Justification
is a term that is significant in the NT, especially in Romans. Many consider Paul, as the Apostle of Christ,
to be the one who defined what this term means.
He certainly highlighted it. But
anyone who has studied Paul’s writings know that he depends greatly on the
OT. And that is no surprise. Not only did he have some powerful Rabbinical
training; he was teaching what Christ gave him that provided fulfillment for
all the prophecies, types and pictures in the OT. We know, for example, how he used Abraham as
the picture of faith. Sarah and Hagar
provided the background for what it means to be free from the law. Propitiation is based in the Day of Atonement
in Leviticus. And so forth. Paul’s theology is not just something given to
him by Christ; what Christ gave him was rooted in the OT.
That brings us to “justification.” We often define this as “declared righteous.” There is a Greek word that is worthy of
study, dikaioma. It is part of
the family of Greek words for “righteousness.”
So, in the OT there is a term for justification, tsadaq. It is also part of the family of Hebrew words
for “righteousness.” And it is used for
the first time in the OT in today’s passage, in Gen. 38:26, when Judah says of
Tamar, she has been more righteous than I. He justified her, or declared her to be
righteous.
For two reasons I
would like us to study this term for a few posts. First, it will give background and substance
to our studies in the NT. Second, it
will by itself be a wonderful encouragement to believers in Christ, those who
have been justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith
(Rom. 3:24-25).
First, let’s gain a
better understanding of this term.
·
Gen. 38:26: It’s interesting that the first
person (depending on where you put Job who also used this term several times)
to use the term is Judah. He is, after
all, the tribal leader from which comes Messiah. This section of Genesis (Ch. 37-45) is
usually under the heading of “Joseph.”
But I consider that the story is about both Joseph and Judah. This is where Judah rises to prominence among
the sons of Jacob, even with this story of his immorality.
·
Gen. 44:16: Judah uses the term again, before
Joseph (not realizing it’s Joseph, of course), when he asks, how shall we clear
ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. In both stories, you see a softness, meekness,
in Judah, as he recognizes his sin twice.
The “iniquity” he is talking about is all that he and his brothers did
to their one brother, Joseph. It is
interesting to see back in Gen. 42:21 that the brothers understood their trials
in Egypt to be the result of what they had done to Joseph: Then they said to
one another, ‘We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the
anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear. Guilt is related to iniquity. It is the problem, the reason we are not
justified.
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