This week, we begin to think about salvation in terms of justification.
Romans 3:26 tells us that God is “the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Two verses later the same passage sets forth the conclusion “that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (v. 28). Two chapters later, Romans adds as a summary truth, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:1).
What are we to draw from these and other passages about the meaning of justification?
Counted righteous
We might put it like this: Justification is God’s immediate response to a repentant sinner who trusts Christ in which God chooses to view our sins as forgiven and to view Christ’s perfect righteousness as credited to us, thereby declaring for time and eternity that He counts us righteous in His sight.
Being at its heart a legal action on God’s part, justification is an analogy that draws its meaning from a court of law. When all the evidence has been presented, a verdict is rendered. The result of that verdict determines the accused person’s legal standing in the eyes of the law — either innocent or guilty.
We call a verdict of innocence an acquittal, or a release from all charges against the accused person. As believers in Christ, we Christians stand before God as sinners who have been acquitted. God has declared us “not guilty.”
Forgiven
The penalty that belongs to a guilty person will not be imposed. The amazing thing about this analogy is that we, as sinners, are in fact very guilty. All have sinned; none are innocent. The heart of the gospel is that Christ has taken our guilty verdict upon Himself, so that God the Righteous Judge might declare us innocent. The Bible calls this being justified before God.
Not only does justification mean that we are acquitted of all charges along with their rightful penalty, but it also means that we are fully accepted into right standing before God. The dark cloud of divine condemnation has been lifted. God has credited Christ’s perfect righteousness to our account.
When we think about being justified with God, we rightfully hold in mind the twin ideas of “acquitted” and “accepted.” Henceforth, God views us as fully pardoned, just as if we had never sinned at all. He also henceforth reinstates us to His favor and privilege. In short, He fully accepts those whom He fully acquits.
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