How can we be loved and accepted by others? Shouldn't we make ourselves more lovable to achieve this? We want to become more attractive and captivating.
That's what every commercial tells us, and social media constantly bombards us with content encouraging us to do the same.
But before God, it is the opposite.
As Martin Luther said, before God, the broken and broken are “loved and lovable.” “They are not loved because they are lovable before God.” In other words, God does not love people because they have made themselves perfect.
Rather, God loves those who have failed.
And the love they receive transforms them into fragrant people.


This little book is about standing righteous before God.
Here I would like to talk about the center of the Christian gospel, namely, ‘justification.’
Those who have come to know the truth of this grace have realized that it gives an indescribably sweet freedom.
It is a testimony that has continued unchanged for centuries.
William Tyndale called justification “good news, glad and joyful, that makes the heart sing and dance and leap for joy.”
Thomas Bilney found that the truth brought him “a strange comfort and serenity that made my broken bones leap for joy.”
Charles Wesley said, “My chains are broken, and my soul is set free.”
“I got up, I went out, I followed the Lord,” he sang.
If you haven't yet discovered the amazing freedom that truth brings, I hope you will now.
---From Chapter 1

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French reformer John Calvin used the story of Jacob to explain how this grace is given.

Jacob, not being worthy of the birthright, hid in his brother's clothes and wore a cloak that smelled like his brother's to gain his father's favor (Gen. 27:27).
He pretended to be the eldest son and tried to take the blessings that belonged to the eldest son for himself.
Likewise, we hide under the precious purity of our elder brother, Jesus Christ, in order to appear righteous in the eyes of God.
… … That is indeed so.
In order to come before God's face and attain salvation, we must put on the fragrance of Christ and give off a sweet odor.
And our vices must be hidden and covered by the perfection of Christ.

Calvin traced the biblical theme back to Eden.
Adam and Eve made clothing for themselves out of humble fig leaves (Gen. 3:7), but God, in his goodness, instead made clothing out of the skins of the first sacrifice and clothed them (Gen. 3:21).
Likewise, we do not need to go through the vain effort of dressing ourselves with our own efforts to face God.
We can come before God truly and completely clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
To be justified means to go before God the Father not with one's own righteousness, but with the righteousness of my eldest brother who is completely righteous.

---From Chapter 3