January 28, 2025 • 23 mins
Remember those rare Southern snow days where the slightest dusting on the ground could shut down the whole town? Join us as we reminisce about the delightful chaos of a Georgia snowfall, a moment that brings both hilarity and joy to our lives. We share a personal and humorous family story from Jen involving stolen bubble gum and a mock police visit, illustrating the universal truth about the human condition: no matter the scale of our missteps, we all stand guilty before a just and merciful God. This light-hearted narrative sets the stage for a deeper exploration of sin, guilt, and the redemptive power of grace.
We dive into the profound themes of God's justice and the pathway to true justification through Jesus Christ—an understanding that can transform your spiritual journey. Discover how recognizing our sinful nature and embracing God’s righteousness can lead to a life filled with grace and mercy, beyond societal approval or self-justification. Our conversation underscores the cross as the ultimate meeting point of justice and love, urging us to truly appreciate the salvation offered through Christ. Tune in to explore how embracing these truths can root your life in goodness and gratitude.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Sojo Show with Jen and AJ, where
you'll dig deep into God's Wordalongside two imperfect,
frequently ineloquent women, aswe discover fresh ways to walk
out God's truth together.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back to the Sojo Show everybody.
This is AJ and I am sittinghere on Zoom with my co-host and
friend Jen.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Hello, In the snow I'm bragging In the snow you had
to say that part.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
She had to put that in there Like because, seriously
, when was the last time youguys had snow?
Actually Years who knows years.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I was bragging about it, though we have snow, and
then I just thought the wind waslike oh, it stopped, we got 20
minutes of snow so you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
you probably can't even see it on the ground yet,
can you?
No, but you could just see itin the sky.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
But we'll see, we'll see, we'll see what happens.
No, all right, those of you whodon't know, I live in georgia,
but I'm actually more North thanAJ, so we don't need the one of
us ever see snow, so it's veryexciting but a little
inconvenient.
I will say everything shut down.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yes, yeah, we don't know how you guys up North and
in other parts of the world whogets snow.
We just really don't know howyou do it.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
No, we really don't.
I know everybody's listening.
That lives above theMason-Dixon line, dixie line,
dixie, dixie, what is it?
Mason-dixie Dixon?
I think it's Dixon, mason-dixon.
Whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Or maybe that was our accent, I don't know.
Oh, my word Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Regardless oh, my word, Okay, Regardless.
They don't understand.
They're like whatever it snowshere every day in the winter.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
I know we actually just got off a call with
somebody who said it was onedegree where they were at and we
were like, oh okay, we'retalking.
End of discussion.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Pretty crazy, very exciting, though.
It's very exciting when itsnows around here, exciting for
the children.
It is.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It's a big deal for Jen, so we have to acknowledge
this moment in her life rightnow.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And it only lasts a few hours.
It's not like it shuts us down.
I mean, it's like it'll be gonetomorrow, it'll all be.
You know well, it's probablywill never even accumulate, but
anyway, it's good yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah Well, besides the snow, we do have something
really more on point to talkabout today, and if you have
been with us over the pastcouple of weeks, you know that
we're talking through thecharacter of God, his nature and
some of his characteristics,and we are getting to one today.
But before we get there, I havea question to ask of Jen, and
(02:43):
you can totally throw yourfamily members under the bus
with this question.
If you want to, or or or not,if you don't, if you don't feel
that's appropriate, I would.
But so the question is has you,have you or anyone in your
(03:03):
family ever gone to jail?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You asked me that question.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
It ties in with our topic today Snort laughed.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay, well, I'm proud to say I have never been to
jail.
Okay, now, there's nocondemnation.
If you have been to jail andyou are now, you know, saved and
redeemed and you forgiven, butI have never been to jail, I
will say I can't, say I don'tthere's no way that Don't say
the person.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Okay.
So let everybody wonder who itis.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So there was some person in my very close family
One time got caught stealingbubble gum.
But let's, let's just say thatthis person was like maybe nine
years old, eight, nine littlelittle young, okay, okay, bubble
(04:06):
gum, bubble gum, and and andcondoms.
Oh my good lord, I think that'swhat he stole and yeah, yeah.
So here's the thing thathappened.
Another person in our familywho was trying to teach this
young person a lesson, um,marched him may, had the police
(04:27):
take him to the, to the policestation, and like, did the whole
thing?
