The Gospel Still Works

Father, I confess before you that Romans 3, 21 to 31

is a deep and profound verse that speaks of mysteries

that I cannot get my mind completely around.

And I, Father, we confess before you that no human being can fully grasp

the mystery of what your Son accomplished for us on the cross.

So, Father, we thank you that it is not up to our minds

to completely and utterly grasp what you have taught us through your word.

You call us, Father, to use the best that is within us,

but our best, Father, always depends upon your Holy Spirit,

not only helping us to do the best, but to go beyond what our minds can do.

And so, Father, we ask that you would bless us this morning

by pouring out your Holy Spirit upon us

so that we might hear your word about your Son

addressed to your people in your city, in your world,

and that we might hear it all to your glory.

Father, do that wonderful work within us

and pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, when this church, the pastor moved away to Toronto

and they were going to seek a new minister

to replace the minister who'd left, Kent Doe,

the bishop asked me if I would apply to this parish.

And so, as part of the application process,

I had to send in a resume.

And as part of the resume, you know,

I had to put down my experience and all that type of thing.

And I can't remember, but there were a couple of questions

that I had to answer that talked a little bit about

my view of ministry and other things

and sort of my aspirations and my plans and my hopes.

And I submitted it.

And after I submitted it, the parish decided

they didn't even want to interview me.

I'm not making that up.

They didn't even want to interview me.

And so that was that.

They thought my resume, my experience,

my aspirations didn't measure up to what they wanted.

They wanted something different.

And I'll tell you, maybe over coffee for some of you,

but you might wonder how on earth it is

that I ended up becoming the rector of the church

if they didn't even want to interview me for the position.

And there's lots of scars all over the place

as part of that process.

But at the end of the day,

after about a year or so of them continuing to search,

the bishop, with the permission of the wardens,

now I'm talking, for those of you who aren't Anglican,

and that's a little bit of Anglicanese.

But basically, wardens are the people,

two of the three people in the older Anglican structure

that are the legal trustees of the church.

And the bishop with the two legal trustees,

I was imposed on the congregation

against the congregation's will.

And that's how I became the rector of this parish.

And I mention that

because it's actually a really helpful way

for us to understand how the world views Christianity

and how most people understand religion and spirituality.

Because, in fact,

how most of us understand,

the natural way for us to understand religion and spirituality

is something like us preparing a resume

for whatever the higher power or whatever God is.

We prepare some type of,

you know, we're living our lives preparing a resume.

And just as in resumes that we submit for jobs that we want,

we leave out all of the naughty stuff that we've done.

We put down,

I mean, most people do,

they leave out the naughty stuff,

and they put down the things

that they think they're particularly good

and that meet the expectations.

And usually there's a section for your aspirations.

I mean, you haven't actually accomplished this yet,

but you hope you accomplish it.

And, you know,

religions and spiritualities differ

on what should be on the resume.

And so part of the criticism of the world

about the Christian resume

is that the Christian resume is boring.

Who on earth would want to have the Christian resume?

Like, what's all of these hang-ups about sex?

And why is it that, you know,

the Christians are hung up about abortion

and other types of things like that?

And so,

and then, of course,

Muslims,

they have their own list of resume

that has to be accomplished,

connected to the Quran,

and other traditional religions

have their own particular things

that need to be on the resume

for them to get the approval of their God.

And those of us

who are putting together

their own spiritualities

or what would be common in the world,

they would just say

that the content of the resume

has to be completely different

from everything

that other traditional religions say,

that maybe it should be

that you don't go to Tim Hortons,

but that you go to Bridgehead

and you vote green.

I mean, I don't know what it is,

but you'll have your own particular

different resume.

But basically,

every human normal,

the natural tendency

of the human mind,

whether you're a pagan,

a Muslim,

those brought up in Christendom,

Jews,

postmodern people

wandering around Ottawa,

they basically conceive of,

we basically conceive of religion

and or spirituality

as being composed of

forming a resume

for that time when we need it.

And that's one of the reasons

why that there are many people

in the world

who've completely and utterly

given up on religion.

They completely turn their back on it.

They say,

the whole idea

that I have to provide

some type of a resume

to make it into,

in God's favor

is just completely abhorrent to them.

They say,

George, that's,

you know,

they might not say it to me directly,

but internally they'll say,

like,

why in earth should anybody even bother?

