Salvation may be understood under the analogies of adoption and conversion. This week, we think about salvation in terms of justification. This helps explain how God responds when sinners repent and trust Christ as Savior.
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 person 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?
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 accredited to us, thereby declaring for time and eternity that He counts us righteous in His sight.
Evidence presented
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 speak of a verdict of innocence as 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.” The potential penalty that belongs to a guilty person will not be imposed.
Acquitted of all charges
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 that we are also fully accepted into right standing before God. The dark cloud of divine condemnation has been lifted, and God has credited Christ’s perfect righteousness to our account.
The Bible puts the matter simply, declaring that by God’s grace we “are accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). 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. Not only does God pronounce the guilty to be innocent, He also reinstates us to His favor and privilege. In short, He fully accepts those whom He fully acquits.
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