I mean, they didn't arrest him.
Obviously he was a child andand we paid for it and whatever
happened.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
But, um, but my, they wanted to put the, the
bejeebies in him.
Yeah, yeah, they wanted to showhim.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
My dad.
My dad was like I need to showthis child of mine, who's not me
, the seriousness of this, andso he actually asked the
policeman to like do the things.
Obviously it was a fake thing,but yeah, he went down to the
police station and they did allthe things you know, kind of
(05:04):
faked it Okay.
So the big question is did itwork?
Did it work?
Well, he never actually landedin real jail.
So Okay, that's good yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yes, that is good, so I don't, I guess it did work?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I don't know, but I remember it, I was.
I was a child too, but Iremember thinking, oh my
goodness.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
What's happening right now Happening.
Oh my.
So yeah, that's well.
I don't know if we should putthat in the podcast or not, but
it's kind of a funny story.
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I think it's okay you didn't put any names and that
person probably will never, ever, in a million years, listen to
this podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So we're going with it.
We're going with it.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well, I think that this is a topic that is super
important to all of us, because,whether we have actually landed
in jail or not, we are allguilty of some sin, right,
whether it's like prosecutableor not, we're all guilty of some
(06:11):
sin before God, and how?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
many of y'all have stolen bubble gum.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, I have to say that I was a kid and I stole one
time those little I don't theydon't even have them anymore.
You remember in in theclassroom we did.
You would do like these, theseboards.
The teacher would have a boardand they'd put like words and
and images and stuff.
They would like pin them ontothese boards and then they, the
(06:40):
boards, would have a border.
I don't even know what you wouldcall those borders, but I stole
a roll of that border paperonce from like Winn-Dixie you
know what I'm talking about.
I like put it in my purse.
It's kind of like, because Iwas like, yeah, like the crate
paper, yeah, yes, yes, why, Ihave no idea.
(07:03):
I guess I liked it, I liked theidea, I guess I liked it, I
liked the.
Maybe I wanted to make a posterboard in my room, but I got so
convicted about that.
So so I mean, whether you'vestolen anything or not, you know
we have all.
Everybody has lied.
You know we have all sinned oh,so many sins, so many and right
so many sins and fallen shortof the glory of God.
(07:23):
And, as we know, god is a Godof justice and righteousness and
we have fallen short of thatrighteousness and his justice
demands some sort of recompensefor that, for each and every
time we've fallen short, andthat's kind of a sobering
(07:45):
thought.
We talked about justice alittle bit last week, but we're
going to talk about it a littlebit more this week because it is
such an integral part of whoGod is, because only God is
completely righteous and becauseof his righteousness can carry
out justice.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, yes, and we do focus a lot we talked about this
in a previous episode thismonth about his mercy and his
grace, and that is who he is.
But then there's also thiscomponent of justice that has to
be satisfied and sometimes wedon't like thinking about that
aspect of God, but it's just asimportant to his character, it's
(08:27):
just as essential as the mercy.
It's like I heard a story onetime of like you've got a fence
and I might get this wrong.
You've got a fence and youbreak the fence, you drive
through it, you break the fence,the fence is broken, right?
Well, somebody has to pay forthat fence.
Somebody has to pay the priceto fix the fence.
(08:51):
It's either you or the owner ofthe fence, but the price has to
be paid.
And it's like we have sinnedagainst God.
We have, we've broken the,we've busted the fence, and that
price has to be paid.
And either we have to pay itwhich we can never do, we could
never become righteous and holyon our own or or or it has to be
(09:15):
paid for us, and that's whathappened on the Christ on the
cross.
So, even though there's thisjustice component, we are still
and we deserve the wrath of God,because he is just.
We have this beautifulrighteousness that you know we
could never have apart fromChrist, and yet he pays the
(09:39):
price.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, yeah, it's really amazing to think that he
(10:08):
what's right for you may not beright for me is true.
If that's true, then justice isalso very subjective.
Like there's no standard forjustice if there's no standard
for righteousness and I thinkit's important for us as
believers to know there is astandard of righteousness and
(10:29):
God is the one and only one whosets that standard.
We don't set that standard.
It's not different for me as itis for you.
Like, the standard ofrighteousness is set by God and
it's not negotiable.
