Tag Archives: self-justification

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”  (1 Peter 2:23, NIV)

To be Christian is to be like Christ.

Peter provides two clear, practical, snapshots of what it means to be like Christ: Ignoring insults from the “haters”; making no threat against the agents of suffering and pain.

According to the scriptures, in his early years as a disciple of Jesus, Peter quickly quickly responded to every insult and engaged every opponent.  Through faithful discipleship, Peter was not the person “now” that he was in those early years.

To grow in maturity as a Christian means to become more and more like Jesus.  A measure of our maturity is the degree to which we are willing to entrust ourselves “to him who judges justly.”  – Luther

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“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. . .”  (Philippians 1:27a, NIV)

To be a disciple of Jesus means surrendering the privilege of self-justification.

Paul reminds us that external circumstances must not dictate our response.  In all that we do, our sole ambition is to please our heavenly Father.  We engage in self-justification at the risk of causing the gospel of Jesus to lose its opportunity to engage those who need it.

Today, resolve to conduct all of your affairs in a manner worthy of the good news of our Lord.  We can do no more; we should expect from ourselves no less.  – Luther

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“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. . .”  (Philippians 1:27a, NIV)

To be a disciple of Jesus means surrendering the privilege of self-justification.

Today’s scripture reference reminds us that external circumstances must not dictate our response. In all that we do, our sole ambition is to please our heavenly Father. We engage in self-justification (i. e., making excuses for ourselves) at the risk of blunting the effect of the gospel of Jesus in the hearts of those who need it.

Today, resolve to conduct all of your affairs in a manner worthy of the good news of our Lord; and to stand firm in the truth come what may. We can do no more; and we should expect from ourselves no less.  – Luther

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