“For there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3.22-24).
This quotation from the Roman epistle establishes the link between our consideration last month of Redemption, and the study now of the great truth of Justification. “The redemption that is in Christ Jesus” encompasses the entire work of the Lord Jesus at Calvary, not only in what He did at that time in Earth’s history, but also all the divine counsel and purpose that devised, planned, executed and will ultimately bring to completion the wonderful demonstration of God’s love to us in Christ. This manifestation of the character of God is the means by which God can justify freely by his grace those who have sinned and come short of the glory of God. “The redemption that is in Christ Jesus” has satisfied every requirement of divine holiness, and provided the channel through which divine grace can flow out to sinners, thus allowing God to “declare…at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus” (Rom 3.26). Justification, therefore, is an outcome of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus, and is bestowed freely (without cause) by the grace of God upon sinners who exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what does it mean to be justified?
The Meaning of Justification
To “justify” is to clear of every charge and, thus, to account righteous. Immediately we note an important distinction between justification and a word that is not used in the NT Scriptures - “pardon”. The person who receives pardon for sins is still guilty, but has been relieved of bearing the judicial consequences of them. The penalty is lifted but the guilt remains. Justification is a higher truth altogether, because those who are justified stand before a holy God as though they had never sinned at all. The question of punishment does not arise because, not only is there no guilt established, but none can bring any accusation. So completely does God justify believers that He challenges the whole universe to lay a charge against them (Rom 8.33). Forgiveness of sins is a wonderful thing, but to be justified is more precious still. That distinction is brought out in Acts 13.38-39: “Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses”. Well might we sing,
“I hear the accuser roar
Of ills that I have done;
I know them well, and thousands more;
Jehovah findeth none!”
Justified by Grace – The Source of Justification
Justification stems from the grace of God, His totally unmerited, gratuitous kindness towards undeserving, rebellious sinners. It is that essential element of His plan of redemption which desires for sinners that they not only be delivered from eternal punishment (for which the forgiveness of sins would suffice), but that they should also be made acceptable in His presence, able to stand before Him as a holy people. “Being justified freely by his grace” (Rom 3.24) tells us that justification is causeless, in the sense that there is nothing within us or about us to prompt such an act on God’s part. It comes in response to nothing other than the overtures of His own grace and boundless love. Hence we read in Romans 5.8, “But God commendeth his (own) love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. The source of justification, therefore, is the heart of God Himself, and His desire in grace that sinners be able to stand in His presence without a stain on their character. However, the means whereby He justifies the sinner must be in keeping with His own holy character.
Justified by Blood – The Basis of Justification
In Romans chs. 1-3 God sits as Judge with the world of men arraigned before Him. Here is the indictment: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”(3.23). Nature, conscience and law all bear their witness, and the inescapable verdict is “Guilty”. Every mouth is stopped and the whole world stands guilty before a holy God who, in righteousness, passes down the only possible sentence – “Death”. How awesome! How terrible! How final! Not one of us can deny our guilt, or undo our past, or atone in any way for our sins. None of our fellow men can help for they are in the same strait, and the situation is utterly hopeless. This is where the glorious Gospel of the grace of God meets us, and, with inexpressible relief, we hear the divine solution stated: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. Immediately after this we read, “being now justified by his blood”(Rom 5.9), so, if “justification by grace” tells us of the source, “justification by blood” tells us of the means by which the desire of the divine heart is realised in practice. The death of Christ reconciled the desires of divine grace with the demands of divine holiness, and provided a righteous basis upon which God could move out in mercy towards penitent sinners.
