Today I am continuing my journey in the ordo salutis (order of salvation) using Dr. Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" as my guide.
Today we come to the discussion and understanding of Justification. This is such an incredibly important doctrine to understand that I thought that I should attach to it an example of great emotion and pain to drive the glorious point home.
Sadly, there are women in America who have chosen to have an abortion at some time in their life, and then later experience incredible guilt and deep pain over their decision. How can God ever forgive them for taking the life of their unborn child? This question causes gut wrenching, hopeless sobbing for many women in this world.
So too, we all have sins, in our closets, that we feel deep shame for. Can God forgive those sins? What is our standing with God on these issues?
Justification, though not without contemporary controversy, is one of the greatest gifts of God to us as His children. God's message to this woman, if she is truly a Christian, is that not only are you forgiven, my dear child, but you are righteous in my sight.
Did you hear that! Forgiven and righteous in the eyes of God! For this woman, and all of us who sin, this is simply an amazing, mind blowing proclamation. This is such an incredible statement that my mind staggers to take it in.
I must confess to you that the more I begin to understand the character of God two things happen to me:
- I am completely overwhelmed and grateful.
- I am deeply sorrowed that most people haven't read the Bible to get to know God's heart. So many people go through life deceived and ignorant of His character which is literally right in front of them.
My prayer, for those of you who know me and trust me, is that you will take some time to read my words and that they will hopefully drive you to crack the pages of your Bible.
Please allow me to explain the incredible gift of Justification...
Lets go back to our deeply saddened and guilt ridden woman who, many years ago, chose to have an abortion.
Lets imagine that this woman is standing before the Most Holy God in a court room. God is completely Holy and because of His character must proclaim the sentence of death to this woman (and all of us for that matter, because "we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Romans 3:23). The other thing to remember is that this court holds no appeal process. Once the proclamation of death is pronounced, it is final and certain. (Postmodern man hates this part!)
Before the gavel of judgment falls (her physical death), this woman remembers the call of Christ in her past and decides to cry out to Him in repentance and faith. "Dear Lord Jesus, please forgive me for my sins and this day I choose to believe in You as my Lord and Savior and to turn away from my sinful past".
In a miraculous instant, through her saving faith in Jesus Christ, God proclaims forgiveness of her past sins, He imputes (deposits to her eternal account) Christ's righteousness, and legally pronounces her righteous in His sight!
Did you get that! From death to righteous before God in an instant! All by simply placing her trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
What incredible joy is available to us? Imagine standing guilty before God and knowing that you were condemned to eternity in hell? Imagine standing there and hearing God say not only, not guilty, but righteous (special, a child of God, spending eternity in Heaven). From death to eternal life in the blink of an eye. Does this not give incredible joy to those who believe and place their trust in Him?
Lets now turn our attention to some of the supporting information from the text.
Definition of Justification:
"Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ's righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in His sight."
A. Justification Includes a Legal Declaration By God
The verb justify (in Greek dikaioo) means "to declare righteous". This is a legal position.
Galatians 2:16, "...yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified."
Romans 8:33-34, "Who can bring an accusation against God's elect? God is the One who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us."
B. God Declares Us to Be Just in His Sight
In Romans 8:1, Paul tells us that "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Imagine if you will that our lives are full of sin. Through faith in Jesus Christ, those sins are forgiven. Therefore, if you will, we are full of sin but Christ has washed them away and made the slate clean. We are now in a neutral position.
The second part of justification is the righteousness of Christ put over us to fill that clean slate with His righteousness.
Isaiah 61:10, "...For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,..."
Romans 3:21-22, "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of god has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe..."
C. God Can Declare us to Be Just Because He Imputes Christ's Righteousness to Us
There are three times, in the Bible, where it speaks of imputing:
- Adam's sin was imputed to all mankind
- Mankind's sin was imputed to Christ on the Cross
- Christ's righteousness is imputed to the elect before God.
Imputed has to do with a thing, that is someone else's, regarded as though it belongs to, or is reckoned to another person. The Law Dictionary puts it this way:
v. 1) to attach to a person responsibility (and therefore financial liability) for acts or injuries to another, because of a particular relationship, such as mother to child, guardian to ward, employer to employee or business associates. Example: a 16-year-old boy drives his father's car without a license and runs someone down. The child's negligence may be imputed to the parent, or, in the reverse, a mother drives her car and collides with a truck driven over the speed limit, and her baby in the front seat of the car is badly injured, in part due to not being put in a safety seat with a seat belt. The mother's negligence can be imputed to the child in any claim on behalf of the child against the truck driver.
So...we have a sin nature that was imputed to us from Adam. Jesus Christ, with His death on the cross died for our sin and our sin was imputed to Him by the Father. And finally, when we stand before God's Holy judgment, Christ's righteousness is imputed to us. God see us as completely righteous just like Jesus Christ. We are covered by Christ's righteousness. Not only is our sinful nature made clean, not only is our slate clean and/or neutral before God, but Christ fills that neutral/clean slate with His righteousness.
Here are the scripture references to this imputation:
Romans 4:3, "For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness."
Romans 4:6, "Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Romans 5:17, "Since by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift or righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."
2 Corinthians 5:21, "He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Dr. Grudem, in his Systematic Theology, goes on in great detail to explain that this doctrine is the heart of the difference between Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, a monastic monk in the Roman Catholic Church, realized that the scripture indeed taught that our works have no place in our understanding of our position with Christ. Thus the Reformation, and the Protestants were born.
D. Justification Comes to Us Entirely by God's Grace, Not on Account of Any Merit in Ourselves
Paul spends a great deal of time driving this point home in Romans 1:18-3:20. He makes it crystal clear that all of us, in our sin state, are condemned before God and that there is nothing that we can do, of ourselves (no amount of good works) to earn God's favor. It is purely God's grace.
Romans 3:223-24, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
E. God Justifies Us Through Our Faith in Jesus Christ
The precious gift of Justification only comes after our saving faith (placing your trust in Jesus Christ - being born again). Once again, Paul makes this plain for us to see:
Galatians 2:16, "...yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. and we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified."
Romans 5:1, "Therefore, having been justified by faith,..."
To be honest, I have nothing more to add to this post. I have an understanding that I didn't before and more importantly, to me, I have a significantly greater understanding of God's grace, His character, and the very special love He has for us. I look forward to much meditation on these doctrines and pray that my very cells will be baptized in its glory.
Here are a few links for further reading/teaching on this subject:
- Dr. Wayne Grudem's Sunday School Class teaching on Justification - here and here.
- Dr. A. W. Pink's treatise on Justification.
- Justification by Faith, John MacArthur
- Justification by J.I. Packer