And this is a message, it'score and it seems so basic, but
(10:50):
I think it's one.
Like I struggle with this withmy kids.
Even last night we had adiscussion on whether Bonhoeffer
was correct in trying toassassinate Hitler.
Right, we had this wholediscussion last night and some
of these moral things came intoplay into this discussion.
Some of these moral things cameinto play into this discussion.
So I have these conversationswith my kids often, but even at
(11:20):
church this past Sunday, in oursmall group, it came up again
because there were people inthere who are believers, who
want to do God's will, who arelike, well, maybe what's right
for you isn't what's right forme, or maybe what's truth for
you isn't what's right for me,or maybe what's truth for you
may may not be truth for me, andso it's kind of this thinking
weaves into our Christianculture so subtly that you know
(11:45):
it's subjective.
Righteousness is subjective andwe just we can't allow that to
really sway our understanding ofa biblical righteousness.
You know that is set by godright, right, well, and you know
you.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
You said it's foundational and the word even
says that in Psalm.
What is this?
I'm looking at 89.
Psalm 89, 13 says you have amighty arm, strong as your hand,
high your right hand.
But then 14, 89, 14 saysrighteousness and justice are
the foundation of your throne.
(12:25):
So that's the first half ofthat verse.
But then the second halfsteadfast love and faithfulness
go before you.
So it all ties in together.
But that's righteousness andHis justice.
They are foundational.
The Word says it.
They are the foundation of yourthrone.
(12:47):
And you're right.
We live in such a wishy-washyworld that wants to choose their
own truth and what really isjust and what is not.
And it is so important for usto go to the foundation of the
throne and know that it is theGod who is just.
(13:10):
That is the.
That's where the arrow shouldpoint, should point straight to
the truth, which is his truth.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
And I think, ultimately, the reason why this
is so important, the reason whyunderstanding God as the author
of right and wrong is soimportant, is that without that,
we will not see ourselves assinners and we will not see
ourselves in need of a savior.
(13:44):
So we will miss out onsalvation, we will miss out on
eternal security in Jesus Christbecause we think we're okay and
we don't need it.
But if we recognize God is thestandard and the author of
righteousness and we have fallenshort of that standard, then we
(14:06):
are able to see ourselves inneed of the salvation he
graciously supplies.
So that is why it's soimportant for us to understand
and to give Him that authorship.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
And that gets us back to thefact that we are, in fact, if
we're standing before a just God, in our sinful state, which we
talked about at the verybeginning, we are worthy of
damnation, we're worthy of death, we're worthy of nothing more
(14:43):
than that in our sinful state,and that is where the gospel
comes into play.
Sinful state, and that is wherethe gospel comes into play.
When we recognize that, like AJsaid, we recognize that we
can't and we can't do it alone,we can't do it in and of
ourselves.
(15:03):
When we recognize that, that'swhen we fully rely on Christ,
who came in order to satisfy,who came in order to satisfy,
came in order to satisfy thatwrath and to appease a God who
is just.
And that is the only way we cando.
It is by trusting in Him.
And I think that it's importantto know that this is, like I
(15:25):
said, part of God's character.
We've talked about Hischaracter and you cannot
separate Him from these things.
And then you can't separatethese characteristics from God's
love, and sometimes, when wethink of the judge God and the
wrathful God, we forget that thereason for that is because of
(15:46):
His love for us, because, likeAJ said, we wouldn't recognize
our need.
But also, if he were not 100%just not 100% righteous, then we
couldn't trust in his 100% love.
It's all so important.
(16:07):
His love is always just, it'salways righteous and it's all
together, interconnectedtogether.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah, and I think there's an important word it's
one of those gospel words thatyou don't talk about outside of
church, but the wordjustification.
It really ties into his justiceand his righteousness too,
because justification you know,I'm sure you guys have may have
heard the phrase just as if I'dnever sinned.
(16:38):
So it's like we stand blamelessin the sight of God when he
reckons us as justified.
But the thing about that is Godhas made each and every one of
us to need justification, and alot of us will give it to
ourselves.
We will justify ourselves,we'll justify our actions.
(16:58):
I mean, I have one child who itdoesn't matter how big or how
small it is this childconstantly justifies herself and
her actions.