I'm just going to fail

at any type of resume,

you know,

performance.

And so,

you know what?

Sleep in on a Sunday,

get up when you feel like getting up,

there's football games

on a Sunday afternoon,

get out the chips,

get out the beer,

get out the hard stuff,

get together with a few friends,

and there's really not much more to life

than having fun

and having friends.

And I,

and I sense,

you know,

a plague

on people who are spiritual,

a plague on people

who are religious,

really the meaning of life

is to completely ignore

any attempt to make a resume,

but just to have fun

and,

if possible,

to have friends

at the same time.

And,

and,

and the Christian,

and so often

when Christians

try to share the gospel

in a context

where we basically

are looking at resume

performance

and many of our friends

and coworkers

have given up

on the entire resume procedure

completely and utterly,

the Christian view

actually seems to be

a bad option

because not only

do we have to have

the resume

that involves things

like sex

and money

and time

and going to boring

church services

and all of that type of stuff,

but at the end of the day,

God just lets you in.

And it's sort of

a little bit like,

George,

the church didn't want

to even interview you

after they saw

your resume,

but the bishop

just imposed you

on the congregation.

That's what it sounds like,

all this stuff about Jesus

and everything like that,

is that God just picks

a few people in the world

and he says,

okay,

these guys,

I'm going to impose

these guys,

I'm going to just

pull them into heaven,

doesn't matter what

the resume says,

I just want them

and all these other

poor suckers

who are trying

to build their resumes

and it doesn't seem

to make sense to people

when we understand,

if we come to the Bible

and if we come to life

from the perception

of trying to build

our resume,

the Bible

sort of makes sense

sometimes when it

talks about goodness,

but then when it

talks about the cross,

and what Nora

just read today,

it just seems

as if it's just

God being unfair

and picking some people

and that's why

many people choose

to not be religious

or spiritual at all

because they said,

I went all the way

through life

that when they picked teams,

I was never picked first,

I don't even want to get

into this game with God.

So,

is that what the Bible

teaches?

There's many people

who understand Christianity

in terms of resume

performance

and writing.

Is that what the Bible

actually teaches?

Is that what real

Christianity is?

The text today

that Nora read

is a very,

very powerful

alternative

to all understandings

of spirituality

and religion

as involving

creating a resume.

And so,

it would be very helpful

if you could

have your Bibles,

and I have to confess

it in the sermon,

I'm not going to use

the King James Version,

I want it to try to be

as clear as possible,

and in fact,

in a moment,

we're going to have

a text up on a screen,

but the Bible text

speaks directly

into this natural

human tendency

to understand

that God wants us

to create a resume

so that we will be

accepted for the position

of being one of

his favorites

in heaven.

And it's Romans

Romans 3:21

chapter 3,

verses 21 and following,

and here's how

the text goes.

Now,

that is really,

really,

really complicated language,

and it's not the way

we usually speak,

but we'll just go back

and I'll just explain

a few things,

just very simple.

When it says

that the righteousness

of God

has been manifested

apart from the law,

what the righteousness

of God

is saying here

is that just

that God is right,

and it's saying

something deeper

about God

than that God is good.

It's saying

that God is right,

and it's just,

there's a rightness

about God,

and there's a rightness

about God

connected to morals,

but there's a rightness

to God

connected to beauty,

and there's a rightness

to God

connected to justice,

and there's a rightness

to God

connected to mercy,

and there's a rightness

and a fittedness

to God

when it comes to truth,

that there's just,

that God,

that God is right,

and it far goes beyond

just a moral code.

There's just

a rightness of God,

the God

who really does exist,

a rightness to him,

and the God

who has always been,

there's a rightness

about God,

and it's been like that

from all eternity,

but he manifested,

he made clear

his rightness

in a very,

very public way

when he sent his son

to earth

to die upon the cross,

and it's in his son

dying upon the cross

that we really see

revealed to the world

what God has always been,

that there's something

right about God,

but now the rightness

of God

has been manifested,

and when it says

apart from the law,

although the law

and prophets

bear witness to it,

the righteousness

of God

through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all who believe,

here it's saying

that there's two

different ways

that people

can read the Bible,

and one way

to read the Bible

is to read the Bible

from the perspective

that I have to

write a resume

for God

to approve of me,

and that's one way

to read the Bible.

