Justified Freely

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.  The one who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the miracles which no other man did, they would have no sin: but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this comes to pass, that the Word might be fulfilled which is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” (John 15:22-25)

Jesus’ words bring great accountability for they are Truth. Jesus spoke perfect words at the perfect time (“A word spoken in season, how good it is!”), and He always spoke the truth “in love.”  

Jesus’ miracles also bring accountability for they proved He is the Son of God.  Together, His words and miracles should have won the world.  But the Bible records the willful blindness of those who loved sin and hated righteousness… “Though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him” (John 12:37). 

Our world is still accountable for each individual response to Christ’s truth and power. When He returns, He will find one of two things: hearts in which His Word “dwells richly,” or hearts where He will say, “You hate Me because My words have no place in you.” He will find people either experiencing the greatest miracle of all, the transformation of salvation, or those “who have no changes.” There’s no middle ground.

To being “hated without a cause,” Jesus responded by “loving without a cause” … “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put on exhibit, an Overflowing-Ransom-Payment, through faith in His blood.” 

Are you ready for His return?