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JUSTIFICATION

By George W. Sinquefield

        The Great protestant reformation that literally shook the world was started by the discovery in the Bible of the doctrine of justification by faith.

        Martin Luther, a learned monk who was trying to earn his way to Heaven found in the Bible that God promises justification by faith. Luther started teaching and preaching this doctrine and by so doing, he upset the religious and ultimately the social and political world.

        Justification by faith is therefore a very vital doctrine. We hear so little about justification and what it means to be justified. We can define justification as "The judicial act of God whereby He declares the sinner (who repents and puts his faith in Jesus as Savior) free from all guilt, because Jesus paid the penalty for his sins on the cross of Calvary"

(Rom 3:21 KJV)  "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;"

(Rom 3:22 KJV)  "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"

(Rom 3:23 KJV)  "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

(Rom 3:24 KJV)  "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"

        Justification simply means, "To announce the verdict 'not guilty'" Someone has put it like this - Justification - "Just as if I had never sinned."

        William Barclay, the world-renowned Scottish New Testament interpreter and profound scholar gives us this information:
 

        "We must be quite clear that the Word justify (in the New Testament) has a different meaning from the ordinary English meaning. If we justify ourselves we produce reasons to prove that we are right. If someone justifies us, they produce reasons to prove that we acted in the right way. But all verbs in the Greek do not mean to prove or to make a person or thing. They always mean to treat or account or reckon a person as something. If God justifies a sinner, it does not mean that He finds reasons to prove that he (the sinner) was right - far from it. It means that God treats the sinner as if he had not sinned at all. Instead of treating him as a criminal to be obliterated, God treats him as a child to be loved. That is what justification means. It means that God reckons us (we who put our faith in Jesus) not as His enemies but as His friends, not as law breakers to be punished, but as men and women to be loved, not as strangers but as His children - members of His family"

God is the Judge of this universe.

(2 Tim 4:8 KJV)  "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

(James 5:9 KJV)  "Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door."

        God is completely righteous and He is without any injustice in all His decisions. How can God, the Judge, announce a sinner righteous? God changes the sinners into righteous people. How does He do that?
 

1.    By making us the righteousness of God in Christ.

(2 Cor 5:21 KJV)  "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

2.    By making many righteous.

(Rom 5:19 KJV)  "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Jesus] shall many be made righteous."

3.    By giving the gift of righteousness.

(Rom 5:17 KJV)  "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ."
 

(Rom 4:5 KJV)  "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

        Notice - his faith is counted or imputed to him for righteousness.

(Rom 4:6 KJV)  "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,"

(Rom 4:7 KJV)  "Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

(Rom 4:8 KJV)  "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

        We receive the gift of righteousness because of what Jesus has done. He paid our sin debt on the cross. Notice again Romans 3:24.

        "Impute" is the key word. It means "to place to the account of." God imputes or puts on the believer's account the righteousness of Christ so that in His sight the believer is completely righteous and He can announce it so.

I.    The justified have all their sins forgiven.

        One has said that "When God saves us, all our sins are forgiven, forgotten, forever." A preacher relates this experience:

        In my boyhood I visited a Methodist annual conference in Texas. Bishop Dickey presided, I believe. When it came time to review the work of the pastors and appoint them to their next year's stations, I remember what a thrill I got as the roll was called. When a pastor's name was called, all of his fellow pastors would cry out "Nothing against him!"... "Nothing against him!"... Nothing against him?" It was thrilling to me then. But since then I have thought that if one cried out the name of this poor, unworthy but forgiven sinner in Heaven , all the angels of God would answer "Nothing against him!."

        What does God do with our sins? When I was just a boy, I heard a preacher say something that really disturbed me. He said that at the Judgment God would have a large screen and on that screen our lives would be shown and every person who ever lived would see everything we had ever done and hear every word we had spoken. I was made to rejoice later when I learned from the Bible that that preacher was wrong. No such thing is taught in the Bible.

        Now, what does God do with our sins?
 

1.    He forgets them.

(Isa 43:25 KJV)  "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."

(Jer 31:34 KJV)  "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

(Heb 8:12 KJV)  "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

(Heb 10:17 KJV)  "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

        A man resigned from the board of a large Canadian church. Before his conversion alcohol was his besetting sin and he had slipped and was seen intoxicated. A few months later he came before the church, confessed his sin and for many months he lived an exemplary life. He was voted back on the board of elders. Later, at the board meeting, his fellow elders voted to remove from the minutes every mention of the incident, so that no record could be found. It was just as if he had never sinned.

        No wonder Paul, the apostle, said he was forgetting the past and what a sinful past his was. He knew God had justified him, had forgiven him and had forgotten his sins.

(Phil 3:13 KJV)  "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,"

(Phil 3:14 KJV)  "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

2.    God removes our sins.

(Psa 103:12 KJV)  "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."

        A Sunday School teacher explained it this way to his class.

Boys and Girls:

        Who can guess what I have in my hand? That's right. A calculator. How many of you have one? How many of you have ever used one? They are really very interesting. They add, subtract, multiply, divide and do a whole bunch of other things that I don't even understand. There is one button on this calculator, though, that I'd like to talk to you about.

