Justification and You

What does the word ‘justification’ mean to you? And as a believer in Christ, can you explain this fundamental truth to another if they asked you to?

If you are honest about your Christian faith, you will be truthful about the state of the foundation of your faith. Is Christ your foundation? Or is your faith trusting in ‘another Jesus’ and another gospel that is not in the bible? It is important that as a Christian you, revisit foundational truths using the lens of the Holy Spirit. Reflect upon how these truths have impacted your daily walk before God. Realign your heart’s focus onto Jesus so that you can combat spiritual deception. Know foundational truths and secure your life upon them. It is based upon these points; I want to define a simple but impactful biblical term called ‘justification’ What is justification? and what does a justified life look like?

So let us begin.

The word justification comes from the Greek word ‘dikaiósis’ which is a legal term that defines God declaring a sinner free from guilt and making them righteous before his sight.

God’s law is God-centred. I say this because God’s law reflects his will for humanity and his holy character. For this reason, God must uphold the rule of his law that governs his creation. To do this, he must judge any violation of his commands, fairly and impartially, and consider all evidence and legal arguments before reaching a decision as to whether the accused is guilty or not.

He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 17:15

To help you understand this term better, I am going to illustrate to you a court of law. In a court of law, the accused, has rights to a legal representative who will stand in for, or act on the behalf of them before a judge during a trial. Representation plays a crucial role in teaching us how justice operates. For example, representation ensures that all parties present in a case are able to fully present their side of the story, this ensures fairness and equality. The representation must, demonstrate competence. Legally, any person representing another in a legal case must possess the necessary skills, knowledge, and ability to do so acceptably. Otherwise, they will be declared incompetent to stand before the judge. Representation must be loyal and remain committed to representing the best interests of both parties and both parties must trust and respect the representative who is pleading their case. The integral character of the representative reveals their commitment to serve ,and this commitment will increase their chances of winning the case. What the judge declares is the final judgement. If the judge finds the accused, ‘not guilty’ in a court of law, that verdict acts as a declaration that the accused is ‘justified’ in the eyes of the law. They are no longer punishable by that charge. All guilt has been removed.

Now, let us look at these legal basics in the light of God's word, and see how a justice system can help explain God’s act of justification.

God the justifier, Jesus Christ the representative, Mankind the accused.

“Knowing that a man is not justified [declared righteous] by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Galatians 2:16).

Jesus is the person who God uses to solve our human predicament: humanity stands guilty before a just God, condemned to death ( Romans 3: 26). Under God’s law, sin is repulsive and anyone who is fraternising with sin is guilty of rejecting God and his holy commands. It is because of this guilt, God himself, finds himself caught up in a legal bind, where he must find a righteous way to be a just God and justify sinners (Romans 3:24-26). To our natural minds this seems impossible, however with God nothing is impossible. So, how does our righteous God solve this divine dilemma?

1. God must be fair and just: God’s word is who he is and his word will not contradict his perfect character. He must be fair in his judgements and not overlook humanities sin because if he does, he will be exalting one attribute of his character more than another. A perfect God is consistent in his ways . Just because he loves us does not mean he must not judge us.
2. God looks at the evidence: There is no punishment without law. God does not excuse or overlook the sin of his people. Sin is the transgression of God’s law and that transgression must be judged.
God looks at the defendant: Sinful humanity are deserving of God’s wrath (Romans 3: 23, Ephesians 2:3, Romans 6: 23).God gives us legal representation in the life of Jesus Christ. As a mediator, Jesus bridges the gap that sin created between God and man. (1 Timothy 2:5).
3. Competency: God raised up a human ‘sinless’ representative to act on our behalf. It is Jesus ‘sinlessness’ and godly mindset that makes him competent to stand before God our Father and righteous Judge.
Jesus bears the sins of his people. Jesus remained sinless despite carrying our guilt. Romans 5: 9 says that we are justified by the blood of Jesus. Jesus is our representation before God and legal substitute: In obedience to his Father, Jesus came into the world to suffer on the cross for us (1 Peter 2:24). Isaiah calls him the suffering servant because sinful humanities guilt was transferred and placed onto him (Isaiah 53:5-6,11). Our judgement for sin is met in Christ on the cross.
4. Forgiveness: In the life of Jesus God found a way to forgive humanity. The death and resurrection of Jesus satisfied the wrath of God. God could now pardon the ungodly. This act of God made ‘him who knew no sin become sin for us’ ( 2 Corinthians 5:21).
5. Imputed Righteousness: In order to declare a people justified, God had to remove the guilt of their transgression, and make an ungodly people righteous. He does this by crediting to their life Christ’s righteousness.
Faith: Romans 5:1 states that we are justified by faith. Jesus has paid the price for our sins. Now we must have faith in the finished work of the cross. Remembering that it is because of Jesus we are made right in the sight of God when we believe in his Son Jesus (Romans 3: 26).Verdict Changed: The accused is Not Guilty. The righteousness of Christ imputed to all ‘believers’ declares them not guilty before the eyes of God. God changes their status from being guilty and condemned to being innocent and righteous, by crediting Christ’s moral righteousness to them. This is a crucial point: because justification is about a status change not about a change of nature. Our legal right standing before God, is made possible because of the righteous character of Christ that has been credited to all believers and this credit grants us a righteous status before God Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:1-5; 5:19).

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Philippians 3:9 KJV

So what are the benefits of a justified life?

• An active faith: God justifies (Romans 8;33). Nothing you can do will be able to change your legal standing before God. It is only when we believe in Jesus Christ, can God declare us justified. A justified life, is a life that is saved by grace through faith. You (The Just) must live by faith ( Romans 1: 17) .
• Forgiveness: You must believe that our just God has declared you innocent because of the shed blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7). You must believe that your sins are forgiven and in same manner you too must have a forgiving heart.
• The Righteousness of Christ should be evident in your life. You will demonstrate a personal commitment to follow God’s commands and you will desire to live in a way that reflects the character of Christ. This is evident when one’s own desires are put to one side as you seek to please God.
• Peace with God: Romans 8:7 reminds us of the fact that our carnality is enmity with God. By removing the guilt of our sinfulness. You are now spiritually reconciled with your heavenly father.
• Access into the presence of God. Sin separated man from God. But, now because of the blood of Jesus, we can come into the presence of God.
• Acquittal: You are no longer guilty of sin. Jesus paid the price for our sin on the cross ( past judgement). There is no longer condemnation for believers in Christ ( Romans 8:1). Stop beating yourself up about the sins of yesterday and start living as a free man in ‘Christ Jesus’
• Salvation from future punishment. If you believe in Jesus, you will receive eternal life and be saved from an eternal judgement ( John 3:16) .

Justification is an act of God, where he declares sinners free from guilt and righteous in His sight through his grace and our faith in Christ Jesus. No self-effort that you and I will do can make us justified. Now that we know about what justification is, I want to ask you a question: If I were to ask you to explain justification to another person, could you?