The Doctrine of Justification

To justify is to reckon, or to declare, or to show righteous. Being justified does not mean we have been made righteous. We have been declared righteous in Jesus, but not made righteous. When we make peace with God, we are not only born again, but we are justified. You and I could say, "I was declared to be Just-if-i-ed never sinned. This means that we now stand before God righteous. Not that we have obtained righteousness, but we have been declared righteous, not in ourselves, but only in Jesus Christ, by God. Justification not only takes away our sin and guilt, it imputes to us the righteousness of Christ.

To be justified (Just as if we had never sinned) and enter into heaven, we must have the equivalent righteousness of God. When we believe, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, and it is then that we are justified, and justified by faith, and not by good works, Romans 3:22; 4:4-5; 4:11; 9:30-32; Ephesians 2:8-9. It is God that declares those who receive Christ to be righteous and that is based on the righteousness of Christ being imputed to the accounts of everyone that receives Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:21. It is God pouring out His wrath on Jesus Christ as the sin offering for the whole world, Isaiah 53:10-12; 1 Peter 2:24.

God declares that those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, to be righteous. Therefore, we stand before God not as a pardoned sinner, but as a righteous person. If a person is pardoned, his crime has not been paid. However, Jesus Christ paid for our sin, and when we accept his payment God declares us justified, just as if we had never sinned. We are justified, declared righteous at the very second of our salvation. This does not make us righteous but we are pronounced righteous and this righteousness comes because we placed our faith in the finished work of Christ. The sacrifice covers our sin and when God see us He see us as perfect. Because we are in Christ God sees us because He sees the righteousness of Christ.

It is important to note that we are justified by faith in the finished work and shed blood of Jesus Christ, and not at all because of any good works or deeds we may have done, such as keeping the ten commandments, Sabbath keeping etc., Galatians 2:16; Romans 4:5. Christ died on our behalf to pay for our sins, so if we could do any kind or amount of good works, then Christ died for nothing, Galatians 2:21; 3:24. The purpose of the law was not to save, but to show us that we could not live up to God's righteous standard, and when we realize this it leads us to Christ for salvation, which is it's purpose, Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:24.

By nature we are born spiritually dead in our sins and trespasses. However, God has provided a way to declare us justified, or righteous, through Jesus Christ, Romans 5:6-1, Romans 3:23-26. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, and then we are justified. God restores us to His favor after the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us and we are then justified. Being born again we are declared righteous, now having the forgiveness of sins Acts 13:37-39.

It was mentioned above that we have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Impute means to put something on someone's account, so we can see that He paid them in full, Psalm 32:2, Romans 4:6-8, 2 Corinthians 5:21.

We are not justified by any good works we might perform, Romans 4:4-5, Romans 11:6. "Grace" in this verse refers to the unmerited favor of God. We have salvation by the unmerited favor of God, and not by good works. Jesus Christ paid it all, and there is nothing for us to do but accept the work that he has already done, Ephesians 2:8-9.

We are not justified by the deeds of the law. As explained above good works - keeping the law - does not save us, Galatians 3:10-11, Romans 3:20, Galatians 2:16, Romans 7:7, Romans 3:20.

Justification is by the blood of Jesus Christ, Romans 5:8-9., Hebrews 9:22, Romans 4:24-25.

Justification is by the grace of God, Romans 3:24-26, Romans 8:33.

Justification is by faith, Romans 5:1, Galatians 3:8, Galatians 3:23, Galatians 2:16.

Being justified, believers are in the body of Christ, the eternal Savior, Revelation 22:13, who purchased believers with eternal redemption, Hebrews 9:12, with eternal salvation, Hebrews 5:9, and gives the believer eternal life and they shall "never" perish, John 10:28. Clearly, one cannot lose this "eternal salvation" bought with "eternal redemption" and given "eternal life" to never perish. To believe that a anyone can lose salvation makes God a liar. This justification allows us to have the peace of God. This justification allows us to have the assurance of salvation. This justification enables God to start the process of sanctification, Romans 5:18-19. We are justified through faith and we have peace with God through Jesus Christ, Romans 5:1