And I've tried to use that as ateaching point to say you know
what You're trying to giveyourself your own justification,
but Christ's justification onyour behalf is what you really
(17:20):
need to turn to.
Just admit that you were wrong.
Admit that you were wrong andreceive the justification that's
available in Christ.
And that is a message that eachand every one of us needs to
grab a hold of, because ourtendency and we see this in
culture our tendency is to comeup with a law that justifies our
(17:42):
sin, right?
Oh, now we've passed a law thatsays I can do X Y Z it's now
morally acceptable.
Law that says I can do X Y Zit's now morally acceptable.
And we come up with ways thatwe can overwrite God's law and
God's rules and God's standardof righteousness so that we can
be accepted and not condemned bypeers around us or by social
(18:05):
networks or by cultural law.
By the legal system.
We will do anything andeverything except confess our
sin and acknowledge before Godthat we are fallen.
And yet confessing andacknowledging that sin is the
only way that we can bejustified by God and receive
(18:28):
true justification.
So I think that justunderstanding the ways we need
God's justice and we need to bejustified personally, and the
ways that we maybe look for itin other, inferior ways, that's
just been a real eye opener forme personally.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, and I think it's just part of understanding
who he is, who God is, andtrying to wrap our brains around
those aspects of Him.
So it leaves us, when we startto understand these things more,
we're freer to live a life ofgrace, to recognize that all of
this is who God is and we cantrust Him.
(19:11):
We can trust Him because weknow that he is just when we are
feeling like injustice is goingunpunished.
We know that he is fully justwhen we remember that our
injustice was reconciled duringthe process of justification.
(19:32):
Then we can live in grace.
So I completely agree, it's notan easy topic to put in a nice
little bow, a tidy bow, butthat's also part of the reason
why I need to reflect on it andthink on it more, so that I can
(19:52):
worship.
And it should bring us to apoint of worship when we think
of these things and we think ofGod's goodness and God's love
and God's mercy, His justice andHis righteousness.
When we think about thesecharacteristics of God, it
should bring us to a place ofworship and praise and gratitude
for that justification andcontinual walking in that day by
(20:19):
day.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, because ultimately it does lead us back
to the cross and that was God'sanswer to his need for justice
and his need to show compassionand love and grace.
They're both combined rightthere and it really is very
sobering and it's liberating andit's joy inspiring.
(20:44):
You know, that's ultimatelywhere we land is with the cross
and the precious blood of.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Christ.
Yeah, he pays for the fencethat we broke.
That's right, okay?
Well, as always, we're going tochallenge you to dig a little
deeper in this.
Think about justice andrighteousness as characteristics
of god.
Look it up in in your bible,see what scriptures point to
(21:12):
that and kind of reflect on it.
Meditate on it this week.
If you are a member of sojo oryou want to join us in sojo,
this is what we are looking atthis week.
If you are a member of Sojo oryou want to join us in Sojo,
this is what we are looking atthis week and we are we're
finishing up this series on thecharacteristics of God and
starting something brand newcoming up next week.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, we are.
Do you want to do you want togive us a sneak peek?
Or do we even know what it is?
Yet we didn't know what it is.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
We've looked at the characteristics of God and we're
going to look at a little bitof the life of Christ or the
work of Christ.
We're going to really focus inon Christ in February and we're
going to do that by looking atone of the Gospels, the Gospel
of Mark, and it's going to begood times.
(22:02):
It's going to be that bylooking at the one of the
gospels gospel of mark, and it'sgoing to be good times.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
It's going to be good times.
There's a lot there.
A lot, yeah, there's a.
There's definitely a lot there,but you can't really get any
better than than looking at theperson of christ.
In my opinion, yeah, exactly so.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
So this is part of our foundations in first quarter
of 2025, looking at thecharacter of God, looking at the
life of Christ and next, and sowe're going to continue to
build and strengthen thatfoundation that we have and grow
(22:34):
in faith and love for Him.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, Well, we invite you guys to join us inside Sojo
Academy.
If you are not a member, youcan find out how to do that at
sojoacademycom, and otherwise wewill be back here with another
episode next week.
See you then.
Bye everybody.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Thank you for listening to the Sojo Show.
We are so grateful that you didand we're so thankful for the
opportunity to spread the goodnews of the gospel in such a fun
and unique way.
