Justification

Definition

Justification is a term that describes the event whereby persons are set or declared to be in right relation to God.

It is God’s legal declaration that a sinner is righteous before Him because of faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work, not because the sinner earned righteousness through works.

Key Idea

Justification deals with our position or standing before God.

When I accept Christ, I am placed in a new position: righteousness.

Old Testament Reference

“As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”
Isaiah 53:11 NASB1995

The Righteous One justifies the many because He bears their iniquities.

New Testament Reference

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Romans 5:1 NASB1995

Justified by Faith

We are declared righteous through faith, not through our ability to earn righteousness.

Peace With God

Peace = the absence of hostility.

Peace with God is the result of being brought into right standing with God.

We are now in right relationship with God.

Why Does Romans 5:1 Say “Therefore”?

Romans 5:1 is connected to what Paul has just established in Romans 4.

“He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”
Romans 4:25 NLT

Jesus:

Was handed over because of our sins
→ Was raised to life
→ Made us right with God

Therefore:

“Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God…”

Our peace with God is based on what Christ accomplished.

We Were Enemies of God

“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.”
Romans 5:10 NLT

Before Christ:

Enemies of God

Through Christ:

Relationship restored

Because of justification:

We now have peace with God.

The First Picture of Justification

The concept of justification appears as early as Abraham.

“Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Genesis 15:6 NASB1995

Paul later uses Abraham to explain justification:

“For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”
Romans 4:3 NASB1995

Abraham Shows Us How Faith and Righteousness Work

Abraham believed God, and because of his faith, righteousness was credited to his account.

This is significant because:

Abraham was counted righteous before the Mosaic Law existed.

His righteousness was not based on keeping the Law.

It was based on faith.

Credited — Logizomai

Logizomai means:

• To reckon

• To calculate

• To count

• To credit

• To consider

• To place something to someone’s account

It was commonly used in accounting or calculation language.

Picture It Like an Account

Abraham believed God.

God credited righteousness to his account.

The same principle helps us understand justification through Christ.

My righteousness before God is not based on me living a sinless life.

Through faith in Christ, God credits righteousness to me even though I still fall short.

My sin may describe something I have done, but it no longer determines my standing with God.

A New Position

When I accept Christ, I am placed into a new position: righteousness.

Those who do not accept Christ remain under condemnation, meaning under God’s judgment.

We Changed Seats

A helpful picture:

Before Christ:
Judgment / Condemnation

In Christ:
Right Standing / Justification

We changed seats.

We are no longer sitting under the verdict of condemnation. We have been placed into the position of righteousness through Christ.

John 3:16–18

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:16–18 NASB1995

There are two positions presented:

Believes in Christ → Not judged

Does not believe → Judged already

Condemnation vs. Justification

Both condemnation and justification are juridical terms.

Juridical

Juridical simply means:

Having to do with a court, judge, law, or legal verdict.

This is courtroom language.

The Courtroom Picture

God is the Judge.

Where there is sin or disobedience, a verdict must be given.

Judges are to:

“Justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.”

This gives us two opposing legal verdicts:

Hebrew Concepts

רָשַׁע — rāshaʿ

Condemn

To declare guilty.

צָדַק — tsadaq

Justify

To declare righteous.

Justification

A pronouncement of acquittal.

Both Are Verdicts

Condemnation and justification are both verdicts.

Condemnation says:

“You stand guilty and under judgment.”

Justification says:

“You were guilty, but because of Christ, you have been acquitted and declared righteous.”

The Problem: We Are Guilty

“Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?”
Psalm 130:3 NLT

Justification does not mean that we were innocent.

We were guilty.

God is not pretending that sin never happened.

The gospel is that something happened that was sufficient to deal with our guilt.

Christ took our place.

The Sentence for Sin

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 NLT

Sin produces a legal consequence:

Sin → Guilty verdict → Death

But for those who are in Christ:

The guilty verdict and its resulting sentence—death—have been removed.

Christ Took the Judgment

God’s wrath is not directed toward those who are justified in Christ because judgment was poured out upon Jesus.

“And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.”
Romans 5:9 NLT

Notice the connection:

Made right by His blood
→ Saved from condemnation

What the Law Could Not Do

“The law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin. God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.”
Romans 8:3–4 ERV

The Law could reveal the righteous standard, but because of our sinful nature, we could not fulfill that standard ourselves.

God did what we could not do. He sent His Son.

Christ dealt with sin so that we could be made right before God.

Romans 8:1

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1

This brings the courtroom picture together.

Condemnation Is Not Primarily an Emotion

Condemnation is a verdict.

Therefore, Romans 8:1 is not merely telling you how to feel.

It is declaring where you stand.

You may feel guilty.

You may remember what you have done.

Someone else may remind you of what you have done.

But the legal question is:

What verdict has God given concerning those who are in Christ?

No condemnation.

The Verdict Over Me

The verdict over me is not GUILTY.

Because I am in Christ:

I have been justified.

I have been declared righteous.

I am in right standing with God.

I have peace with God.

I am no longer under condemnation.

And:

No one has the authority to overturn God’s verdict in Christ.