What justification is not:
- It is not a reward for anything good we have done.
- It is not something in which we cooperate with God. (It is not sanctification.)
- It is not infused righteousness which results in good works which become the basis of justification (the Mormon and Catholic concept of justification).
- It is not accomplished apart from the satisfaction of God’s justice, i.e., it is not unjust.
- It is not subject to degrees—one cannot be more or less justified; one can only be fully justified or fully unjustified.
What justification is:
- Justification is an undeserved free gift of God’s mercy( 3:24; Titus 3:7).
- Justification is entirely accomplished by God, once for all. (It is not a process like personal sanctification, but knowledge of it does help produce sanctification.)
- James Packer said:
This justification, though individually located at the point of time at which a man believes (Rom. 4:3; 5:1), is an eschatological once-for-all divine act, the final judgment brought into the present. The justifying sentence, once passed, is irrevocable. “The Wrath” (Rom. 5:9) will not touch the justified. Those accepted now are secure forever.
The means of Justification:
- By God: He is the author or donor of justification (Rom.8:33-34).
“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
- By grace: Grace is the foundation or source of justification (Rom.3:24).
“And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
- By Blood: Blood is the foundation or ground of justification (Rom5:9).
“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”
- By Resurrection: Resurrection is the acknowledgement or proclamation of justification. (Rom.4:25).
“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
Justification involves an imputed righteousness entirely apart from works:
- The righteousness of God Himself has been given to the believer. It has nothing to do with a person’s own righteousness ( 4:5, 6, 17-25).
- It is not only that God overlooks our sin and guilt, but also that full and entire holiness is credited to our account.
- Bruce Milne describes the transaction this way: Our justification is not simply a matter of God’s overlooking our guilt; our need can be met only if righteousness, full and entire holiness of character, is credited to us. This is the amazing gift of grace. Christ’s law-keeping and perfect righteousness are made ours by faith in Him (1 Cor. 1:30; 3:9).
- It is not simply that our abysmal failure in life’s moral examination is overlooked; we pass with 100%, First Class Honours! Well may Athanasius speak of “the amazing exchange” whereby, as Calvin puts it, “the Son of God though spotlessly pure took upon Himself the ignominy and shame of our sin and in return clothes us with His purity.”
- Righteousness is imputed because the believer actually is united to Christ.
- In other words, because the believer is “in Christ,” the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. Justification is the subsequent legal recognition of that fact. We are declared righteous. We nowhave perfect righteousness before God legally.
- He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
- JI Packer said: To “justify” in the Bible means to “declare righteous”: to declare, that is, of a man on trial, that he is not liable to any penalty, but is entitled to all the privileges.
- Paul’s synonyms for “justify” are “reckon (impute) righteousness,” “forgive (more correctly, remit) sins” ( 4:5-8) conferring a legal status and cancelling a legal liability.
- Justification is a judgment passed on man, not a work wrought within man. God’s gift of a status and a relationship to himself.