PSALM 130 – Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

THEME OF THE DAY. THE PURPOSE BEHIND JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION Psalm 130 is a beautiful hymn so rich in the truth of God’s character, so revealing of the sinful condition of all people, so warm in its devotional effect upon the heart, and provides us the true purpose behind why God forgives sinners.

I am sure all Christians, at one time or another, pondered the question, “Why would the Lord forgive me?” And when we look at verse three in today’s scripture, it adds reason to that question – “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O LORD, who could stand?” The Psalmist is providing a keen insight on the universal application of humanity’s depravity before a holy God. Obviously, the answer is “nobody.” There is none righteous, no not one. No one is good. No one is deserving of God’s grace. No one earns favor with God. Yet, verse three gives way to the contrast in verse four – “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” And it is the latter part of that verse steering our nugget today.

Theologians recognize there are two works of God’s sovereign grace in the lives of His people; justification and sanctification. Basically, justification is a one time work of God declaring the believer righteous before Him based on the salvation wrought by His Son, the Lord Jesus and reliance on that work by faith. Justification is not an experience, not repeated, but a “court room verdict” given by the Judge of the Universe that the sinner is declared right before Him. The other work of God recognized by theologians is sanctification. This may be defined as “the working out of salvation or justification” in our lives (Philippians 2:12-13). It is an ongoing process, not a one-time occurrence like justification. We may further define sanctification as “becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus in His character and example.” And that is an important truth to ponder. The only evidence of being truly born-again, a true Christian, is not in our Christian activity, morality, or profession of faith in Christ. It is in our growth in Christlikeness by the development of the Fruit of His Spirit in our lives – love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). What this means is that justification and sanctification are separate works of God but are inseparably connected. A justified person (declared right by God) will always lead to being a sanctified person (conforming into the image of Christ). They cannot exist apart from one another and verse four implies this Biblical truth.

The Psalmist writes, “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” God chooses a people; forgives or justifies a people for the purpose of creating a forever family who fear Him. We are forgiven not to remain as we are. God forgives us (justifies us) so that we will grow in the fear of Him (sanctifying us). And this is noticeably absent in much of contemporary Christianity. There is an alarming trend toward an imbalance between God is love and His wrath, His attitude toward sin, and the Day of Judgment. If we only focus on God’s love and neglect, or even resist the realities of His wrath against sin, the Day of Judgment for all people, including Christians, we are effectively removing what is the chief theme of the Bible – the fear of God. Yes, God is love but His love includes His fear. Where the fear of God is absent so is the love of God. It is His love AND fear, planted in the heart of the believing sinner at justification which promotes the life of holiness or sanctification.

So, as we praise God for salvation and being justified people in His eyes, don’t forget to remember why we are such. It is so that we might fear Him and grow more and more like Him through this fear applied throughout each day of our lives by loving and uncompromised obedience to His Word.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for such love in saving me and granting a forgiveness that motivates me to love You back.”

QUOTE: “The purpose of forgiveness is to motivate us to holiness. It is never meant to produce spiritual complacency.”