Track 6- Justified

"Justified"
by Joshua Huff

Verse 1

To gain a people, a holy bride,

Christ was humbled and left His Father's side.

He lived and died to honor God alone

And now He sits beside Him at His throne.

From every nation, from every tongue,

Soon all before Him will bow down to the Son;

For He is King over earth and heav'n,

And to the Kingdom there will be no end.

Chorus:

The wrath of God is satisfied for us,

Christ's sacrifice has proven He is just.

The death He died has given us new life.

Christ paid the price, now we can be justified.

Verse 2:

Though we were fallen and dead in sin

He called a people that could not choose Him.

And if he calls, we cannot reject

For with His blood He saved our souls from death.

This gift of grace that paid the price for me

Has cleansed my heart and set me free.

In bondage I was chained a slave to sin,

But now my will is captive, owed to Him.

This song has gone through more changes than any other song I've written. I began working on it in 2003 while I was in college. As a part of the band that led chapel I was exposed to a wide variety of music, some good and some not so good. While our little group was picking music for the upcoming semester we talked in length about the song Above All and how it was a pretty good song, but could use a second verse. I took on the challenge and came up with a pretty in-your-face verse 2 that clearly outlined the 5 points of Calvinism, or the Doctrines of Grace (doctrines that aren't the most popular at my former college).

We did the song in chapel as a second verse to Above All and got some pretty negative responses, so it was shelved for a time. After I graduated from college, I began writing a bit more. In 2006 I was working on a song and came up with the chorus for what is now Justified. I added a modified version of the verse I wrote for Above All with a few more lines added in and Justified was born.

I have to say, this is one of my favorite songs. I think it clearly outlines the beauty of the Doctrines of Grace which are near and dear to my heart. I love singing about how lost I am without Christ and how much Christ has done to enable me to be a part of His family. The chorus says it all: "The wrath of God is satisfied for us..." This is the theme of one of the most important paragraphs in all of scripture, Romans 3:21-26. Because of Christ, God's demand for justice was satisfied and God also made his children right. In one fell swoop our sin was paid for and our relationship with God was healed. This truth should constantly bring joy to our hearts and make us want to exalt God for all He has done for us, an undeserving people.

The style of this song is very different from your typical worship song. I love the sound of major seven chords, so this song has a lot of them. They give the feeling of a comfortable tension in that they aren't your typical chord, yet they still sound complete and leave you wanting some more resolution. This is the same with the Doctrines of Grace. They satisfy us for now and we have to be content that there is a little tension mixed in there what we won't fully understand.

This is also the heaviest song on the album. If we can't use electric guitars and drums to praise God for His wrath being satisfied then we are in a sorry state. I praise God for the diversity of this band and how we can praise God for the whole range of emotions (affections) that are stirred because of the truths of the gospel.