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CHAPTER 1
JUSTIFICATION
Introduction
We know. We have lived with ourselves for some time
and we don't like ourselves as we are. Others don't always
like us either. However, the crucial question is, "What does
GOD think about us?"
Paul's Discovery
Saul of Tarsus made an outstanding discovery. This
discovery changed his life radically for the better. The
personal change was so deep that his name was changed to
Paul. He later became the Apostle Paul, the chief spokesman
for Christianity. Paul penned the Epistle to the Romans.
He records,
But now a righteousness from God, apart from
law, has been made known, to which the Law and the
Prophets testify. This righteousness from God
comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who be-
lieve. There is no difference, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and are justi-
fied freely by his grace through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a
sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his
blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice,
because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to
demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as
to be just and the one who justifies those who
have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26, NIV).
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, NIV)
The book of Romans contains the spiritual autobiography of
Paul. Paul had been a Pharisee and as such believed in the
resurrection, the supernatural and the inspiration of the
Old Testament. He had been trying to earn salvation and
right standing with God by his own good works. However,
there must have been a nagging doubt in the mind of Paul
that drove him into frenzied activity. How much of the Law
must one keep in order to be in a right relationship with
God? The answer, of course, is that one must have always
kept the Law and then he must keep it perpetually. Paul
discovered that no one can keep the entire Law of God. [See
John E. Russell, THE CONVERSON OF PAUL (Garden City, MO:
Russell Communications, 1995).]
Autosoteric Religion
Most people assume that they meet God's requirements
when they do their best to keep the golden rule. They are
trusting in their own efforts to please God. We CANNOT save
ourselves.
James adds that any infraction of the Law of God vio-
lates the Lawgiver himself:
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles
at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also
said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adul-
tery but do commit murder, you have become a law-
breaker. (James 2:10-11, NIV).
Further investigation reveals that the standard by
which we are judged is not some relative standard arrived at
by human consensus, but by the person of God himself. People
often compare themselves with one another--it doesn't work.
Note that God's standard extends beyond human EXTERNAL
actions and speech. God said that we must be INTERNALLY
ABSOLUTELY morally pure as he is:
I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to
be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
(Leviticus 11:45, NIV).
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy
in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, be-
cause I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16, NIV).
In summary, all of us have (1) Broken God's Laws by acts
and speech; (2) Violated the Lawgiver; and (3) Our hearts
are sinful. (4) God himself is the standard of holiness to
which we must attain--not some human norm. And we all fall
short of God's personal holiness. (5) We cannot attain the
moral perfection of God by self-effort. God himself must
make us holy.
How Do We Become Acceptable to God?
How can a human being get into right standing with God?
How can one meet God's standard? Paul met Christ on the
road to Damascus and personally experienced that for which
he had so zealously contended: his own right standing with
God.
In the Old Testament, God revealed himself as YAHWEH-
TSIDKENU, "the Lord Our Righteousness":
"The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely and do what is just
and right in the land. In his days Judah will be
saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the
name by which he will be called: THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5-6, NIV).
In this prophecy concerning the Messiah, God revealed that
he himself is our sole source of righteousness.
In the New Testament, both the words "justification"
and "righteousness" come from a common Greek word root. The
adjective DIKAIOS is translated "righteous," whereas, the
verb form DIKAIOO is translated "justify." [Ralph Earle,
WORD MEANINGS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, 6 vols. (Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 1974), vol. 3: ROMANS, p. 74]. DIKAIOO
occurs thirty-nine times in the New Testament (twenty-seven
times in Paul's writings) and its cognates occur about two
hundred times, establishing justification by faith as one of
the most important truths in the New Testament. [See Ralph
Earle, WORD MEANINGS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, 6 vols. (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), vol. 4: CORINTHIANS,
GALATIANS, AND EPHESIANS, pp. 188-189]. The word "righteous-
ness" means to have the same standing with God that Jesus
has. (THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 1967 ed.,
s.v. "DIKAIOSUNE in Paul," by Gottlob Schrenk).
