The Justification of Sinners We believe that Christ, by His obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By His sacrifice, He bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By His perfect obedience, He satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God.
This short course will cover the meaning and definitions of Justification. It will also suggest resources you should consider in furthering your understanding.
What is Justification Simply Put?
Simply put, to justify is to declare righteous, to make one right with God. Justification is God’s declaring those who receive Christ to be righteous, based on Christ’s righteousness being imputed to the accounts of those who receive Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Though justification as a principle is found throughout Scripture, the main passage describing justification in relation to believers is Romans 3:21-26: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
Where does this doctrine come from?
The doctrine of justification by faith has had a checkered history. It was virtually ignored until the Reformation. That all changed with Martin Luther, who elevated justification to the head of all doctrines. Ever since, Lutheran theologians have followed their founder’s lead, proclaiming in the oft-quoted phrase that justification by faith is the doctrine “on which the church stands or falls.”
In 1647, a group of Reformed pastors and theologians meeting at Westminster Abbey in London completed a set of documents we now know as the Westminster Standards, which include the Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The divines (theologians) sought to codify Reformed teaching in order to create a unified Reformed church in the British Isles. In question and answer 33 of the Shorter Catechism, they summarize one of the chief pillars of the Reformed tradition:
What is justification? Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
Wrapped up in this brief statement is the idea that sinners are justified sola fide—by faith alone. But what does sola fide mean? Before we delve into its meaning, a little historical context is essential for appreciating its significance. A person can truly appreciate a brilliant light only against the backdrop of darkness.
When Martin Luther nailed his Ninety- Five Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg in 1517, it took some time for the implications of his action to ripple through history. The fruit of his labors surfaced in a number of Lutheran and Reformed confessions that stated that sinners are declared righteous in God’s sight, not on the basis of their own good works but by faith alone in Christ alone by God’s grace alone—sola fide, solus Christus, and sola gratia. The Roman Catholic Church was compelled to respond and did so at the famous Council of Trent, which offered a series of proclamations on the doctrine of justification in its sixth session on January 13, 1547.
Among the many points Rome offered, chief among them were several key claims: (1) that sinners are justified by their baptism; (2) that justification is by faith in Christ and a person’s good works; (3) that sinners are not justified solely by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ; and (4) that a person can lose his justified status. All of these points coalesce in the following statement:
If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning thereby that no other cooperation is required for him to obtain the grace of justification, and that in no sense is it necessary for him to make preparation and be disposed by a movement of his own will: let him be anathema. (Canon IX)
The Roman Catholic Church clearly condemned sola fide—it did not confess that sinners are justified by faith alone.
How does it happen?
We are justified, declared righteous, at the moment of our salvation. Justification does not make us righteous, but rather pronounces us righteous. Our righteousness comes from placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
His sacrifice covers our sin, allowing God to see us as perfect and unblemished. Because as believers we are in Christ, God sees Christ’s own righteousness when He looks at us. This meets God’s demands for perfection; thus, He declares us righteous—He justifies us.
Romans 5:18-19 sums it up well: “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” It is because of justification that the peace of God can rule in our lives. It is because of justification that believers can have the assurance of salvation. It is the fact of justification that enables God to begin the process of sanctification—the process by which God makes us in reality what we already are positionally. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
It mattered to the biblical writers that God is a God of perfect justice, a truth expressed in Abraham’s question, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” ( Gen18:25 ). God can be relied on to act in perfect justice and without giving preference to the wealthy and the highly placed in our human societies. “The Lord takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people. The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people” ( Isa 3:13-14 ). Over and over the punishment of evil is put in legal terms ( Exod 6:6; 7:4 ) and specifically Israel’s sin is brought out with the use of legal imagery ( Micah 6:1-2 ).
Accordingly, it is not surprising that salvation is often viewed in legal terms. The basic question in all religion is, “How can sinful people be just (i.e., be justified) before the holy God?” Justification is a legal term with a meaning like”acquittal”; in religion, it points to the process whereby a person is declared to be right before God. That person should be an upright and good person, but justification does not point to qualities like these. That is rather the content of sanctification. Justification points to the acquittal of one who is tried before God. In both the Old Testament and the New the question receives a good deal of attention and in both, it is clear that people cannot bring about their justification by their own efforts. The legal force of the terminology is clear when Job exclaims, “Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated” ( Job 13:18 ).
The doctrine of Justification by Faith alone is one which over the century has become under attack, yet without it, there is no Gospel. Jesus, the only one with a perfect record, stands in our stead, takes the place of us, the criminals. His righteousness is credited to us. Justifying us before God, not because of our work, but the perfect work of Christ.
Carry on to the next section to test your knowledge and answer some questions on Justification.
