Understanding what it means to be justified (Rom. 5:1-2)
Suppose Jim is a homeless man who lives on the edge of town, and begs for a few dollars every day on the street corner so he can have a meal at the end of the day. He has few possessions that he carts around in an abandoned shopping cart that he found in a ditch somewhere. He doesn’t look great and smells even worse. He has no friends to encouragement him, no family to love him, no home to go back to, and no future to look forward to. But suppose that someone came to Jim, and proved to him that he was a private investigator who had been hired and sent by unknown members of his family, who were very well off, and that they were welcoming him into their home. Suppose also that they had promised Jim a million dollars a month for the rest of his life, no strings attached, and that Jim was given a receipt showing that a bank account had been opened in his name and that the first installment had already been paid. And then suppose that, after the private investi...