Three Aspects of Our Salvation
There are three aspects of our salvation: (1) Justifi-
cation; (2) Sanctification; and (3) Glorification. Justifi-
cation is OBJECTIVE, that is, it happens in the mind of God.
God makes a legal declaration that the believer is set right
with himself. [Henry Clarence Thiessen, LECTURES IN SYSTEM-
ATIC THEOLOGY, rev. Vernon D. Doerksen (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1979), p. 273. Cf. Schrenk, "DIKAIOSUNE
in Paul" and Earle, ROMANS, pp. 74-77; Earle, CORINTHIANS,
GALATIANS, AND EPHESIANS, pp. 188-190].
Earle, after discussing positions by Cremer, Abbot-
Smith, Burton (ICC), Thayer, Sanday and Headlam, Schrenk,
and Vincent, warns of the error of holding to a mere doc-
trine of IMPUTED righteousness without IMPARTED righteous-
ness. In other words, if one has not experienced the new
birth, he has not been justified either.
Sanctification is SUBJECTIVE, that is, it happens with-
in the believer. Sanctification consists of both crisis and
progressive experiences whereby the believer is conformed
more and more into the image of Christ, while in this life.
Glorification will be a subjective experience. Glori-
fication will occur at the resurrection at which time the
Lord will make the believer's soul and body perfect and im-
mortal.
Paul teaches that we shall have a new mind:
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;
then we shall see face to face. Now I know in
part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully
known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV).
In Corinth, the mirrors were polished metal, unlike our high
fidelity silvered glass mirrors. Reason will be restored to
our minds and our minds will be sin-free. Our understanding
will be greatly improved and we will grasp things that are
mysteries to us now. We will have the same type of knowledge
that Christ has.
Paul does not try to explain what our glorified bodies
will be like except to say that they are real and superior
to what we now have. He explains the necessity of this body
passing away in order to receive a perfect one. He presents
several analogies then says,
So will it be with the resurrection of the
dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is
raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is
raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is
raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is
raised a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44,
NIV).
So, we can say (1) that God has saved us--he Justified
us; (2) that God is saving us--he is Sanctifying us; and
(3) that God will save us--he will Glorify us.
Components of Justification
There are at least four major aspects of justification:
(1) God alone justifies the sinner, based solely
on the sacrifice of his Son.
(2) We are justified by faith in Christ alone,
and not by our works.
(3) God forgives our sins.
(4) God imputes Christ's righteousness to us.
The Dynamics of Justification
The believer in Christ is justified by faith alone.
And, just as important, the believer is kept justified by
faith alone. One cannot earn righteousness by good deeds or
right conduct--righteousness is a gift. If one could earn
righteousness, then he would not need Christ.
One cannot grow into righteousness or justification.
The believer is just as righteous as he will ever be the
moment he believes! (One grows in the knowledge of Christ
and in sanctification.)
Justification occurs in the mind of God whereas the new
birth occurs in the believer:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
A later chapter will deal with the new birth.
Also, one does not keep Christ's imputed righteousness
(or remain justified) by keeping the Law. How much of the
Law would one have to keep in order to stay justified? Of
course the answer is one would have to keep 100 percent of
the letter of the Law as well as the spirit of the Law, all
the time! Since the standard is the absolute moral perfec-
tion of God and not relativistic human standards, only the
continued imputed righteousness of Christ will satisfy the
justice of God!
Life is not static, but ongoing and dynamic. How does
one maintain a right relationship with God? Does he keep
the Law of God in order to remain justified? Even if it
were possible to keep the known Law of God, one would break
the unknown Law of God. David implies that all are guilty of
secret sins (unknown or subethical sins) as well as known
sins (presumptuous sins):
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden
faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me. (Psalm 19:12-13, NIV).
If it were possible to avoid sins of commission (known and
unknown sins), would we miss the mark with sins of omission
(failing to do what is right in given circumstances)?
Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do
and doesn't do it, sins. (James 4:17, NIV).
Even if one could flawlessly execute proper conduct and
speech, how can one change his own internal sinful state?