If you enjoyed the show, we'dlove it if you would leave us a
rating or review wherever you'relistening to this podcast or
subscribe to the show.
Also, tell your friends.
(23:15):
That's the number one way weget people finding out about who
we are, and we reallyappreciate you sharing Sojo Show
.
We'll be back every Mondaydigging into the truth of God's
word, sharing, laughing,glorifying God in all that we do
and, hopefully, encouragingwomen from all over the world in
(23:37):
the truth of the gospel.
Talk to you, then.
Welcome to the Sojo Show with Jen and AJ, where
you'll dig deep into God's Wordalongside two imperfect,
frequently ineloquent women, aswe discover fresh ways to walk
out God's truth together.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back to the Sojo Show everybody.
This is AJ and I am sittinghere on Zoom with my co-host and
friend Jen.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Hello, In the snow I'm bragging In the snow you had
to say that part.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
She had to put that in there Like because, seriously
, when was the last time youguys had snow?
Actually Years who knows years.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I was bragging about it, though we have snow, and
then I just thought the wind waslike oh, it stopped, we got 20
minutes of snow so you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
you probably can't even see it on the ground yet,
can you?
No, but you could just see itin the sky.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
But we'll see, we'll see, we'll see what happens.
No, all right, those of you whodon't know, I live in georgia,
but I'm actually more North thanAJ, so we don't need the one of
us ever see snow, so it's veryexciting but a little
inconvenient.
I will say everything shut down.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yes, yeah, we don't know how you guys up North and
in other parts of the world whogets snow.
We just really don't know howyou do it.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
No, we really don't.
I know everybody's listening.
That lives above theMason-Dixon line, dixie line,
dixie, dixie, what is it?
Mason-dixie Dixon?
I think it's Dixon, mason-dixon.
Whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Or maybe that was our accent, I don't know.
Oh, my word Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Regardless oh, my word, Okay, Regardless.
They don't understand.
They're like whatever it snowshere every day in the winter.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
I know we actually just got off a call with
somebody who said it was onedegree where they were at and we
were like, oh okay, we'retalking.
End of discussion.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Pretty crazy, very exciting, though.
It's very exciting when itsnows around here, exciting for
the children.
It is.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It's a big deal for Jen, so we have to acknowledge
this moment in her life rightnow.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And it only lasts a few hours.
It's not like it shuts us down.
I mean, it's like it'll be gonetomorrow, it'll all be.
You know well, it's probablywill never even accumulate, but
anyway, it's good yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah Well, besides the snow, we do have something
really more on point to talkabout today, and if you have
been with us over the pastcouple of weeks, you know that
we're talking through thecharacter of God, his nature and
some of his characteristics,and we are getting to one today.
But before we get there, I havea question to ask of Jen, and
(02:43):
you can totally throw yourfamily members under the bus
with this question.
If you want to, or or or not,if you don't, if you don't feel
that's appropriate, I would.
But so the question is has you,have you or anyone in your
(03:03):
family ever gone to jail?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You asked me that question.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
It ties in with our topic today Snort laughed.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay, well, I'm proud to say I have never been to
jail.
Okay, now, there's nocondemnation.
If you have been to jail andyou are now, you know, saved and
redeemed and you forgiven, butI have never been to jail, I
will say I can't, say I don'tthere's no way that Don't say
the person.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Okay.
So let everybody wonder who itis.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So there was some person in my very close family
One time got caught stealingbubble gum.
But let's, let's just say thatthis person was like maybe nine
years old, eight, nine littlelittle young, okay, okay, bubble
(04:06):
gum, bubble gum, and and andcondoms.
Oh my good lord, I think that'swhat he stole and yeah, yeah.
So here's the thing thathappened.
Another person in our familywho was trying to teach this
young person a lesson, um,marched him may, had the police
(04:27):
take him to the, to the policestation, and like, did the whole
thing?
I mean, they didn't arrest him.
Obviously he was a child andand we paid for it and whatever
happened.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
But, um, but my, they wanted to put the, the
bejeebies in him.
Yeah, yeah, they wanted to showhim.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
My dad.
My dad was like I need to showthis child of mine, who's not me
, the seriousness of this, andso he actually asked the
policeman to like do the things.
Obviously it was a fake thing,but yeah, he went down to the
police station and they did allthe things you know, kind of
(05:04):
faked it Okay.
