Justification

Justification is the sole act of God declaring or making the sinner righteous before Him. It is by belief or faith that we are justified before God. In the book of Genesis we read:

Then he (Abram) believed in the LORD; and He (God) reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
The bible tells us that through Jesus Christ we are freed from all things; all of the things that the law of Moses could not free us from (Acts 13:39). Freedom from the law can only come from a person who kept the law and that person is Jesus Christ alone.

In this context of scripture Romans 3:19-31, Paul gives us insight on the law and its effect, justification and sin:
  1. The law speaks to those who are presently unregenerate
  2. The purpose of the law is to stop every mouth to show that they are accountable to God
  3. No flesh is justified in His sight through the works of the law
  4. Since all have fallen short of the glory of God, it doesn't matter if you were an Old Testament prophet or current evangelist, God's righteousness is granted for all who believe in Christ
  5. Justification is a gift and not a right
  6. The precious blood of Christ amended our sins; even the sins previously committed
  7. Christ was perfect in everything: integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting. This is why He had to be the one to die for us. God the Father crucified his righteous Son for unrighteous people so they can one day we can be righteous in His son and no longer be unrighteous people.
  8. Because of faith, man's boasting is excluded from justification. It is the faith in Christ God desires for us to have and not faith in ourselves.
  9. God is the God of both Jews and gentiles. God isn't confused, He is the same God who justifies the Jews by faith and the Gentiles through faith.
  10. We should never attempt to render the law idle or get to a point in our pilgrimage where we believe that the law is no longer efficient or effective.
The scriptures also makes it clear that no one can justify themselves. Job asks this question:
"In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before God? (Job 9:2)
And right after that Job proceeds to magnify the Lord, His greatness, His majesty and His power. The answer to Job's question is no with a qualifier. The only way that a man can be right before God is by repenting and trusting in His Son Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins. God sees His Son as righteous and He received the due penalty for our error and not His since He had none.

Because of our sinful nature, we have the tendency to justify our wrongdoings:
  • Adam with the fruit and blaming the woman Genesis 3:12. The woman was later named Eve at vs. 20
  • Aaron with the golden calf Exodus 32:24
  • King Saul and usurping priestly duties 1 Samuel 13:12
  • Human beings and our darling sins
Without Christ, we have no way of being justified. We are indeed lost without Him. There is no profession, status, organization, amount of money or group that can justify us before God. God has given us the ability to become sons of God; even those who believe on His name. We are prone to sin and fall, should salvation depend on us and our works?

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