Justification

What is meant by the term justification?

• Simply put, to justify is to declare righteous. Justification is an act of God whereby He pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ. According to one theologian, “the root idea in justification is the declaration of God, the righteous judge, that the man who believes in Christ, sinful though he may be, is righteous—is viewed as being righteous, because in Christ he has come into a righteous relationship with God” (Ladd, G. E., A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans, 1974, p. 437).

• The words justify, justification, righteous, righteousness, just, right, meet, are all translations of the same Greek root.

• It is a legal term signifying acquittal in a court case.

• Properly understood, justification has to do with God's declaration about the sinner, not any change within the sinner. The actual change towards holiness in the sinner occurs with sanctification which is related to but distinct from justification.

Lexicon :: Strong's G1347 – dikaiōsis - Noun

• the act of God declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to him

• abjuring to be righteous, justification

Lexicon :: Strong's G1345 – dikaiōma - neuter noun

• that which has been deemed right so as to have force of law.

  • what has been established, and ordained by law, an ordinance.

  • a judicial decision, sentence

    • of God

      • either the favorable judgment by which he acquits man and declares them acceptable to Him

      • unfavorable: sentence of condemnation

• a righteous act or deed

  
  

Lexicon :: Strong's G1344 – dikaioō - verb

• to render righteous or such he ought to be.

• to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered.

• to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be.

An act of God

• Romans 5:12-21 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification[G1345]. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification[G1347] and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

• Philippians 3:9 “And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”

• Romans 8:30 “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified[G1344], and those whom he justified[G1344] he also glorified.”

• Justification is a completed work of God, and it is instantaneous, as opposed to sanctification, which is an ongoing process of growth by which we become more Christlike (the act of “being saved,” cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Sanctification occurs after justification.

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We are justified apart from works

• Galatians 2:16-17 “Yet we know that a person is not justified[G1344] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified[G1344] by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified[G1344]. But if, in our endeavor to be justified[G1344] in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!”

• Titus 3:4-7 “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, So that being justified[G1344] by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

• Romans 3:20 “For by works of the law no human being will be justified[G1344] in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

• Galatians 3:2-9 “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify[G1344] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

We are Justified by Faith

• Romans 3:26-28 “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified[G1344] by faith apart from works of the law.”

• Romans 4:24-25 “It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification[G1347].”

• Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified[G1344] by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

• Galatians 3:11 “Now it is evident that no one is justified[G1344] before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

• Galatians 3:23-26 “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified[G1344] by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

Points of clarification

• Justification comes apart from the law; that is, we cannot earn justification through rule-keeping or our own good works.

• Justification is made possible in the sacrificial death of Christ; it is based on the shed blood of Christ.

• Justification is the free and gracious gift of God bestowed on those who receive by faith the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

• Justification demonstrates the righteousness of God.

Is justification just? If He is holy, how can God forgive a guilty sinner?

• Justification does not excuse our sin, ignore our sin, or endorse our sin. Rather, our sin is fully punished, Christ having taken our penalty for us. He was our substitute (1 Peter 3:18). Because the wrath of God is satisfied in Christ (Isaiah 53:4–6), we are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1), and God remains both “fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 NLT).

Why is justification by faith such an important doctrine?

• It is what separates biblical Christianity from all other belief systems. In every religion, and in some branches of what is called “Christianity,” man is working his way to God. Only in true, biblical Christianity is man saved as a result of grace through faith. Only when we get back to the Bible do we see that justification is by faith, apart from works.

• Without an understanding of justification by faith alone, we cannot truly perceive the glorious gift of grace—God’s “unmerited favor” becomes “merited” in our minds, and we begin to think we deserve salvation. The doctrine of justification by faith helps us maintain “pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Holding to justification by faith keeps us from falling for the lie that we can earn heaven. There is no ritual, no sacrament, no deed that can make us worthy of the righteousness of Christ. It is only by His grace, in response to our faith, that God has credited to us the holiness of His Son. Both Old and New Testaments say, “The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

• The 2019 Catechism of the Catholic Church In section 1129 reads “The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation.”

• In section 1987 “The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" and through Baptism:” and then in section 1992 “Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith.” Meaning justification is bestowed or granted through baptism.

• In Section 2010 “Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.”

Related to God’s justification of the sinner are several things:

• 1) The remission of the penalty of sin, which was death (Romans 3:23; 8:1; 1 Peter 2:24).

• 2) The restoration to God’s favor, which had been lost due to our sin (John 3:36). So, justification is more than an acquittal; it is full acceptance. We are now friends of God (James 2:23) and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

• 3) The imputation of righteousness, which is the reckoning of Christ’s righteousness to our account (Romans 4:5–8). We are declared to be righteous forensically (legally) because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

• (The preceding three points are adapted from Henry Thiessen’s Lectures in Systematic Theology, revised by Vernon Doerksen, Eerdmans, 1979, pp. 275–277).

Additional resources

• https://youtu.be/zVgzcehLkeo