Forensic
John 8:31-36
October 27, 2024 anno Domini
Celebrating the Reformation provides an opportunity to learn Lutheran words, even in foreign languages. It’s like Pentecost. Sola Fide. Sola Gratia. Solus Christus. That’s faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone. Simul iustus et peccatur – at the same time saint and sinner. How about some German? Hauptgottesdienst – The Chief Divine Service. In English we can speak about justification and sanctification.
The Lutheran word I want to teach you today is “forensic.” The first meaning that likely comes to mind is forensic science. If you are a fan of Forensic Files or CSI this is the examination of evidence around a crime scene to determine the criminal. That is the most popular definition, but the word forensic has another meaning associated with the courtroom – forensic has to do with legal argumentation and declarations.
Confessional, Biblical Lutherans believe in forensic justification. (That’s 8 syllables if you’re counting and it just sounds smart). Forensic justification means that God in Christ makes a legal declaration about you. God declares that in Christ you are righteous. Because your sins were credited to Christ when He died on the cross, they have been taken away. When you hear this declaration, “Christ Jesus died for your sins” and believe that He did, then you are credited with Christ’s righteousness. He will not treat you as the sinner you are. He is no longer angry at you. You have His favor, as a gift. He declares it and it is so. Just as He said in creation, “Let there be light” and there was light.
This past week I heard a pastor say, “All of life is lived forensically.” His words sparked the seed for my sermon. What did he mean? He meant that each and every one of us wants to be declared favorable, worthy, good, loved, admired. This is what you live for, but sadly you seek it in all the wrong places. You seek it within yourself, from those around you. You seek it from the world and that will lock you up in fear, confusion, and despair.
This is what happened in the text. Jesus told the Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Jesus was doing forensics. He makes a declaration alongside a diagnosis. By abiding in God’s Word, you will listen to what Jesus teaches. Through Jesus teaching you will know the truth and that truth will set you free.
But in that declaration the Jews heard a diagnosis about themselves that they did not want to hear. They were slaves. If the truth will set you free then you must be enslaved to someone or something. That is why they respond, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, “You will become free?”
The Jews were having a forensic identity crisis. They had forgotten that God chose them for the purpose of the world’s salvation and that salvation would come through a descendent of David. From the moment they were set free in Egypt they began to take Gods’ favor and grace for granted. They thought they could do as they pleased and still be, always and forever God’s people. They grumbled in the wilderness, didn’t not drive out the inhabitants of the promised land, worshipped false gods, and beat and killed God’s prophets when they were called to repent.
Jesus was declaring that Israel was not about Israel, and the Jews were not about being the children of Abraham. Instead, Israel and the Jews were about the Christ. God chose them for Christ’s sake. Old Testament Israel ends with the coming of the Christ. Jesus the Christ should have been their glory, their temple, their promised land, but they weren’t having any of it. By the end of John 8 they are picking up stones to throw at God’s Christ, at Jesus.
The Jews found their identity in the blood of Abraham, instead of the blood of Jesus, hence they were still in their sins, still enslaved to death and the Devil. They thought their worth was in being Jewish instead of Jesus.
So where do you find your worth and value? Who or what declares you worthy, good or loved?
When you were little, you looked to your parents. You wanted their approval. They told you how big you were. How you were growing. How smart you were. Their declarations gave you worth, value, happiness.
As you grew up you continued to live forensically but it was harder. Your grades in school declared something about you. If you were picked first or last for sports teams. If you graduated with honors. Consider how many youth sports have changed so no one is declared a loser or a winner. Score is not kept. Runs are not counted. Why? Because children live forensically. Equity means losers get to win and winners must lose the rewards of their success.
If you get married, you live or die by the declarations of your spouse. If you are criticized, you try to justify your actions. If the criticism continues, you’ll feel shame and worthlessness. The words you speak to your spouse and the words you hear from your spouse have forensic power.
You may have been very successful at your work or in business. You may have gone bankrupt or lost money in a scam or bad investment. What does that earn you? Forensic blessings if you succeed. Forensic shame if you fail.
All of social media is driven by forensics – how many friends do you have? How many likes? How many comments? How many clicks? You declare the best of you and worst of others.
Even the church lives forensically. The number one question I am asked as a pastor is “how big is your church?” The second question is “Is it growing?” My church has 1/3 the members of when I arrived 23 years ago. What does that declare about me? Or about my members?
Here’s the forensic problem. You are a sinner living in a fallen world where the Devil drives the forensics. If your parents got divorced the devil declares that you were to blame. If you got picked last or struggled with school or were bullied by others the Devil declares you unworthy of love or respect. The forensics don’t stop in childhood. You live by the declarations of your family, your work, society, and you die by the same.
And it isn’t just the declarations of others, it’s also your own conscience. You know your sins, the worst ones, the nagging ones, the favorite ones. God Himself has declared to you what sin is. Jesus told the Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” The Devil will use that same knowledge to declare you unfit for God’s love, of no value or worth to Him.
The Reformation celebrates the one declaration that matters, the one that stands and will never let you fall — God’s forensic justification of the sinner, of you. In Christ, God reconciled the world to himself, not counting your sins against you. (2 Cor 5:18) He counted them against Christ. He declared Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Christ Jesus died for your sins and three days later the Father raised His Son from the dead. That’s the declaration. Christ is raised from the dead and that means your sins are forgiven. It’s an historical fact. It’s not subject to change. It’s always true. Always there. Always yours.
Here’s why it stands. It isn’t based on what you do or don’t do. It isn’t based on your successes and failures. It isn’t based on your struggles with sin and your feeble sanctification. It isn’t based on what other people think of you or how the world regards you or even your own opinion of yourself. This forensic justification is completely outside of you. It’s God’s work. He sent His Son into the womb of Mary and into the depths of hell at the cross. The Son of God has taken away your sins. He has been raised from the dead. You’re forgiven. By that declaration God has made you His child, not just acceptable, but lovely in His eyes, His delight and joy. He’s written you into the will. Life and the resurrection are yours.
That’s the declaration Luther restored to the Church. It’s what we Lutherans stand on to this day. It is what every person needs to deal with his own sin, shame, failures, and even successes. You cannot and will not live by what others declare of you, even by your own self-declarations. The only declaration that matters is that forensic declaration God has made in Christ. Christ Jesus has taken away your sins and been raised from the dead. Believe that and you have it, all of it. In the name of Jesus Amen.