Faithful & Just

1 John 1:^8-9 “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (emphasis added).

God wants us to look back at the cross and embrace the work that Jesus did on the cross of Calvary. We look at the cross, we are not seeking for Jesus to shed His blood again. We are looking at the cross from a place of victory. That is why Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:⁵ “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (NKJV, emphasis added). Peter recounts the same event says in 1 Peter 2:²⁴ “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” (NKJV, emphasis added).

What is happening here? Isaiah was in the Old Covenant; he was looking towards the cross. But Peter was in the New Covenant; he was looking back at the cross. Isaiah was looking into the future and claiming it, but Peter was looking back at the cross from a place of victory. Huge difference. Similarly, many concepts of the cross elude us because we do not fully understand them. So, I am praying that God will open our understanding in Jesus Name. We know that the primary purpose of the cross was to save us from sin but that is not the complete purpose.

1 John 1:⁹ “…he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (emphasis added). The two biggest attributes when it comes to this issue are, He is Faithful, and He is Just. I understand the faithfulness bit; God is faithful to forgive us. But why just? Even though I read it as faithful and just, what I have experienced has been He is faithful and merciful to forgive me, to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But that is not what the scriptures say. The Bible says He is faithful and just. So why just? Hebrew 7:25 says Jesus is our great High Priest who is consistently before The Father, pleading, interceding on our behalf. What is He pleading for? The fullness of Sõzõ – He is saying, this is why I died on the cross.

Jesus is not pleading for mercy, He is pleading for Justice. Jesus is not saying, ‘Father, You are faithful and merciful’, He is saying, ‘Father, You are faithful and just.’ Why is this important? It is because it is unjust to punish the same sin twice. The Living Bible translation of Hebrews 7:²⁵ reads, “He is able to save completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his blood.” Beautiful! The justification that we have is that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary.

Prayer (song): I am grateful, O Lord! I am grateful, O Lord! For all You have done for me, I am grateful, O Lord!  Amen!