I come to the Bible

with my natural

human perspective,

and I'm looking

all the way through

in the Bible

for the things

I need to have

in my resume.

Okay, I've got to be baptized.

Okay, I haven't got

that done yet.

Okay, I'm going to have

to speak to the pastor

after church

so we can get that

crossed off the list,

and I have to honor

my parents.

Gosh, that's going to be

really hard for me.

I'm going to really have

to talk to the pastor

about what I have to do

about that so I can

cross that off my list.

So there's one way

of reading the Bible

which is all about

resume writing,

and he's saying

that what he's going

to do to manifest

the rightness of God

is going to be

completely and utterly

separate from the

resume writing project.

It's going to have

nothing to do with it,

but that if you read

the Bible the way

that God had always

intended,

you'd understand

that what he's going

to do to manifest

that he's right

is what he,

that all the way

along the Bible

was being written

in such a way

for us to understand

that there's something

about us human beings,

and God's going to

try to make clear to us

the mystery of what

it means to be a human being,

to put us on the path

of understanding

the mystery of what

it means to be a human being,

and that when we start

to understand that,

we'd realize that only God

can make us right

with himself.

And that's why it says here,

it goes on to say

in verse 23,

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

Actually, at this point,

Andrew, could you put

the text up?

Some of you are used

to the fact that I do

this sometimes.

In some ways,

I only have a one-point

sermon today,

and my one-point sermon

is verses 23 to 25a,

and all I'm going to do

is try to really help you

to understand

verses 23 to 25a,

and so I'm going to have

a few other little things

for you to remember,

but could you say

this text of Scripture

with me right now?

For all have sinned

and lack the glory of God

and are justified

by his grace as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward

as a propitiation

by his blood

to be received by faith.

That's my one point.

I was trying,

I spent a long time

trying to write that

in my own words,

and I realized,

you know what,

I just want to try to,

if all you get out

of today's sermon

is a bit of an understanding

of that

and a bit of a memory

of that,

then I have done

what God requires of me,

because it's always

far better for you

to remember what God says

than what George says.

In fact,

the great danger

always in preaching

is that people

leave churches

wondering,

spectacular preacher,

they tell you all about

the stories

that the preacher said,

and then if you ask them

what was the Bible text on,

they go,

I don't know,

that's a good question.

I don't know,

what was the Bible text?

Was there a Bible text?

And every time

you come to a church

and you go away

remembering the stories

but don't have any idea

about the Bible text,

I or any other minister

have failed.

So one of the things

you can do

is just pray for me

that you'll remember

the Bible

after coming to church

and you'll have met

with Jesus

and you won't

remember George.

Please pray for that

for our church

into the future.

Please pray for me

for that.

So anyway,

so here's this thing

and it looks very odd.

It has odd language.

So here's the first way,

first thing we're going to say

to help you to understand

what he says here

when it says,

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

Andrew,

if you could put up

the first point,

Paul begins

with a very odd thing.

He begins by saying

in a sense,

I am human

and I lack

the glory of God.

In fact,

he says,

we're all human beings

and we all lack

the glory of God.

Lacking the glory of God

is a literal way

of translating

fall short

of the glory of God.

It's how you translate

the Greek literally.

And it's a very,

very odd thing actually

that Paul's going

to get to the heart

of the proper way

to read the Bible

and how the rightness

of God is manifested

that he begins

by reminding us

that we're human.

and it's hidden

in the imagery there

which is not always

easily achieved by us

when we see it

but that's exactly

the very first step

that he takes.

I am human

and I lack

the glory of God.

Imagine if every morning

when we woke up

we said that.

Imagine that

in every conflict

we have

with our spouse

or our parent

or our friends

or our boss

we were to pause

and say

I am human

and I lack

the glory of God.

I am human

and I lack

the glory of God.

You know

if you ask

most people in Canada

what heaven is like

or what happens

after you die

they will tell you

we will maybe

tell each other

that we go

to a better place.

And if we don't say

that we go

to a better place

we'll say

that we will remember

that person

always in our hearts.

And heaven

is a mental place

an emotional place

a spiritual place

but it has nothing

to do with our bodies

and it has nothing

to do with

how we live our lives

because most Canadians

would say

that as long as

there's one or two

or three people

who like you

then you go

to a better place

and we remember you

in our hearts.