So the big question is did itwork?
Did it work?
Well, he never actually landedin real jail.
So Okay, that's good yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yes, that is good, so I don't, I guess it did work?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I don't know, but I remember it, I was.
I was a child too, but Iremember thinking, oh my
goodness.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
What's happening right now Happening.
Oh my.
So yeah, that's well.
I don't know if we should putthat in the podcast or not, but
it's kind of a funny story.
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I think it's okay you didn't put any names and that
person probably will never, ever, in a million years, listen to
this podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So we're going with it.
We're going with it.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well, I think that this is a topic that is super
important to all of us, because,whether we have actually landed
in jail or not, we are allguilty of some sin, right,
whether it's like prosecutableor not, we're all guilty of some
(06:11):
sin before God, and how?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
many of y'all have stolen bubble gum.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, I have to say that I was a kid and I stole one
time those little I don't theydon't even have them anymore.
You remember in in theclassroom we did.
You would do like these, theseboards.
The teacher would have a boardand they'd put like words and
and images and stuff.
They would like pin them ontothese boards and then they, the
(06:40):
boards, would have a border.
I don't even know what you wouldcall those borders, but I stole
a roll of that border paperonce from like Winn-Dixie you
know what I'm talking about.
I like put it in my purse.
It's kind of like, because Iwas like, yeah, like the crate
paper, yeah, yes, yes, why, Ihave no idea.
(07:03):
I guess I liked it, I liked theidea, I guess I liked it, I
liked the.
Maybe I wanted to make a posterboard in my room, but I got so
convicted about that.
So so I mean, whether you'vestolen anything or not, you know
we have all.
Everybody has lied.
You know we have all sinned oh,so many sins, so many and right
so many sins and fallen shortof the glory of God.
(07:23):
And, as we know, god is a Godof justice and righteousness and
we have fallen short of thatrighteousness and his justice
demands some sort of recompensefor that, for each and every
time we've fallen short, andthat's kind of a sobering
(07:45):
thought.
We talked about justice alittle bit last week, but we're
going to talk about it a littlebit more this week because it is
such an integral part of whoGod is, because only God is
completely righteous and becauseof his righteousness can carry
out justice.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, yes, and we do focus a lot we talked about this
in a previous episode thismonth about his mercy and his
grace, and that is who he is.
But then there's also thiscomponent of justice that has to
be satisfied and sometimes wedon't like thinking about that
aspect of God, but it's just asimportant to his character, it's
(08:27):
just as essential as the mercy.
It's like I heard a story onetime of like you've got a fence
and I might get this wrong.
You've got a fence and youbreak the fence, you drive
through it, you break the fence,the fence is broken, right?
Well, somebody has to pay forthat fence.
Somebody has to pay the priceto fix the fence.
(08:51):
It's either you or the owner ofthe fence, but the price has to
be paid.
And it's like we have sinnedagainst God.
We have, we've broken the,we've busted the fence, and that
price has to be paid.
And either we have to pay itwhich we can never do, we could
never become righteous and holyon our own or or or it has to be
(09:15):
paid for us, and that's whathappened on the Christ on the
cross.
So, even though there's thisjustice component, we are still
and we deserve the wrath of God,because he is just.
We have this beautifulrighteousness that you know we
could never have apart fromChrist, and yet he pays the
(09:39):
price.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, yeah, it's really amazing to think that he
(10:08):
what's right for you may not beright for me is true.
If that's true, then justice isalso very subjective.
Like there's no standard forjustice if there's no standard
for righteousness and I thinkit's important for us as
believers to know there is astandard of righteousness and
(10:29):
God is the one and only one whosets that standard.
We don't set that standard.
It's not different for me as itis for you.
Like, the standard ofrighteousness is set by God and
it's not negotiable.
And this is a message, it'score and it seems so basic, but
(10:50):
I think it's one.
Like I struggle with this withmy kids.
Even last night we had adiscussion on whether Bonhoeffer
was correct in trying toassassinate Hitler.
Right, we had this wholediscussion last night and some
of these moral things came intoplay into this discussion.
Some of these moral things cameinto play into this discussion.