Can the Adamic nature be changed by self-effort? The answer
is obvious: one can no more keep himself justified as he can
justify himself initially.
God keeps us justified on the condition of our continu-
ed believing. The dynamic aspect of our justification rests
on the same basis as our initial justification. "But," some-
one will say, "What about my sinning after I was saved?
Somehow, I don't feel as clean as I did right after being
saved." John answers,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and purify us from all un-
righteousness. (1 John 1:9, NIV).
If the believer is cleansed from ALL unrighteousness, then
he is righteous. "Partly righteous" or "partly justified"
is self-contradictory. We must take God at his word and not
be discouraged. We must let our moral failures drive us TO
God for restoration, rather than AWAY from God.
Jesus died for the sins of the believer:
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,
so that we might die to sins and live for right-
eousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
(1 Peter 2:24, NIV).
God has forgiven our sins and has forgotten them:
. . ."Their sins and lawless acts I will remember
no more." (Hebrews 10:17, NIV).
We should forget them, too. Perhaps the reader will remem-
ber the old Sunday School acrostic, "It is JUST-AS-IF-I'D
never sinned."
The reader has probably seen the "bumper-sticker" re-
minder, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven sinners."
This is true, but we must go further.
Christians receive the positive right standing that
Christ has with God. This very important, positive aspect of
justification must be understood today. Paul publishes the
good news:
For it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you con-
fess and are saved. (Romans 10:10, NIV).
After one believes in Christ as Lord and Savior, God then
imputes Christ's righteousness to the believer on the basis
of Christ's work alone:
For if, by the trespass of the one man [Adam],
death reigned through that one man, how much more
will those who receive God's abundant provision of
grace and of the GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS [Italics
Mine] reign in life through the one man, Jesus
Christ. (Romans 5:17-19, NIV).
It is the ultimate experience of freedom to have a settled
knowledge that God's GIFT of righteousness belongs to all
who trust Christ. Righteousness or justification is unearn-
ed, because we cannot earn it--it is a gift. Worry about
our relationship with God is removed. That God should love
us to that extent is amazing!
On the other hand, the untaught believer is kept in
bondage because he does not understand that God views him as
having Christ's righteousness. The low self-esteem that
results inhibits achievement, produces an ineffective prayer
life and opens the door to discouragement.
God wants us to reign in this life, right now!
Could such an untaught believer come before God boldly
as God tells him to do?
Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help us in our time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16, NIV).
God and a knowledge of his Word give us the "ability to
stand in the presence of God without the sense of sin, guilt
or inferiority." [E. W. Kenyon, THE FATHER AND HIS FAMILY
(Seattle, WA: Kenyon's Gospel Publishing Society, 1964), p.
219].
James gives Elijah as an example of a righteous man:
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed
earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not
rain on the land for three and a half years. Again
he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the
earth produced its crops. (James 5:17-18).
Elijah is a man with whom one can identify. He was "up and
down" emotionally in his relationship with God: calling
fire down from heaven and outrunning the king's chariot one
minute and running from a woman the next. He performed
miracles one minute and wanted to die the next. Why did not
James choose Daniel or Joseph as examples of righteous men?
Daniel and Joseph were stable and had no recorded sin in
their lives. The answer lies in the basis of justification
by faith--all the saints of the Bible were justified on the
same basis as the believer is justified today--by faith
alone.
One must receive the Word of God into his heart and
take the Word of God over human opinion. IT IS A SIN TO SAY
ANYTHING LESS ABOUT ONESELF THAN WHAT GOD SAYS.
If you have not received Christ as your Savior, do so
now. Do not put it off another moment. Go to the next
chapter if you need help.
ASSIGNMENT: THEN, TELL A FRIEND THAT GOD HAS JUSTIFIED
YOU AND THAT YOU NOW HAVE CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. MAKE 2
CORINTHIANS 5:21 PERSONAL BY CONFESSING IT ALOUD:
God made Christ who had no sin to be sin for me,
therefore, in Christ, I have become the righteous-
ness of God. (Based on 2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV).
Read and meditate on the scriptures in this chapter on
justification for one week every night before going to bed.
END