But Paul

doesn't talk about us

being just minds

or just emotions

or just spiritual.

He goes

and he reminds us

that we are human

and we lack

the glory of God.

He touches

on the grand

narrative of the Bible

because ultimately

the Bible

has one ultimate author

and because

there is one

ultimate author

it tells a story

and it's a story

in six parts.

It tells us

the story

in the words

of Genesis 1

in the beginning

God created the heavens

and the earth

or in the words

of John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

in the beginning

was the word

and the word

was with God

and the word

was God.

He was with God

in the beginning.

All things

were made by him

and without him

nothing was made

that was made.

And the beginning

of the story

is that God

makes all things

and he makes

all things good

and the second act

of the story

is that human beings

decided that they

did not want

to just be creatures

living in God's

created order

but that our

spiritual ancestors

Adam and Eve

representing us

because we're entailed

in them

and every human being

has replicated

that decision

that we decided

that we would be

as gods

that we would not

wake up and say

I am human

but we would wake up

and say I am God

I am like God

and in fact

that's still

the human problem

isn't it

that most of us

in our anger

in our impatience

in our irritation

in our dreams

in our boasting

our boasting

is that we are a god

that it's hard

for us to say

to ourselves

I am human

and the bible

in this overarching story

describes that human beings

are not only made good

but that human beings

are made

in the image of God

they bear the image

of God

and because they are made

in the image of God

who is right

and who is glorious

that every human being

was made

glorious

and not only

was there in a sense

something glorious

about every human being

because they are made

in the image of God

ultimately the true glory

of human beings

came in that

every human being

was a reflection

of the glory of God

think more

of a perfect mirror

perfectly pointed

to the light

rather than being

a flashlight

and that when human beings

turned

so this is one of those moments

where it's good

to have spotlights

and when every human being

turned

from the glory of God

made in the image

of God

to reflect the glory

of God

and when human beings

turned from that

and decided

that they would rather

be like gods

and therefore

look down

on the created order

the mirror

turned its back

on the light

and there is now darkness

we lack

the glory

of God

I am human

lack the glory

of God

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory

of God

for all have sinned

and lack

the glory

of God

and this Bible text

then

this is

I don't think

that there is

any sociology

political ideology

religion

or spirituality

which is as true

to human experience

as this

even though we don't like it

but I don't think

there is anything

as wise

and insightful

as this

that explains

on one hand

why

you see this text

is not saying

that we are as bad

as we can possibly be

but it is telling us

that the damaged image

within us

touches everything

that we are

which is why

on one hand

we still do some good things

but every good thing

we do

there is always this

touch of sin

in it

and we human beings

we know that

we know that

even when good times

are going on

in our life

we know that

there is a cloud

that will come

that they will come

to an end

that evil

that having turned

our back on God

to be as gods

ourselves

that that touches

everything

in some small way

or sometimes

in a huge way

Stalin

and the killing

of tens of millions

of Ukrainians

and China

and Mao Zedong

killing maybe up to

50 million Chinese

and the Armenian genocide

and the Rwandan genocide

and Cambodia

and one third

of the population

killed

and sometimes

the evil isn't

just a tiny little bit

but it's

it's

it's

it's

godlike

with a small g

demon like

in its immensity

but the Bible

here isn't saying

that human beings

are as bad

as they can

possibly be

but that

it

the lack

of the glory

of God

touches

everything

that we are

and on one hand

it means that

there is

in every human

breast

some longing

and yearning

for heaven

some longing

or yearning

for that time

when we

bore the image

of God

unbroken

and were pointed

towards the glory

of God

and therefore

reflected the glory

of God

yet at the same time

we lack

the glory

of God

and here is

the huge

problem

we cannot

leave ourselves

to fix

ourselves

have an out of body

experience

it's still you

and your out of body

experience

think that politics

can solve it

listen

I lack the glory

of God

it doesn't mean

we lack the glory

of God

any better

if we have a million

people making

the decision

if a million

people lacking

the glory

of God

make the decision

it's still going

to be a decision

lacking the glory

