…who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 4:25
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Galatians 2:15-16
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
Romans 5:18
When remembering this theological term, justification, my girlfriend remembers it’s meaning by saying it this way: “Just- as- if- I- never sinned at all.” That is very true and a good way to remember it.
Justification is actually a legal courtroom term that means to have right legal standing before God. You see, when someone puts their trust in the person and works of Jesus Christ, their guilty verdict of sin is put upon Jesus Christ (propitiation), and his innocence is imputed to them and they are completely forgiven and no longer liable to punishment (justification).
The Galatians verse I posted above (2:15-16) makes it completely clear that we are not justified by our feeble attempts to please God, but through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The term justification is just dripping with grace because it is all from God.
Picture this: There are 2 men living completely different lives. The first is a “man” who lives the perfect life. He never lies, never steals, in fact he never sins at all. He ends up becoming a well-known judge and is responsible for sentencing criminals to prison for their wrong doings. Now, the second man is a filthy criminal. He has good intentions, but overall is guilty of lying, cheating, stealing, etc. No matter how hard he tries to be “good” he ends up failing.
Imagine this: The criminal stands before the judge for all his crimes. The judge knows he is guilty but decides to take the man’s due punishment upon himself and let the guilty criminal go free. In the same way, Jesus Christ, the sinless perfect Judge has taken the punishment of all who are guilty that put their trust in Him. Those who do trust in Christ are gracefully given a completely innocent title.
We must realize that Paul did not invent the concept of justification. In the Parable of the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14), Jesus justifies a tax collector for his humility and trust in Jesus Christ. Justification is also a concept we see laced through the Old Testament, especially in the Passover. Isaiah 53:11 says:
Out of the anguish of his (Jesus) soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:11
There is a lot more to justification than this, but I believe these basics are understandable and will give you a general understanding. If you remember these 2 parts, you will have a basic understanding: 1) Forgiveness of past sins takes place through faith in Jesus Christ 2)Christ’s righteousness (perfect life) is imputed to us through justification.
Praise God for justifying me, for I was guilty in my sin. Think through this concept today and what it means to you. Explain this to your non-believing friends.
