Writing to the Pink Margin

Each year as I progressed through elementary school -- waaay back before iPads and/or Chromebooks became a part of standard classroom material, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and notebook paper was the standard method of turning in written assignments -- each of my teachers had a particular way they wanted their students to complete their work. 

Generally, on Day 1 of class, we learned the new teacher's preferred methods. Name on the top left. Name on the top right. Skip lines. Don't skip lines. Always place a date beneath your name. Place the date on the opposite corner of the page from your name. Etc.

I remember my fifth grade teacher holding up a piece of notebook paper and pointing to the pink line that ran vertically down one side of it. Then she traced over the pink line that was more faint on the other side (because it was inked on the back of the paper and not the front). "When you write, I want you to write to this line. This is the standard of measurement for any assignments you turn in; all your words will measure to this line. Now," she put down the paper, and continued, "does that mean you should cram in a word in tiny writing so you don't go over that line by even a little bit?"

We all answered what she seemed to expect us to answer. "Nooooo."

"Does that mean that you should write really, really large letters to fill up the space if you have a short word?"

Again, our voices resounded in the classroom: "Nooooo."

"Good," she said, "just write to the line, finish the word, and start the next line."

Now I don't know if that particular standard counted as having a teacher with a tinge of OCD; it could possibly have been the result of years of students writing three words to a page, or maybe the reverse -- years of students running into the end of the paper and turning it sideways to finish a word, etc... I don't know, but I took it seriously.

This sounds odd, but that's par for the course for me: I enjoy how my writing looks. I like making whole pages of neat and uniform print or perfectly slanted cursive. And I was no different in fifth grade. So when I wrote, I tried hard to plan ahead as I wrote every line, and I was pleased when the pink line approached and my word ended precisely on that line. And by the same token, I was frustrated when the pink line approached and I hadn't planned well enough... and I was a quarter inch short of the line, or I was an eight of an inch over the line.

I doubt my teacher ever knew my own OCD struggles with that requirement, but imagine my joy when I discovered, via a word processor typewriter that my parents had (before we owned our first computer), the absolute joy of justification.

Y'all, I loved that "justify" function. I could type and type and type, and the thing formatted my right-side margins to a ruler-straight vertical line every. single. time. And I didn't even have to do my own planning. It did it for me! Easy-peasy. I could release the necessity of trying; all I had to do was type. (If you want a visual of my nerdy joy, I have now justified these two paragraphs for your viewing pleasure.) :)

All right, so that's a really, really simplified example of the justification that Paul talks about, but that experience drove it home for me. At the end of my post yesterday, I read this: "But now, a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify" (Romans 3:21).

Let's jump back to Genesis 15 for a second. God and Abram are having a little conversation. See, Abram's got no kids, and it doesn't seem likely that he's going to have any kids later, either, because it looks like he or his wife Sarai is sterile. And this troubles him, because even though he's got a servant in his household who will inherit his estate when he dies, he's the end of his family line. The Lord has appeared to him in a vision and told him, "Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your Shield, your very great Reward." 

And Abram responds back with this: "What can you give me?" He describes his and Sarai's sterile condition and his dilemma of no kids. The very great reward might seem a little less great, a little less shield-like in Abram's eyes, because the greatest reward of all for him would be a son, an inheritor.

The Lord tells Abram that the servant who stands to inherit Abram's estate will not be the inheritor, but rather "a son who is your own flesh and blood." Then God said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars -- if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be." 

And this brings it all home. Look at this. Genesis 15:6 says: "Abram believed the Lord, and He [God] credited it [Abram's belief] to him [Abram] as righteousness."

Abram let go of everything that made head-sense to him (I'm sterile or my wife is sterile, Eliezer of Damascus is gonna get my estate, ain't no way my descendants are gonna look like the Milky Way)...

And Abram took hold of his heart-sense -- that is, he let God do what God does, which is to make His plan perfect in Abram's life. Abram didn't have to plan for the pink line; he let God take that line and run all the way to the margin with it.

That's called faith. 

