In a previous article, we considered the doctrine of justification in its historical and contemporary context. In this article I want to survey five essential truths about justification. In order to maintain a healthy, sound, vibrant faith in Christ, we must hold fast to these five truths. If we drift from even one of these truths, we will endanger our souls and the souls of others.
Justification is a Legal Declaration
The first truth we must establish concerning the doctrine of justification is that it is a legal declaration. When Paul articulates the doctrine of justification in his letter to the Romans and his letter to the Galatians, he is using forensic terminology (Rom 3:21-31; 4:4-7; 5:1). The setting is a courtroom where we are the defendants, the law is the prosecution, and God is the judge.
Due to our rebellion against God’s law, we stand guilty before our Creator. As a righteous judge, however, God cannot simply forgive us and waive our punishment because his law is not a mere moral instrument that he uses to enforce human behavior—an entity that bears no connection to God himself. No, the law is a reflection of God’s very nature. To rebel against the law is to rebel against God. God, therefore, must punish the law-breaker if he is to remain just.
Our situation is irremediable. The prosecution’s case is air-tight, and we are guilty of every charge leveled against us. We not only don’t love God the way we should but deep down, we hate him and despise those created in his image. We’ve broken the law countless times, but we can’t remedy our guilt and repair God’s justice by trying to obey the law. Actually, any attempt to keep the law as a means of erasing our guilt only exposes the depth of our sin and aggravates our condemnation (Rom 3:19-20). We have a legal problem and a heart problem. Our disobedience to the law condemns us, but all we can do is break it because our hearts are utterly sinful and rebellious (Rom 8:7). There is no way of escape.
But before God can deal with our heart problem, he must first deal with our legal problem. It is crucial to draw this distinction between these two issues and emphasize that justification deals decisively with our legal problem, not our heart problem. Why is this distinction necessary? Because without it, we will begin to locate the grounds for our right standing with God in ourselves, rather than Christ. The first truth we must uphold when considering this doctrine is that justification is a legal declaration.
When God justifies someone, he declares them to be fully righteous in relation to his law, and, therefore, fully righteous in relation to God himself. This righteous standing before God and his law is not based on anything within or about the sinner. Rather, this righteous standing is grounded entirely on the righteous life and obedient death of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we will see under the next heading, this declaration is made while we are still ungodly (Rom 4:5). Our right standing with God, therefore, is not based on our fickle emotions, our wavering affections, or our growth in spiritual maturity. Yes, those whom God justifies he will transform and make more like his Son (Rom 8:29), but this transformation is not the way by which we achieve a right standing with God. That right standing is a legal declaration that is rooted solely in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Justification is an Instantaneous Declaration
Just as important is the truth that justification is an instantaneous declaration. That is, God declares a sinner righteous and in right standing with God the moment they believe in Jesus Christ without any intervening time between the moment of faith and God’s act of justification. We know this because of what Paul says in Romans 4:5:
To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, to him it is counted as righteousness.
We need to make two observations about this text in relation to the time of our justification. First, Paul says that it is the one who does not work who is “counted as righteous” (which is another way of saying “justified”). If it is the one who does not work who is counted as righteous, then there can be no action taken by the sinner between the time when he believes and the time he is justified. Thus, to be justified without working means the declaration had to happen at the moment of faith, otherwise, there would be the opportunity to perform some work and thus contribute to our justification.
Second, Paul explains that God justifies the ungodly. Again, similar to the point I just made, there can be no amount of time between the sinner believing and God declaring him righteous in which the sinner can do something that makes him “godly.” To be justified while still ungodly requires that the declaration occur at the moment of faith so that there can be no works or no progress in godliness that contributes to the sinner’s justification. God declares us fully righteous at the moment we place our faith in Jesus Christ.
Justification is an Unchanging Declaration
Just as important as the last two point is the truth that a believer’s justified status cannot change. Once a person is justified through faith in Christ, that declaration cannot be modified, suspended, revoked, or otherwise altered. It is an eternal and immutable declaration in the court of heaven.