of God

and we cannot

leave ourselves

to fix ourselves

and Paul is here

talking now

about human beings

embodied

and with minds

and hearts

and wills

and depths

and because human

beings aren't just

isolated

autonomous individuals

but we come in

families

and in societies

and cultures

it's talking about

us being social

and because we

human beings

don't just float

around in the clouds

with no environment

it means how we

relate to the environment

and how we relate

to the planet

and it means how we

relate to those

who are before us

and it means how we

relate to those

who are going to

come after us

and I am human

I lack the glory

of God

and so do you

and I think

there are a few

things more

empirically true

or more wise

than for all

have sinned

and fall short

of the glory

of God

no matter

how unpopular

it is

when you think

about it

and look at it

it is only

an entrance

into wisdom

could you

Andrew

put the scripture

text up again

want to say

this text

with me

again

my one point

for all

have sinned

and lack

the glory

of God

and are justified

by his grace

as a gift

through the

redemption

that is in

Christ Jesus

whom God

put forward

as a propitiation

by his blood

to be received

by faith

so

the proper way

of reading the Bible

that shows

the rightness

of God

first wants us

to be able to say

I am human

and I lack

the glory of God

and then it wants us

to say

Andrew if you could

put up

the second point

only God's

just grace

can save me

all of me

only God's

just grace

can save me

all of me

just for a moment

I you know

you don't

if those of you

have your Bibles

if just beyond

that quote

listen to how

it continues

this was to show

God's rightness

because in his

divine forbearance

he had passed

over former sins

it was to show

his rightness

at the present

time

so that he

might be

just

and the

justifier

of the one

who has faith

in Jesus

you see

we tend to

understand grace

as cutting

giving us slack

but giving

one person

slack

is unjust

to other people

you know

one moment

God

you're saying

that

George

could be the

rector of this

parish

even though

they reject

his resume

are you saying

God

that you're

just going

to reject

some people's

resumes

but not

everybody's

resume

like what

is it

are these

the people

who are

like the

teacher's

pet

and they've

sucked up

to you

somehow

like how

do we

react to

teacher's

pets

some of

us say

dang it

how come

they became

the teacher's

pet

and I

didn't

how come

they're

better at

you know

snuggling up

to the teacher

you know

in a metaphorical

way

than I am

and the rest

of us

loathe

teacher's

pets

and so

grace

can't just

be God

cutting some

people's

slack

because we

all know

that's not

fair

I remember

there's been

different times

I've asked

my kids

you know

after I

go to

these

I've gone

to lots

of graduation

ceremonies

and you

know

here's where

I get to

sound like

an old

man

when I

was in

school

I think

when you

graduated

you just

graduated

but now

the ceremony

there's a

they give

like they give

about 273

awards

and you

know

but anyway

when it comes

to the more

academic ones

I sense

sometimes my

kids

how come

they won

that award

and they'll

say teacher's

pet

teacher's pet

that's why

they got it

and it's

not fair

right

so

if

on one

hand

if it is

the fact

that I am

human

I lack

the glory

of God

and I

can never

leave

myself

to fix

myself

and I

come to

the point

that only

God

can do

it

but God

is not

worthy

of being

God

if he's

not

just

just

as

we don't

think

highly

of

teachers

who

show

favoritism

because

certain

kids

suck up

to them

and we

don't

think of

them as

exemplary

teachers

and in

fact if

we were

parents

and had

some

choice

we would

avoid

having

our

kids

have

that

teacher

as

their

teacher

or maybe

I'm

just

really

old

fashioned

and anal

but I

think it

would be

common

and so

how is it

that God

can

be just

and at

the same

time

save us

that's what

the rest

of the

verse is

going to

tell us

Andrew

if you

could put

up our

one

point

again

that would

be

very

helpful

and could

you all

say it

with me

again

for all

have

sinned

and lack

the glory

of God

and are

justified

by his

grace

as a

gift

through

the redemption

that is

in Christ

Jesus

whom God

put forward

as a

propitiation

by his

blood

to be

received

by faith

I just

came

Andrew if you

could put up

the next

point which

is justified

made right

with God

by Jesus

so in that

long sentence

and you want

to try to

figure out

what it

means

justified

means

made right

with God

by Jesus

and there's

sort of a

bit of a

declaration

I just

came from

my

synod

which is

Anglican

speak for

like my

denominational

meetings

and Dick

and Daniel

were there

representing

the lady

and I was

there as

the clergy