Abraham was a man of faith (he takes up quite a chunk of the "Faith Hall of Fame" found in Hebrews 11), and he sets an example for us to walk in faith as well. Romans 4:20-25 says: "Yet [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him [justification to the pink margin] as righteousness.' The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us [we don't have to worry about the pink margin, either, because God takes care of finishing that line for us!], to whom God will credit righteousness -- for us who believe in Him Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

Here's the important part, the essential part. Don't make the mistake of missing out on this, because it's the central point of this whole faith-deal.. You paying attention? Okay, here goes: 

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (Romans 3:22). That means... if you believe God's gonna do what God does best, if you believe that He is your Shield and your very great Reward, if you believe that He fulfills His promises, if you believe that Jesus came to earth to walk terra firma for 33 years and then die in your place as a substitute sin offering for you, to purchase you, to atone for your sins, if you believe that He rose again on the third day, beating death forever and crushing Satan's head in the process...

IF you believe... IF you have faith in Jesus Christ...

Wait, Tamara, that's a lot to ask. That's a lot for me to have to believe.

Yeah. But you're thinking of it the wrong way if you think of it as something you do. It's what you don't do and what Christ does for you!!

...

Y'all, that's huge! That's justification!

Paul doesn't stop there. He keeps going in Romans 3:22-23: "The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe! There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."

And praise the Lord, the message doesn't even stop there!!

"AND! AND... are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus!"

IF you believe! You are justified -- taken all the way to the pink margin without having to do anything except know that Jesus carried that imperfect line to the perfect standard... for you -- by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus -- the perfect sacrifice of the sinless Son of God on the cross in your place.

Y'all, I've been a Christian for 38 years, and this still blows my mind! That Jesus made the impossible... possible! That He justifies the undeserving... because of faith!

"Where then is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith" (Romans 3:27). In other words, we can't brag about this, because we've got nothing to do with how well we carry out that justification. Because we can't do it. This entire concept of salvation is through faith -- which has the essential quality in its very definition of: Hand's OFF! 

The Lord justifies! We have faith that He will. We believe God and He credits that belief to us as righteousness!

Remember in Mark 9 when Jesus is walking along and He's on His way to meet up with some of His disciples, but when He gets there, there's a big crowd around them, along with some teachers of the law, and they're all arguing? Jesus asks (to summarize), "Hey, y'all, what's going on?" (like He doesn't know, but maybe He wants them to process what's happening in their explanation), and this guy steps out of the crowd and says: "I brought my son to You to be healed, 'cause there's a demon in him that doesn't let him talk."

Side note: I don't believe that every sickness, nor even most sicknesses, are demon-centered. I do, however, believe that there are times when demons use sickness to cause trouble and push an agenda, and this was one such case.

The dad goes on: "Anyway, my son has seizures as a result of this demon, foaming at the mouth, rigid body, the whole kit and caboodle. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but... they couldn't."

Jesus has something to say about faith here, a slightly frustrated moment where He considers what He's told everyone about mustard seeds and moving mountains, etc, and you can almost hear Him sigh. "You unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me."

So the dad brings the boy, and the demon in the boy sees Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy One of Israel, the One Who will eventually toss it into the lake of fire already constructed for it and all its kind forever and ever, and it knows it is immediately defeated. So it reacts completely naturally in the face of its Enemy: It tosses the boy onto the ground in a convulsion and throws a little demonic hissy-fit.

Jesus asks the dad: "How long has he been like this?" (It makes me laugh; it's such a normal, doctor-type of question. I do think Jesus already knows the answer, but of course, His questions always serve to make people think, consider, deepen their own learning). 

The dad says: "From childhood. It has often thrown him into the fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

Jesus stares at him. "'IF You can?' Everything is possible for him who believes."

And the boy's dad says: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

And that, right there, is faith and justification. The dad is present; he's showed up for the lesson, but in himself, he cannot complete the writing to the line. 

But Jesus can. And so Jesus does. He takes the seed of the man's willing and present faith... and He completes that faith by healing the man's son.

The man began to see the outcome (by faith), but the Lord completed the outcome (by justification, by meeting the margin, the standard, where the man himself couldn't).

That man's cry has been the cry of my heart for as long as I can remember. Lord, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! It's so easy to forget, to take up the pen and try to cram the words in to the exact standard, right up to that pink line and not over. It's so easy to get caught up in trying to orchestrate my own salvation by works rather than to remember:

Jesus already did the work. I believe He did it for me. And He credits that to me as righteousness. I am justified by faith! That's amazing!!