ন্যায়পরায়ণতার তত্ত্ব

Justification is the act by which a sinner is declared “righteous” by God. Since all have sinned, every person requires the grace of justification for salvation. The question is: where is our sin recorded, and how can it be cleansed?

When we examine where sin is recorded, we find in Jeremiah 17:1, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with the point of a diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars.” This tells us that sin is written both on the heart and on the horns of the altar. But how does the sin of Judah relate to us?

We know that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah (Heb. 7:14). Moreover, the name of Jesus means, “He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Therefore, to be saved by Jesus, we must in some way be connected to the tribe of Judah. The Bible makes it clear that spiritually speaking, those who belong to Christ are the descendants of Abraham: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29). Furthermore, it is not the outward appearance of being a Jew that matters — “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly” — but rather those who are inwardly changed, those who belong to Christ, are the true descendants of Judah (Rom. 2:28-29).

Thus, spiritually speaking, the “sin of Judah” represents our sin.