and it was

in Vancouver

and I remember

after I think

it was one of

the first

lunches

I heard

a couple

of people

talking about

how they

find it

really hard

when they

go to

things like

this

it was

put on

by a

Chinese

parish

the food

was

wonderful

like the

first day

of synod

we had

this really

good

Chinese

food

the second

day

I like

sushi

just

we

sushi

for lunch

like it

was

spectacular

yeah

some of you

are saying

yes

next time

synods

in Vancouver

we might

get a lot

of volunteers

to go

there

hoping to

get

basically

as much

sushi

as you

could

eat

and so

one of

the people

said

there's

all sort

of fruit

and desserts

and all

that stuff

you know

that

it was a

Chinese

congregation

Chinese

people

were very

very

very

very

servant

hearted

and hospitable

and anyway

so I heard

at the end

of the lunch

I heard

a couple

of clergy

I think

talking about

how they

were going

like this

it's so hard

coming to

these times

when there's

as much

free food

as you can

possibly eat

like this

it's a hard

thing to come

to

and instantly

it flashed

through my

mind

I used to

have a

multi

million

we used to

have a

multi

millionaire

who come

to this

church

and I

mentioned

his name

it's nothing

embarrassing

about

his name

was Tom

and he

would

occasionally

treat me

by taking

me out

to eat

and we

would go

to this

like at the

time the

most expensive

restaurant in

Ottawa

and he was

well known

there

and the

first time

I went

I didn't

want to

choose the

cheapest

thing on

the menu

but I

chose the

second

cheapest

thing in

the menu

he asked

me beforehand

what I was

going to order

and he said

George you're not

allowed to order

that

you're not

allowed to

order that

I want you to

order the

most expensive

thing on

the menu

trust me

I can

cover this

okay

just order

whatever you

want

he was the

same guy

I've never

seen anybody

else like it

he was well

known

he has the

menu

and the

waitress

comes and

she says

hi Tom

he says

hi

he said

you know

I don't

like anything

on this

menu

here's what

I'd like

the cook

to make

me

here's what

I'd like

the cook

to make

me

and she

wrote it

down

and they

brought it

to him

okay

now here's

the thing

if I came

home and

told my wife

and you

that I had a

free lunch

I did not

have a

free lunch

somebody

has to

pay

there's

no free

lunch

ever

somebody

has to

pay

a few

years ago

in the

congregation

we had

a fellow

a priest

who'd come

here from

Africa

to do a

master's

degree

at St.

Paul

University

and through

no fault

of his

own

all of

his funding

fell out

from underneath

his feet

and so

the university

they were

on one hand

very gracious

to him

they allowed

him

like at

most places

if you

don't pay

up your

bills at

the end

of one

term

you can't

take other

courses

but they

allowed him

to keep

taking courses

but he

couldn't get

any credit

for them

until he

until it

was made

right

it had to

be made

right

and in

that particular

case

it had to

it means

the money

had to be

paid

and penalties

had to be

paid

and until

it was

made right

he wouldn't

get the

master's

degree

and until

it was

made right

his bishop

back home

wouldn't be

happy

it had to

be made

right

and this

African

fellow

he just

through no

fault of his

own

he couldn't

make it

right

and so

we as a

congregation

not patting

ourselves on

the back

we talked

and it

was like

fifteen thousand

dollars or

something

it was like

more than that

it was a lot

of money

and we

made it

right

we collected

the money

no income

tax receipts

and we

made it

right

so that he

could be

declared

to be

having it

made right

that all

of the bills

were paid

all of the

credits were

properly

accounted

and he

could graduate

and it

made it

right with

the bishop

with the

university

we made

it right

and that's

what justified

means

it's telling

us that

when we look

at Jesus'

death upon

the cross

that what

we see

God doing

the God

who is

right

that on

the cross

God is

providing a

way to

make it

right

for us

human beings

to be

right with

himself

and he

is making

it right

he's

paying

the penalties

and all

of the

other things

that have

to go

on

and it's

a mystery

but that's

how we're

to understand

the cross

that we

can't make

it right

ourselves

but God

makes it

right

and he

declares

that it's

made right

just as

the fellow

from Africa

he needed

the university

to declare

that it

was made

right

so that

whoever it

was the

other part

of the

university

could grant

him the

degree

he needed

that to be

made right

with a

declaration

and that's

what the

Bible is

saying here

is that

when you

see the

word

justified

here

is that

it's

Jesus

making it

right

not for

himself

but for

us

on our

behalf

as a bit

of a

declaration