So I have these conversationswith my kids often, but even at
(11:20):
church this past Sunday, in oursmall group, it came up again
because there were people inthere who are believers, who
want to do God's will, who arelike, well, maybe what's right
for you isn't what's right forme, or maybe what's truth for
you isn't what's right for me,or maybe what's truth for you
may may not be truth for me, andso it's kind of this thinking
weaves into our Christianculture so subtly that you know
(11:45):
it's subjective.
Righteousness is subjective andwe just we can't allow that to
really sway our understanding ofa biblical righteousness.
You know that is set by godright, right, well, and you know
you.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
You said it's foundational and the word even
says that in Psalm.
What is this?
I'm looking at 89.
Psalm 89, 13 says you have amighty arm, strong as your hand,
high your right hand.
But then 14, 89, 14 saysrighteousness and justice are
the foundation of your throne.
(12:25):
So that's the first half ofthat verse.
But then the second halfsteadfast love and faithfulness
go before you.
So it all ties in together.
But that's righteousness andHis justice.
They are foundational.
The Word says it.
They are the foundation of yourthrone.
(12:47):
And you're right.
We live in such a wishy-washyworld that wants to choose their
own truth and what really isjust and what is not.
And it is so important for usto go to the foundation of the
throne and know that it is theGod who is just.
(13:10):
That is the.
That's where the arrow shouldpoint, should point straight to
the truth, which is his truth.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
And I think, ultimately, the reason why this
is so important, the reason whyunderstanding God as the author
of right and wrong is soimportant, is that without that,
we will not see ourselves assinners and we will not see
ourselves in need of a savior.
(13:44):
So we will miss out onsalvation, we will miss out on
eternal security in Jesus Christbecause we think we're okay and
we don't need it.
But if we recognize God is thestandard and the author of
righteousness and we have fallenshort of that standard, then we
(14:06):
are able to see ourselves inneed of the salvation he
graciously supplies.
So that is why it's soimportant for us to understand
and to give Him that authorship.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
And that gets us back to thefact that we are, in fact, if
we're standing before a just God, in our sinful state, which we
talked about at the verybeginning, we are worthy of
damnation, we're worthy of death, we're worthy of nothing more
(14:43):
than that in our sinful state,and that is where the gospel
comes into play.
Sinful state, and that is wherethe gospel comes into play.
When we recognize that, like AJsaid, we recognize that we
can't and we can't do it alone,we can't do it in and of
ourselves.
(15:03):
When we recognize that, that'swhen we fully rely on Christ,
who came in order to satisfy,who came in order to satisfy,
came in order to satisfy thatwrath and to appease a God who
is just.
And that is the only way we cando.
It is by trusting in Him.
And I think that it's importantto know that this is, like I
(15:25):
said, part of God's character.
We've talked about Hischaracter and you cannot
separate Him from these things.
And then you can't separatethese characteristics from God's
love, and sometimes, when wethink of the judge God and the
wrathful God, we forget that thereason for that is because of
(15:46):
His love for us, because, likeAJ said, we wouldn't recognize
our need.
But also, if he were not 100%just not 100% righteous, then we
couldn't trust in his 100% love.
It's all so important.
(16:07):
His love is always just, it'salways righteous and it's all
together, interconnectedtogether.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah, and I think there's an important word it's
one of those gospel words thatyou don't talk about outside of
church, but the wordjustification.
It really ties into his justiceand his righteousness too,
because justification you know,I'm sure you guys have may have
heard the phrase just as if I'dnever sinned.
(16:38):
So it's like we stand blamelessin the sight of God when he
reckons us as justified.
But the thing about that is Godhas made each and every one of
us to need justification, and alot of us will give it to
ourselves.
We will justify ourselves,we'll justify our actions.
(16:58):
I mean, I have one child who itdoesn't matter how big or how
small it is this childconstantly justifies herself and
her actions.
And I've tried to use that as ateaching point to say you know
what You're trying to giveyourself your own justification,
but Christ's justification onyour behalf is what you really
(17:20):
need to turn to.
Just admit that you were wrong.
Admit that you were wrong andreceive the justification that's
available in Christ.
And that is a message that eachand every one of us needs to
grab a hold of, because ourtendency and we see this in
culture our tendency is to comeup with a law that justifies our
(17:42):
sin, right?
Oh, now we've passed a law thatsays I can do X Y Z it's now
morally acceptable.
