Justified And Sanctified!

Joshua stood for judgment before God,
His clothes smeared with the excrement of sin;
Satan stood beside to accuse the clod
Of unfitness God's presence to be in!
The forgiving Lord said, "I rebuke you,
Satan! He is 'a brand* snatched from the fire!'**"
To angels He said, "Dress him all anew,
Snow white, clean. Now, Satan, what is so dire?"
So the redeemed, before God, fearless stand,
Sinless and pure, for Christ dresses them clean;
They would be lost, but for His helping hand;
When Satan condemns, the Lord is between!
The Jewish high priest was guilty as we,
But God elected to declare him free!

*brand = a burning stick
**'a brand snatched from the fire' = a Biblical phrase meaning a lost person saved from condemnation by Jesus

Zechariah was a Jewish prophet who returned to Israel from captivity in Babylon 500 years before the birth of Jesus, His book in the Bible is second from last in the Old Testament. In chapter 3 he writes of a vision from God in which Joshua (a name meaning 'Jesus") the current high priest is standing before God in the temple's Holy of Holies. The high priest was the only one allowed to enter that room, and he could do that only once a year. The Holy of Holies represents God's dwelling place; this scene is a foreshadowing symbol of judgment for the redeemed of the new covenant that followed the rejection of Jesus. Just as Joshua had come before God with unforgiven sins clinging to him, so it is with born-again Christians who continue to commit sin after professing belief in Jesus as Lord. A person's sins are forgiven when he repents and accepts Jesus; this means, in theological terminology, he is "justified". Justification is essential for salvation; but so is "sanctification", which is what happens to one justified when he abolishes the commitment of sin from his life. In Zechariah's vision we see "the angel of the Lord" (a title that means "God" wherever it appears in the Bible) does not allow Satan, the accuser of men before God, to prevail in having Joshua booted out of heaven; God simply forgives Joshua's sins.

The vision is illustrative of the fact that a believer's past and future sins are forgiven by God, even if he dies without having fully rid himself of all sin. Even though Jesus commanded us in the Sermon on the Mount to "Be you perfect, even as the Father is perfect," He knew we could not live perfectly sinless lives. That is why He gave His own life on the cross---He did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. He applied His shed blood to Joshua's unsanctification, and made him perfect; He will do it for you and me, also.