WiW: Legalese

The owner of the House of Dreams is a lawyer–which means our lease is super-official with all sorts of legalese.

This Agreement of Lease is made and entered into with reference to the following facts:
1. Lessor is the owner of those certain residential premises commonly known as the House of Dreams.
2. Lessees desire to lease from Lessor the said premises, and the Lessor is willing to lease the same to Lessees upon the terms and provisions hereinafter set forth.

And on and on it goes.

Legalese isn’t that exciting–at least, not to me–but this bit is exciting, because in the end, when we signed our names, we had possession of the House of Dreams.

Yesterday, in our celebration of Reformation Sunday (at my new church–which I absolutely LOVE), we talked and read about a different kind of legal term, a term which grants us something far greater than the House of Dreams.

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whome God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
~Romans 3:21-26

Yesterday, we read of justification. A legal term. Being legally declared righteous. A legal term that grants Christ’s righteousness to anyone who through faith in Christ Jesus receives God’s grace.

There is no legal term more precious to my ear than this. No truth that has transformed my life more than this.

That God in His grace grants justification to sinners–myself, the worst.

Yesterday, we celebrated the day Martin Luther pounded his 95 theses onto the doors of Wittenberg chapel, sparking the Reformation that changed the world. And its rallying cry was a legal term: justification.

Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Hallelujah, what a salvation!

Collect more quotes from throughout the week with Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”.