Law that says I can do X Y Zit's now morally acceptable.
And we come up with ways thatwe can overwrite God's law and
God's rules and God's standardof righteousness so that we can
be accepted and not condemned bypeers around us or by social
(18:05):
networks or by cultural law.
By the legal system.
We will do anything andeverything except confess our
sin and acknowledge before Godthat we are fallen.
And yet confessing andacknowledging that sin is the
only way that we can bejustified by God and receive
(18:28):
true justification.
So I think that justunderstanding the ways we need
God's justice and we need to bejustified personally, and the
ways that we maybe look for itin other, inferior ways, that's
just been a real eye opener forme personally.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, and I think it's just part of understanding
who he is, who God is, andtrying to wrap our brains around
those aspects of Him.
So it leaves us, when we startto understand these things more,
we're freer to live a life ofgrace, to recognize that all of
this is who God is and we cantrust Him.
(19:11):
We can trust Him because weknow that he is just when we are
feeling like injustice is goingunpunished.
We know that he is fully justwhen we remember that our
injustice was reconciled duringthe process of justification.
(19:32):
Then we can live in grace.
So I completely agree, it's notan easy topic to put in a nice
little bow, a tidy bow, butthat's also part of the reason
why I need to reflect on it andthink on it more, so that I can
(19:52):
worship.
And it should bring us to apoint of worship when we think
of these things and we think ofGod's goodness and God's love
and God's mercy, His justice andHis righteousness.
When we think about thesecharacteristics of God, it
should bring us to a place ofworship and praise and gratitude
for that justification andcontinual walking in that day by
(20:19):
day.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, because ultimately it does lead us back
to the cross and that was God'sanswer to his need for justice
and his need to show compassionand love and grace.
They're both combined rightthere and it really is very
sobering and it's liberating andit's joy inspiring.
(20:44):
You know, that's ultimatelywhere we land is with the cross
and the precious blood of.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Christ.
Yeah, he pays for the fencethat we broke.
That's right, okay?
Well, as always, we're going tochallenge you to dig a little
deeper in this.
Think about justice andrighteousness as characteristics
of god.
Look it up in in your bible,see what scriptures point to
(21:12):
that and kind of reflect on it.
Meditate on it this week.
If you are a member of sojo oryou want to join us in sojo,
this is what we are looking atthis week.
If you are a member of Sojo oryou want to join us in Sojo,
this is what we are looking atthis week and we are we're
finishing up this series on thecharacteristics of God and
starting something brand newcoming up next week.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, we are.
Do you want to do you want togive us a sneak peek?
Or do we even know what it is?
Yet we didn't know what it is.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
We've looked at the characteristics of God and we're
going to look at a little bitof the life of Christ or the
work of Christ.
We're going to really focus inon Christ in February and we're
going to do that by looking atone of the Gospels, the Gospel
of Mark, and it's going to begood times.
(22:02):
It's going to be that bylooking at the one of the
gospels gospel of mark, and it'sgoing to be good times.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
It's going to be good times.
There's a lot there.
A lot, yeah, there's a.
There's definitely a lot there,but you can't really get any
better than than looking at theperson of christ.
In my opinion, yeah, exactly so.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
So this is part of our foundations in first quarter
of 2025, looking at thecharacter of God, looking at the
life of Christ and next, and sowe're going to continue to
build and strengthen thatfoundation that we have and grow
(22:34):
in faith and love for Him.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, Well, we invite you guys to join us inside Sojo
Academy.
If you are not a member, youcan find out how to do that at
sojoacademycom, and otherwise wewill be back here with another
episode next week.
See you then.
Bye everybody.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Thank you for listening to the Sojo Show.
We are so grateful that you didand we're so thankful for the
opportunity to spread the goodnews of the gospel in such a fun
and unique way.
If you enjoyed the show, we'dlove it if you would leave us a
rating or review wherever you'relistening to this podcast or
subscribe to the show.
Also, tell your friends.
(23:15):
That's the number one way weget people finding out about who
we are, and we reallyappreciate you sharing Sojo Show
.
We'll be back every Mondaydigging into the truth of God's
word, sharing, laughing,glorifying God in all that we do
and, hopefully, encouragingwomen from all over the world in
(23:37):
the truth of the gospel.
Talk to you, then.
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