It is essential that two main problems are resolved for justification of a condemned sinner to be possible. First, the question of his sins must be addressed if he is to escape the judgment he deserves and, second, the question of his sin (or sinnership) must be dealt with if he is to be reconciled to a holy God. These two requirements are met, typically, in the trespass and sin offerings. The trespass offering dealt with what a man had done, but the sin offering dealt with what he was. This distinction is made doctrinally in the letter to the Romans which teaches us that the death of Christ in the place of the believer deals with what he has done, and the believer’s death in Christ deals with what he is by nature. Justification rests upon these twin truths concerning the death of Christ – His death for me saves me from the penalty of my sins, and my death in Him saves me from the power of sin as a master. When Christ died, the believer died, thus satisfying the demands of an inflexible law which, in condemning us, was powerless to help and could only demand death. Our judicial death with Christ has freed us from law’s demands and made us the subjects of justification by grace. Every divine requirement was fulfilled in the life and death of the Lord Jesus, and His precious blood is the foundation upon which our justification rests.
Justified by Faith – The Obtaining of Justification
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5.1). If divine grace is the source of justification, and the precious blood of Christ the basis of it, then faith is the means by which justification is appropriated by sinners in all their desperate need. The principle of justification by faith is one which knows no dispensational barrier or change, that is, it holds true in every age and for all time. Which of us has not been thrilled to read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and to contemplate the great variety of ways in which men and women demonstrated their faith in God? Each of them was the recipient of some revelation of God’s holy character and His claims upon them, and each responded by taking God’s side in the matter, believing Him and what He had promised, and each was justified by faith. The exercise of faith is contrary to the inclination of the natural mind. The natural mind will consider the circumstances, the visible evidences, the clear pros and cons of any given situation, and come to a conclusion based on reason, sense and a knowledge of the operation of physical laws. When the Old Testament worthies named in Hebrews 11 exercised faith in their own unique situations, it was not that they simply discounted or ignored the apparent impossibility of what God was saying to them. Indeed, Romans 4 makes it clear that Abraham, when told by God that he and Sarah would have a son, did weigh up the apparent impossibility of what God promised. “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness” (Rom 4.19-22). Abraham weighed up the situation in the light of his knowledge of physical things, realised that what God had promised was physically impossible, and then he deliberately set aside the problems in the light of his knowledge of God and simply took God at His word. His act of faith was in weighing up the clear physical impossibilities against the revealed promise of God, and deliberately taking God’s side in the matter. His faith was not in the promise but in the God who had made the promise and, “(staggering) not at the promise of God through unbelief”, he gave glory to God through his obedience of faith.
The revelation of God’s holy claims against sinful men today is by means of “the gospel of God…concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 1.1,3). When a sinner understands, by divine illumination, the claims of the gospel, and by deliberate decision takes God at His word concerning his lost condition and the salvation that is to be found in the Lord Jesus, he is exercising the faith that acknowledges that what God has promised He is able also to perform. “And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness”. We should note here that it is the act of faith, and not the amount of faith, that is important. So often the Adversary attacks us by causing us to doubt if we really did enough when we trusted the Lord for salvation. Did I believe enough? Did I say enough? Did I understand enough? Was I contrite enough? Praise God that the sufficiency of our salvation rests in Christ and His atoning work, not in anything that we have or could ever do. The question of “enough” is settled in the sufficiency of Christ, and we need only ask, “Has there been a time when I believed the gospel, repented of my sins and by faith trusted Christ as my Saviour and Lord?” If so, then thank God again right now for saving your soul and for the knowledge that, “being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Justified by Works – The Evidence of Justification
“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (Jas 2.24). Is this verse at variance with the teaching of the Roman Epistle? No, of course not. The justification that James is speaking of is not justification before God but before men. He is stating that a profession of faith in Christ is substantiated by a change in life. If a person claims to have been justified by faith yet the appetites, associations and activities remain essentially unchanged, then the reality of the profession must be suspect. Our fellow men cannot read our hearts or see our faith, but they can read our lives and observe our walk. Good works and a godly life flow from, and owe their value to, a genuine faith within. The grace that saves a sinner also teaches him “that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2.12). Such practical righteousness is expected in the lives of all those who bear the Name of Christ, especially in days of easy profession. The only satisfactory proof that we are justified before God by faith is a life of practical righteousness before men, characterised by those “good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2.10).