You can see why this particular point is essential for our assurance. If there is even a hint that we could forfeit our justified status, we have no basis on which to remain assured of our right standing with God. When we truly know our own sin and weakness, the notion that we can somehow overturn our justification is devastating. Surely, if justification can be revoked, I likely will do something to cause its revocation. This is one reason, I believe, for why Paul follows his discussion about his own struggle with sin in Romans 7:14-23 with the reassuring truth, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). Even as we battle against sin—and sometimes fail—we must be assured that our justification cannot be annulled. Paul makes this clear when he writes,
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Romans 8:33-34
Because Christ fully paid for our sins, secured perfect righteousness, and was raised from the dead, those who have believed in him are safe from any possibility of condemnation. Christ bore our condemnation at the cross and secured our eternal justification at the resurrection: “[Righteousness] will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom 4:24-25). So long as you are united to a living Savior, you are justified. But we wonder: will we remain united to our Savior? The apostle Paul again:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?….No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39
Nothing can separate us from our Savior, which means nothing can altar our justification. If we have believed in Christ with saving faith, our justified status cannot change.
This truth also implies that our justified status cannot be improved. The Roman Catholic church teaches that justification can increase over one’s life as God grants a person more and more grace. But to define justification in such a way is to confuse it with sanctification. Yes, Christians grow in their spiritual maturity, holiness, and intimacy with God, but we do not grow in our justification. Justification is the steady, sure, constant status we can rely upon that enables us to pursue holiness without fear of God’s rejection.
Justification is Based Solely on Christ’s Righteousness Credited to Us
How does God make all of this possible? How can he justify unrighteous sinners? Is he not guilty of transgressing his justice and creating a legal fiction? Not at all. Our justification is made possible by another vital transaction: imputation. The word “impute” is an accounting term that means “reckon” or “credit.” Biblically, it refers to God the Father imputing our sin to Christ’s account, and Christ’s righteousness to our account (Rom 5:12-21). This imputation has nothing to do with our own personal conduct or character. Rather, God “reckons” us as righteous because we possess the righteousness of Christ.
God does not inspect our own inherent righteousness and then declare us righteous. No, God takes our sin and places it in Christ’s account, and he takes the riches of Christ’s righteousness and places it into our account. This righteousness is a genuine righteousness that God’s Son wrought in real-time on earth. And, now that we are united to Christ by faith, God accounts us as possessing that righteousness, although we did not work it out for ourselves. It is a righteousness “not our own” (see Phil 3:9). Imputation is the reason why justification can remain an unchanging declaration that occurs at the moment of faith: we are justified based entirely on Christ’s righteousness, not anything in or about us.
Imputation is the reason why justification can remain an unchanging declaration that occurs at the moment of faith: we are justified based entirely on Christ’s righteousness, not anything in or about us.
It would be like the wealthy owner of an exclusive club for the ultra-rich filling your empty bank account with several million dollars so you can meet the financial threshold for membership. You did nothing to earn that money, and the club did not ask you about your previous good works or philanthropic activity. They simply accepted you based on the wealth that had been deposited into your bank account—wealth that you did nothing to acquire.
Justification is Received by Faith Alone
Finally, we must say that justification can only be received by faith alone. This truth has already been implied in the previous points, but it must be stated explicitly. The only way that Christ can receive his full glory and we can remain assured of our right standing with God is if our justification is received by faith in Christ alone and entirely apart from our works.
Throughout his letter to the Romans, Paul argues that faith and works are antithetical when it comes to justification. If you attempt to be justified by works—any works—you will remain outside the realm of God’s grace and not receive a justified status. The only way to be justified in God’s sight is to not work for it and look entirely to Christ as your righteousness (Rom 3:21-31; 4:5; 5:1). Granted, everyone who is truly justified will produce godly works in their life, but these works are the fruit, not the cause of justification. Our works contribute nothing to our right standing with God. Note how Paul repeats this truth three times in the span of one short sentence:
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 2:16
Elsewhere, Paul says that we are ultimately “justified by grace” (Titus 3:7). He can say we are justified by grace because faith is how we receive the fullness of Christ’s salvation without any human contribution. Faith is merely the conduit through which grace flows. But he also can say that we are ultimately saved by grace because even this faith through which we are justified is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9; Phil 1:28; 2 Tim 2:25).
Conclusion
The doctrine of justification is a treasure. It is balm to wounded souls, relief to wounded consciences, and a source of true worship, joy, and peace. It protects the glory of Christ and guards our assurance. But precisely because justification produces such luscious fruit in the Christian’s life, it is a priority doctrine for Satanic attack. We must be always on guard, therefore, protecting the above five truths and seeking to take them deep into our hearts.
