prominent religious groups, we have come to call "salvation" that which is really "justification." But like the primitive Methodists, the Bible teaches that when we are "justified" or pardoned, we will feel the evidences of it, and if we continue to live in a state of justification by not willfully sinning, performing good works and fulfilling sacred ordinances, we will eventually be saved from the wrath of Elohim in the last day. We can freely, then, say that we are justified because we have the evidences of our pardon. But we can only say we are saved by faith, having no other evidence of salvation except hope, until the wrath of Elohim finally comes upon the earth and our salvation is made evident.

Sounds like "works righteousness," doesn’t it? That is, being saved by faith, grace and works.

Once Saved, Always Saved?

In regards to the claim that "once saved, always saved," first, confessors of this slogan should properly be saying, "once justified, always justified" and, second, that teaching is not in accordance with either the Bible or our founding fathers. You can indeed lose your justification before Elohim; and the evidence of that fact is plain, for we’ve seen and known many who have

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But before we draw the conclusion that we have indeed willfully sinned enough in our long lives to have surely lost our justification, let us consider the powerful forces working holiness on our behalf, including

(1) Access to the grace, or unmerited favor, of the Father, who loved us enough while we were yet unElohimly to send his Son to bear the punishment for our impiety. The Father wishes that not one perish, and will use all the power at his disposal to keep the justified in a state of holiness and piety.

(2) The hope of sharing the glorious dimensions of light in the future, in which we will be transformed from these unsightly vessels into new and powerful beings not unlike the risen Messiah. It follows that if we are to be powerfully glorified, then we are also to be put to some very important task upon which whole segments of the unsaved will depend on us.

(3) The perpetual intercession of our ever-living, heavenly Friend, who takes his place at the right hand of the Power on behalf of we whom he calls his "elect saints."

(4) And the agape love that our Father has poured out upon us through his Set-apart Spirit; a powerful hope and faith than we may appropriate from within ourselves at any time, and especially when the tempter or our own imperfection causes us suffering that would otherwise lead to sin.

These powerful forces continually aid us in retaining our justification until we are finally perfected.

Nowadays, when a believer suffers, he wonders whether it is because he has displeased Elohim. We often hear sayings like, "Elohim needed my child in heaven," or "Yahweh took my husband," or "Elohim is punishing me," when some undesired natural consequence of living in the material world occurs. Or when we don’t have enough money, we say, "Elohim’s not blessing me because I’m not paying enough tithes," or "Elohim’s not prospering me like the TV preacher said he would." Or when we’re sick, we say "Why me, Lord?" when we know full well the sickness is probably the result of heredity, accident or sin. Blaming Yahweh for one’s problems is not the practice of the justified believer who has evidence and hope of his eventual salvation. The justified venerate the lives of the saints and know that suffering is bound to come as long as we live in a sinful world. The justified also know that the Suffering Servant is present within our sufferings; thus suffering, though unpleasant and many times lethal, is of great value in the plan of sanctification.

The writer of the Epistle to the Romans endured unmentionable suffering and could say with authenticity that

The conclusion drawn is that, as we draw onward toward perfection, suffering does not disappoint the justified, since suffering results in greater ‘intestinal fortitude’ and greater hope in the Savior for its relief. In this golden age, in which everyone can have everything, the validity of suffering as part and parcel of one’s justification seems not only out-of-date but psychotic. Yet many who have been through great suffering have not only personally benefited, but have also been a testimony to those who are weaker in faith.

(Refer to testimonies at cell group.)

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Well, in 33, there were no believers in Rome at all. There were no Jews in Rome either, for the Emperor Claudius had expelled them all. The Romans of 33 AD were pagan worshipers of the demonic pantheon of Roman Elohims. They had never heard of Yahshua the King of the Jews.

In 33 AD, Paul was an important young Pharisee. He was an inquisitor, and enforcer, a tough guy. He was a persecutor of any Jews who varied from the tenets of his denomination. One scholar believes that Paul was on the Jerusalem Temple police force, and was involved in the death of Yahshua.

So the Romans were the masters of the world. Paul was not only the strong arm of the Jews, but he was also a Roman citizen, giving him double the power. Yet Paul writes that 20 years ago, though we considered ourselves strong in the might of Rome, ‘we,’ were weak - sin sick - destined for destruction. It was then that Messiah died for them, when they had no knowledge of his strength at all.

So now let’s consider the phrase, "the right time." There are two words in Bible language that refer to time. The first is chronos, from which we get the words chronology or chronometer. Chronos means a particular time, like 3 PM June 4, 1942. The other word for time is kairos, from which we get words we don’t use much like kairotic. Kairos means the time and circumstances which lead up to an event. I call kairos "pregnant time" because circumstances build and build and build and then an event in time just busts out! Kairos is the word used here. "At the right time" is an understatement. I like to translate this passage, "In the very nick of time, Messiah died for the unElohimly." So in a real sense, time here does not only mean in 33 AD when the Romans were heathens and Paul was a Pharisee, but the right time is any time that circumstances and events build in the life of the unElohimly individual. There comes a point in the spiritual sense when Messiah dies again for the sinner destined for justification.

In 33 AD, suffering was horrible in Palestine under Roman occupation. Thousands were crucified, corpses hung all over the place all the time, taxes were so high the poor could not eat, all people were slaves; and they cried out for a hundred years under this occupation, and prayers and circumstances built and built -- time became more and more pregnant, until in a gigantic heave of creation, pregnant time gave birth to the Messiah, who lived and, in short order, died, for all of creation. Since kairos time is not subject to chronos time, part of the upheaval that brought the Messiah was the sins and longing for deliverance of people in our day and age as well, in which suffering has exponentially worsened on a global scale. This is what Paul is talking about when he says in Rom 8: