Those church words

There are words we toss around in Christian circles that are rich in both concept and meaning but sometimes for those outside those circles or just new to them, they can sound like so much jargon. Even to those of us that use them, they can become rather cliche. But with a little time and attention, those words express different aspects of the lavish love God has extended to us. For example, Paul writes:

This 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 are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. (Romans 3:22-25a NIV, emphasis mine)

Here are some of my favorite ways to define a few of those words:

Righteousness - "Right standing" with God - we are "put right" with God

Justification - "Just as if I never sinned." - we are made right again before a holy and just God.

Grace - "God's riches at Christ's expense." - Christ's sacrifice paid the whole price to make us co-heirs with him, something we can neither earn or deserve. (see Romans 8:17)

Redemption - "bought back or claimed" - Just as you must redeem a gift certificate to claim the prize, God redeemed us and claims us as his own. There's ownership in redemption. We become God's own.

Atonement - "At-one-ment" - we are brought back to God's original plan of relationship through Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

Think about these words and let them amaze you with their story of God's extravagant love.