Courtroom Drama

“so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7)

This is an open-and-shut case. A slam dunk. The accused doesn’t have an alibi and doesn’t have a chance. The DA has a stack of evidence that reaches the ceiling. The sentence of capital punishment is a done deal. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the judge pounds his gavel and makes a startling announcement. “Innocent!” And if that’s not crazy enough, he lets everyone know that the former defendant is not only coming to live at his house but will inherit his estate. Wow! Talk about courtroom drama!! Bet you never saw anything like that on “Perry Mason.” There’s no way Scott Turow or John Grisham ever included that crazy scene in one of their novels. You can be sure this will never happen on Court TV. But that’s exactly the scene Paul paints for Titus. From defendant to heir. From no hope to eternal hope. 

From the Greek mainland in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12), Paul writes critical instructions to his man Titus on the island of Crete. The amazing message of God’s Gospel has flooded this Mediterranean island. There are followers of Jesus everywhere. They need someone to select leaders for their local churches (Titus 1:5). They need someone to shut down the false teachers that are stirring up trouble (Titus 1:10-11). They need someone to set up a self-sustaining system of telling new believers what it means to trust in Jesus (Titus 2:1-10). A big part of that instruction is trying to wrap our heads around salvation. We know the “what.” That’s our rescue (Titus 3:5). We know the “Who.” That’s the Trinity (Titus 3:4-6). We know the “how.” That’s regeneration and renewal (Titus 3:5). Finally we learn the “why.” 

We see that when Paul writes “so that” (v7). This is the little Greek word hina, which means in order that, for the purpose of, or with the result being. As we take a look at the what, who, and how of our rescue, we come to the why. Here’s the reason God has gone to all the trouble of saving, washing, regenerating, renewing us. Before we get there, we run across this very important phrase describing how we’re “being justified by His grace” (v7). This isn’t the end game. It’s just a fantastic way of summing up the miraculous courtroom drama the universe has just witnessed.

This idea of being justified is actually a judicial term. It’s not just a declaration that the accused is not guilty. It’s more than letting the world know that the defendant is innocent. Some folks like to say that being justified is “just as if I had never sinned.” Is that part of it? You betcha. Is that all of it. Not even close!! For a judge to justify someone, his honor is also declaring that the accused is absolutely and always perfect. Not just innocent of all charges but a perfect citizen that’s never even broken the speed limit. That’s what it means to be justified.

So what’s the deal here? How in the name of Atticus Finch can we be justified? We already know that our own goodness falls short of God’s standard. Remember, God came to our rescue “not because of works done by us in righteousness” (Titus 3:5). As a matter of fact, we’re headed in the wrong direction when it comes to our righteousness. We’re like a bad offense in football that starts at first and ten and then faces third and a mile. We’re all guilty of the charges before we ever walk into the courtroom. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:23-24). There it is! Or better yet, there HE is!! Jesus gets radically and personally involved in my case. It’s only because of His perfection and righteousness that I have a snowball’s chance of getting off.

Before Jesus saved my eternal bacon, my relationship with God was completely broken and dysfunctional. Just a few verses back, Paul made it clear that we used to be fools, rebels, dupes, slaves, bullies, and haters (Titus 3:3). If that’s not bad enough, we were terrorists and rebels against God’s kingdom. We shook our fists at His authority. The apostle reminds his friends in Rome about how “we were enemies” of God (Rom 5:10). But something ridiculous happened right in the middle of our rebellion, “we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom 5:10). Despite my revolt, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). God doesn’t just declare my innocence despite my obvious rebellion, He goes so far as to say that I was always on His side of this war. It’s like going from being tried for war crimes and ultimately given the Congressional Medal of Honor. It just makes no sense. The only reason this happens is because of what Jesus has done for me that I could never do for myself. He exchanges His perfect life for rebellion. He dies the execution for my sin that I should have died. He rises to a spectacular new life that I absolutely don’t deserve. 

The Righteous Judge announces His jaw-dropping verdict, but He’s not done. He goes on to say that He’s done this so that “we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (v7). You and I don’t just walk out of the courtroom as the result of this amazing ruling, we’re now included in the greatest inheritance the universe has ever seen. In other words, we move from criminal court down the courthouse hall to probate court. And there’s absolutely no doubt about whether or not we’ll be in the will. The moment God scribbled our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, He also listed us as heirs to His eternal estate. The Bible overflows with this idea of divine inheritance. When we place our trust in what Jesus has done for us, we have an already obtained a limitless eternal inheritance that we certainly don’t deserve (Eph 1:11). Romans 8 isn’t just one of the summits of Scripture, it’s also a great look at the amazing benefits of being adopted kids of the King.

A huge chunk of our inheritance from God is “the hope of eternal life” (v7). Back in the opening lines of this little letter, Paul lets Titus know that the “hope of eternal life” for Jesus’ followers is a big reason he’s writing. This hope isn’t some cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best deal. It’s a take-it-to-the-bank-lead-pipe-lock deal. This hope is a confident expectation. Remember, you and I are in the will when we placed our trust in Jesus. We can be absolutely certain of life eternal. Jesus says that those who reject God’s offer do not pass go and head straight for “eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:46). And we don’t have to tap our toes and twiddle our thumbs waiting for this everlasting life to kick in. It starts NOW! Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). God’s overflowing, overwhelming eternal life starts right now. Right. Now. Grab your towel and dive into the deep end of the pool of His grace. Right. Now. 

Meanwhile, the courtroom is still in chaos. The world has never witnessed anything like what’s just happened. From slam dunk guilty to innocent heir! Now THAT’S the kind of courtroom drama that occurs when grace gets involved!!