Justification

 Wouldn’t it be great if we could be sure that we’re right with God? Let’s face it. Every one of us has doubts about our standing with God. Can God look at us with favour, or are we hopelessly trapped in a lifelong process of trying to please and appease a holy God? Thankfully, God’s Word assures us that we can be right with God, right here, right now, right with God.

First of all, we need to understand that we can do nothing to contribute to a right standing in God’s sight. We have to depend on God to do that for us. Because we’re sinners both by birth and by choice, we need God to step in and change our situation. We need Him to declare us right in His sight. The idea that God would declare us right according to His holy standard is called ‘justification'. Only God can declare us right in His sight, legally and eternally righteous. Romans 8.33 says, “It is God who justifies.”

Justification is the opposite of condemnation. In our sin, we’re objects of God’s condemning judgment. But in Christ, we move from a position of condemnation to a position of justification. In Romans 5.16 we read, “The gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin. The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.” In other words, Adam’s one sin has passed down through the generations to every one of us, and we’re born into a position of judgment. But Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, paid for every sin. Therefore, He offers us the free gift of justification, God’s declaration of our forgiveness and righteousness in His sight.

So, we might ask, what do we have to do get this gift of justification? The point is, it’s a gift. We can’t earn gifts. We can only receive them. Many people have mistakenly thought that they could in some way earn God’s favour. They’ve tried to ‘buy’ God’s grace by obeying a set of laws or performing acts of kindness to others. While these are good things, they won’t make us right in God’s eyes. No, we can receive the gift of justification only through faith in Jesus Christ. We have to believe that He is God, that He died in our place, and that He can really save us. The apostle Paul, in Galatians 2.16, said that we are not “justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ”. Later, in verse 21, he said, “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” But Jesus Christ didn’t die in vain. He died for us. We can’t be declared right before God on our own merit. We need Jesus. Do you have Jesus? If so, you’ve been declared right with God. You’ve been justified by Him. If you don’t have Jesus, why not invite Him into your heart right now. Then you, too, can be confident that you’re right here, right now, right with God.