It is one thing to be forgiven and quite another to be justified. While forgiveness is the most easily understood of the five aspects of our great salvation, justification is probably the least. Many believers say they believe they are justified in God’s sight, but their manner of life betrays doubt or outright unbelief. What is it about justification that lends itself to misunderstanding and unbelief?
Justification is a legal word that might be best translated “made right with God.” In fact, the New Living Translation does this for us.
Therefore, since we have been [justified] made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1 (NLT) Justification is a judicial declaration of our innocence before God at judgment, a big “not guilty!”
Through justification God the Father fully includes us in Christ’s right standing with him that was earned through a life of perfect obedience all the way to death on the cross.
Justification is the result of an exchange whereby our sins and guilt fell upon Christ and his right standing with the Father was given to us.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
The stark reality is that Jesus assumed the guilt and punishment for our sin to the degree that he actually “became” sin. For a short time, Jesus’ identify changed from being the Son in whom the Father was well pleased into sin itself. That is about the best I understand this mystery.
Think of justification as a sort of witness protection program. God gives us a new identity in Christ.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NASB) Our old identity as a inveterate rebel was removed. Our new identify has no record of past sins, criminal activity, convictions, or punishment. Our new identity states that we have lived with unblemished obedience to God.
This is difficult for us to believe because we are well aware of our many faults, which continue to this day. We may find it believable that our past sins have been erased, but what about the ones I commit today or tomorrow? Are they too expunged? Do I have a “free pass” to sin at will from now on? This is where many people stop believing in justification and slip back into a works mentality, thinking that past sins have been erased, but not current or future ones. In fact, during the Middle Ages, people would sometimes wait until being near death to be water baptized, thinking it would give them a clean slate when they faced God.
What most people have not considered is that God is not restricted by time. All our sins were in the future when Jesus died on the cross. His “once for all” sacrifice took care of the sin problem past, present, and future.
It reached back into time to provide forgiveness for those who died in faith under the Old Covenant, such as Abraham and King David. It also reaches far into the future to provide eternal forgiveness to those not yet even born.
For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. 11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. Hebrews 10:10-14 (NLT) We do not need a new sacrifice for our new sins. The one death on the cross solved the sin problem forever. God saw all our sins before we ever committed one of them. Nothing we do surprises God. Nothing is outside the scope of Christ’s once for all time sacrifice.
Verse 14 distinguishes between justification and sanctification or transformation. Our faith in the finished work of Christ permanently justified us, but we are being transformed on a daily basis by the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. In other words, those of us who have been declared not guilty and right with God still have areas that need to be changed. Our thought life and behavior are not perfect yet, even though we have been declared perfect before God. This is part of the reason why justification is misunderstood and rejected.
Our ongoing failures to live up to our new identity in Christ through the new birth do not nullify the truth of justification. They reveal the need for God’s grace to transform us on a daily basis so that we behave in alignment with our new identity.
Transformation will continue until we die or Jesus returns, at which time the sanctification process will conclude. The final installment of our great salvation will be glorification, when we receive new resurrection bodies. When that happens the old internal sin factory that fights against our spirit man will no longer exist, because nothing in us will have a link to the curse associated with Adam’s sin. In the meantime…
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Romans 8:33 (ESV)
Some people say that to be justified is to be “just as if I’d” never sinned. This is a helpful mnemonic device, but it is falls short because justification does not merely restore us to a place of innocence. Rather, it gives to us the righteousness of Christ, who was perfectly obedient unto death. When Abba Father looks at us, he does not see a forgiven sinner; rather, he includes us in the perfect righteousness of his Son. We are “in Christ,” so whatever he has, we have.
The practical results of justification is that we are released from condemnation, shame, and guilt.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 (NLT)
Very few followers of Christ believe this verse, but it is corroborated by Jesus’ own words.
I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. John 5:24 (NLT)
The reason some people do not fully accept justification is that it seems too good to be true.
Paul, who fully grasped the import of this doctrine, was accused of saying that it gave people a license to sin without fear of consequences. (Romans 3:8; 6:1,15) The idea that justification gives us a pass to commit sin is based on the false assumption that justification is not accompanied by the new birth. The new birth gives us a newly created spirit that is in perfect harmony with God’s will. Justified people do not want to sin at the spirit level of their being.
With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:17-24 (NLT)
The battle is between the justified spirit and the residual “flesh,” which is still connected to the old creation through the unresurrected body. This is why we are in need of transformation as we await the resurrection.
While born again children of God will not be condemned for acquiescing to the old sinful man within, we can expect to be disciplined, as any good parent does to disobedient children for their own good.
This is no light thing. In addition, our future reward in heaven will be tied to how we cooperate with the Spirit in the transformation process.
Justification is the secret to walking in the Spirit. When we understand that we already live in the Spirit, it gives us the faith that we are able to walk it out as part of the transformation process.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (ESV)
Justification releases us from the impossible task of trying to be perfect. It gives us the freedom to approach God in our current “imperfection” because we know that God sees us as being perfect in Christ.
When we sin, we know we are not condemned for it, even though we need to repent and turn away from it. Understanding and believing the truth of justification is the key to a joyful life as a Christian, and far too many people miss out on it. How about you? Do you believe it is true? Do you live as if it were true?
Prayer
Father God, thank you for sending your Son to die for my sin and guilt. I accept his right standing with you as a free gift. Thank you that you love me as your child and I will never be condemned by you. Help me to live in the freedom and joy of that reality. Holy Spirit, I submit myself to you and the ongoing process you began in my life to make me more like Jesus. Help me to walk in obedience and dependence upon you every day. I thank you that your grace is sufficient for every challenge I will face. Amen.