        It is the red button with the letter, "C" on it. What does that mean. That's right. It means clear. If you get all of your numbers in the calculator and then you make a mistake, what can you do? You press the "clear" button and automatically all of the information is eliminated from the calculator. Then you begin all over again without trying to sort out the other mistake. In fact there is no record of your mistake. None! It is lost forever!!

        That is what happens to our sins when God forgives us. God erases them from His memory just like hitting the "clear" button on this calculator. When we ask for forgiveness, He not only forgives us, but He also forgets. Isn't that great?
 

        This story bears out the same truth.
 

        Velma Barfield was the first woman to be executed in the United States in 22 years. She had murdered her mother, her finance, and two other people. During her imprisonment Velma accepted Christ and, according to her close friend Ann Graham Lutz, became a godly woman. As the hour of her execution drew near, however, Velma needed the reassurance of forgiveness.

        Here's what Mrs. Lutz said. "Have you ever been to a beach and noticed on shore those little tiny crab holes?" she asked. "Yes, I've seen them," said Velma. "Have you seen where a child has dug holes to build sand castles?" "Yes." "And have you ever seen where cranes dredge huge holes to widen a channel?" asked Ann. "I have seen them too," said Velma. Ann then made her point. "You've seen little holes, middle-sized holes, and great ones. Velma, what happens when the tide comes in? It covers them all equally, doesn't it? That's what happens when you are covered by the blood of Jesus. All of your sins are covered equally."

        Every sin -- little, middle-sized, and huge -- was fully atoned for a Calvary. On the basis of Christ's death, God declares righteous all who trust Him as Savior.
 

3.    He casts them into the sea.

(Micah 7:19 KJV)  "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

        George Woodall was a missionary to London's inner city. One day a young woman he had led to the Lord came to him and said, "I keep getting worried. Has God really forgiven my past?"

        Mr. Woodall replied, "If this is troubling you, I think I know what He would say to you. He would tell you to mind your own business." "What do you mean?" she inquired with a puzzled look. He told her that Jesus had made her sins His business. When He took them away, He put them behind His back, dropped them into the depths of the sea, and posted a notice that reads, "No fishing!"
 

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanual's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Loose ALL their guilty stains.

        The justified have peace - the result of knowing that we are safe and secure in the Lord. We have assurance that we'll never be lost - that we're His child forever.

(John 5:24 KJV)  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

(John 6:47 KJV)  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

        Many of God's people let past sins rob them of Peace! That is not the will of our Heavenly Father. He wants us to know that we are safe in Him and to rejoice in that assurance. Peace is ours when we understand what it means to be justified.

(Rom 5:1 KJV)  "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"

III.    When are we justified?

        We are justified the very moment we repent of our sin and accept Jesus as our Savior.

(Luke 18:9 KJV)  "And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:"

(Luke 18:10 KJV)  "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican."

(Luke 18:11 KJV)  "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican."

(Luke 18:12 KJV)  "I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess."

(Luke 18:13 KJV)  "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner."

(Luke 18:14 KJV)  "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

IV.    How are we justified?

        I want to stress that we are justified by faith and faith alone.

(Rom 3:21 KJV)  "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;"

(Rom 3:22 KJV)  "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"

(Rom 3:23 KJV)  "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

(Rom 3:24 KJV)  "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"

        We are not justified by our works or by obeying the law

(Rom 4:4 KJV)  "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt."

(Rom 4:5 KJV)  "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

V.    Justification is a once-for-all act of God.

(Rom 5:1 KJV)  "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"

        The literal translation reads, "Having therefore been once-for-all justified, we have peace with God."

        Once justified we are always justified. Once saved we are always saved.

        I love the book of Romans. It is my favorite New Testament book. I am especially fond of this portion.

(Rom 8:31 KJV)  "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"

(Rom 8:32 KJV)  "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

(Rom 8:33 KJV)  "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth."

(Rom 8:34 KJV)  "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

(Rom 8:35 KJV)  "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"

(Rom 8:36 KJV)  "As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

(Rom 8:37 KJV)  "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

(Rom 8:38 KJV)  "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,"

(Rom 8:39 KJV)  "Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

        Notice - if God who justified us is for us (and that is very clear) who can be against us?

        Now consider once more. When we are saved, we are in Christ and we are clothed with His righteousness. We are as righteous in God's sight as His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

(Rom 8:1 KJV)  "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

        Notice very carefully these two verses for they tell us exactly what justification is

(Rom 4:7 KJV)  "Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

(Rom 4:8 KJV)  "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

       "BLESSED ARE THEY WHOSE INIQUITIES ARE FORGIVEN." Those who are justified are forgiven all sin.

        "AND WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED." Those who are justified have all sins covered, so that God sees them no more.

        "BLESSED IS THE MAN TO WHOM THE LORD WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN." In other words, God will not charge sin against the man who is justified for his sins are forever forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

VI.    Whom does God justify?

(Rom 4:5 KJV)  "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

        God justifies the lost sinner when he puts his faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

        Remember that justification means "to announce the verdict, "not guilty'."

        Billy Graham said the two greatest words in the English language is "not guilty."

        How is it with you? Are you guilty or have you been justified by trusting Jesus as your Savior? If you're guilty, I urge you to follow the example of the old publican and cry out to God, "God be merciful to me a sinner."