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What is justification?



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HomeContent IndexSalvationTheology of SalvationJustification
QUESTION
What is justification?

ANSWER
Simply put, to justify is to declare righteous. Justification is an act of God whereby He pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ. According to one theologian, “the root idea in justification is the declaration of God, the righteous judge, that the man who believes in Christ, sinful though he may be, is righteous—is viewed as being righteous, because in Christ he has come into a righteous relationship with God” (Ladd, G. E.,A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans, 1974, p. 437).
Properly understood, justification has to do with God’s declarationaboutthe sinner, not any changewithinthe sinner. That is, justification, per se, does not make anyone holy; it simplydeclareshim to be not guilty before God and therefore treated as holyactual change toward holiness in the sinner occurs withsanctification, which is related to justification but, for definition’s sake,distinct from it.


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HomeContent IndexSalvationTheology of SalvationJustification
QUESTION
What is justification?

ANSWER
Simply put, to justify is to declare righteous. Justification is an act of God whereby He pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ. According to one theologian, “the root idea in justification is the declaration of God, the righteous judge, that the man who believes in Christ, sinful though he may be, is righteous—is viewed as being righteous, because in Christ he has come into a righteous relationship with God” (Ladd, G. E.,A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans, 1974, p. 437).

Properly understood, justification has to do with God’s declarationaboutthe sinner, not any changewithinthe sinner. That is, justification, per se, does not make anyone holy; it simplydeclareshim to be not guilty before God and therefore treated as holy. The actual change toward holiness in the sinner occurs withsanctification, which is related to justification but, for definition’s sake,distinct from it.
A key passage describing justification in relation to believers isRomans 3:21–26: “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, . . . so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Several important facts about justification are to be noted:
• Justification comes apart from the law; that is, we cannot earn justification through rule-keeping or our own good works.
• Justification is made possible in the sacrificial death of Christ; it is based on the shedblood of Christ.
• Justification is the free and gracious gift of God bestowed on those who receive by faith the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
• Justification demonstrates the righteousness of God.
Related to God’s justification of the sinner are several things:
1) The remission of the penalty of sin, which was death (Romans 3:23;8:1;1 Peter 2:24).
2) The restoration to God’s favor, which had been lost due to our sin (John 3:36). So, justification is more than an acquittal; it is full acceptance. We are now friends of God (James 2:23) and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
3) The imputation of righteousness, which is the reckoning of Christ’s righteousness to our account (Romans 4:5–8). We are declared to be righteousforensically(legally) because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
(The preceding three points are adapted from Henry Thiessen’sLectures in Systematic Theology, revised by Vernon Doerksen, Eerdmans, 1979,pp. 275–277).
We are justified, declared righteous, at the moment of our salvation. Jesus Christ finished the work required for our justification on the cross. “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (Romans 5:9). He was then “raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).
The question arises, “Is justification just? If He is holy, how can God forgive a guilty sinner?” The answer is that justification does not excuse our sin, ignore our sin, or endorse our sin. Rather, our sin is fully punished, Christ having taken our penalty for us. He was our substitute (1 Peter 3:18). Because the wrath of God is satisfied in Christ (Isaiah 53:4–6), we are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1), and God remains both “fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:26, NLT).
Because God justifies usby gracethrough faith in Christ, we now have peace with God (Romans 5:1). Like Joshua the priest, we have been stripped of our “filthy clothes” (Zechariah 3:4), and, like theprodigal sonin the parable, we are now clothed with “the best robe” (Luke 15:22). God the Father sees us as perfect and unblemished, and we are to be devoted “to doing what is good” (Titus 3:14).
Romans 5:18–19in the Amplified Bible sums up the basis and result of justification: “So then as through one trespass [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation for all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For just as through one man’s disobedience [his failure to hear, his carelessness] the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one Man the many will be made righteous and acceptable to God and brought into right standing with Him.”
What is sanctification? What is the definition of Christian sanctification?
ANSWER
Sanctification is God’s will for us (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The wordsanctificationis related to the wordsaint; both words have to do with holiness. To “sanctify” something is to set it apart for special use; to “sanctify” a person is to make him holy.
Jesus had a lot to say about sanctification inJohn 17. In verse 16 the Lord says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it,” and this is before His request: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (verse 17). In Christian theology, sanctification is a state of separation unto God; all believers enter into this state when they are born of God: “You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30, ESV). The sanctification mentioned in this verse is a once-for-ever separation of believers unto God. It is a work God performs, an integral part of our salvation and our connection with Christ (Hebrews 10:10). Theologians sometimes refer to this state of holiness before God as “positional” sanctification; it is related to justification.
While we arepositionallyholy (“set free from every sin” by the blood of Christ,Acts 13:39), we know that we still sin (1 John 1:10). That’s why the Bible also refers to sanctification as a practical experience of our separation unto God. “Progressive” or “experiential” sanctification, as it is sometimes called, is the effect of obedience to the Word of God in one’s life. It is the same as growing in the Lord (2 Peter 3:18) or spiritual maturity. God started the work of making us like Christ, and He is continuing it (Philippians 1:6). This type of sanctification is to be pursued by the believer earnestly (1 Peter 1:15;Hebrews 12:14) and is effected by the application of the Word (John 17:17). Progressive sanctification has in view the setting apart of believers for the purpose for which they are sent into the world: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:18–19). That Jesus set Himself apart for God’s purpose is both the basis and the condition of our being set apart (seeJohn 10:36). We are sanctified and sent because Jesus was. Our Lord’s sanctification is the pattern of and power for our own. The sending and the sanctifying are inseparable. On this account we are called “saints” (hagioiin the Greek), or “sanctified ones.” Prior to salvation, our behavior bore witness to our standing in the world in separation from God, but now our behavior should bear witness to our standing before God in separation from the world. Little by little, every day, “those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, ESV) are becoming more like Christ.
There is a third sense in which the wordsanctificationis used in Scripture—a “complete” or “ultimate” sanctification. This is the same as glorification. Paul prays in1 Thessalonians 5:23, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ESV). Paul speaks of Christ as “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) and links the glorious appearing of Christ to our personal glorification: “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). This glorified state will be our ultimate separation from sin, a total sanctification in every regard. “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
To summarize, “sanctification” is a translation of the Greek wordhagiasmos, meaning “holiness” or “a separation.” In the past, God granted us justification, a once-for-all, positional holiness in Christ. In the present, God guides us to maturity, a practical, progressive holiness. In the future, God will give us glorification, a permanent, ultimate holiness. These three phases of sanctification separate the believer from the penalty of sin (justification), the power of sin (maturity), and the presence of sin (glorification).
