Justified by faith

My recent posts have emphasised God’s amazing grace both in sending his Son to bear the just penalty of our sin, in our place, on the cross, and – on that basis – offering full, total, and free forgiveness of all our misdeeds, however awful they may have been. I explained that the divine forgiveness God grants takes the fuller form of “justifying” us. That means, he declares us officially not guilty and free from all condemnation.

This is a weighty theme, and one that is not as well-known and understood as it deserves, so I will clarify it here once more. It is the answer to a really profound question, formulated by theologian R.C. Sproul as “what may be the deepest existential problem a human being can ever face: how can a sinner, an unjust person, ever withstand the judgment of a holy and just God?” If we are all moral failures, it would seem we cannot survive in such a judgment. BUT… this is where justification comes in.

It helps to consider how God manages to justify the guilty sinners that we are – under three aspects that are expressed in the Bible. First, sinners such as me and you can be “justified by grace” (Titus 3.7); that means God grants this status, this salvation, purely out of his heart of love to the undeserving. We don’t have to earn it – indeed, we cannot. It is a gift freely given; that is the meaning of grace. This fact gives hope to the most awful of sinners. 

Secondly, we are justified on account of Jesus’ death, through the “redemption” accomplished through the shedding of his blood, (Romans 3.24-25, and 5.9), whereby he made a full atonement for our sins. This is unique in all the world’s religions – a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world has been accomplished by the only one who ever could accomplish it – Jesus, the incarnate Son of God. Without that, the Just Judge of all the earth could not pardon a sinner without violating the requirements of Justice. That’s why God can justify us through Jesus’ work, for he alone fully paid for our sins in our place.

I have dealt with those two bases in past posts, but I have not yet mentioned how this full total pardon can be yours. If God is so eager to forgive – and he is – what do you have to do to be justified? The Bible’s answer is that we are “justified by faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2.16, Romans 5.1). That means we are totally forgiven and justified by God when we place our trust in the Lord Jesus and in the atoning work he did for us. This is the authentic and radically marvellous message of Christianity: the apostles made it clear in their early proclamation of the Gospel – for example, “All the prophets bear witness to Jesus, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10.43). And again, “Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him all who believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law” (Acts 13.38-39).
So we who are guilty before God can be exonerated, acquitted, justified –

1. By God’s gracious kindness

2. Because Jesus died for sinners, and 

3. When we repent and put our trust in the Lord Jesus, calling on his name to save us.

It is this last faith commitment that clears away the barrier between us and God so that we experience his reality, his love and his transforming power. 

Clive Every-Clayton