August 22nd, 2023
This week, I want to share what’s been on my heart regarding a single word in the Bible: justification. Now this word isn’t used very often in scripture in comparison to some other concepts, but it’s a foundational truth of our faith. Paul talked about justification in the book of Romans more than anywhere else. Here are just a few examples:
Romans 4:24-25 says,
“It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”
Romans 5:1 says,
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:16 says,
“The free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.”
Romans 10:9-10 says,
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
I encourage you to take time to read those scriptures slowly. He was raised for our justification. We have been justified by faith. With the heart, one believes and is justified.
So, what exactly does that mean?
I’ll be honest, when I thought of the word justification, I wasn’t thinking about it Biblically. See, the secular definition of justified according to Oxford’s English dictionary is “having, done for, or marked by a good or legitimate reason.” A couple of examples of justified being used in that context would be: “I was justified in my decision because of the circumstances” or “The end doesn’t justify the means.”
Now, this understanding of justification is obviously tied to the Biblical concept, however, if we understand it only from that secular perspective, we’ll miss it entirely.
Biblically, the word used for justified means “to show to be righteous” and “approved, in a legal authorization sense.” The word for justification which is tied to that word is defined as “an ordinance, a sentence of acquittal or condemnation, a righteous deed.” In every scriptural variation, the word carries a legal connotation, regarding an individual’s guilt.
We may think we understand how salvation works and we may have said the sinner’s prayer to accept Jesus’ sacrifice. Do we really understand what that does, though? Many struggle with guilt, even as believers, because they walk with the memory of who they were and what they did. If you live that way, it’s because on some level, you think that your actions justify or condemn you before God. Galatians 3:11 says,
“It is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:24 says,
“So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
Titus 3:7 says,
“Being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This means we can never be justified or found righteous, legally, before God, by our actions. The Bible tells us that the “law is good, righteous and holy” (Romans 7:12), however, if we were to stand before God based on whether or not we kept the law, we would all be condemned. James 2:10 says,
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”
We are all transgressors, so it will never be our righteous deeds that justify us before Him. As we saw in Romans 5:1, we are justified by faith in Him. Romans 5:9 reiterates this saying,
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”
God would be right to condemn us if we stood before Him on our own merit. We deserve condemnation if we weigh what we’ve done in the past on the scale of His holiness. We can never discount the weight of sin. Its wages are death (Romans 6:23).
That’s why Jesus did what we could not. The converse of condemnation is justification. Romans 5:18 says,
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
This is an elementary principle of our faith, but it’s critical, because so many believers live in condemnation. Condemnation will steal your boldness, your joy, and your witness, and it’s rooted in a misunderstanding of what Jesus has done. If you’re living in condemnation over past sins for which you’ve already repented, you’re listening to the accusations of the enemy.
Revelation 12:10 says,
“I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”
Romans 8:1 says,
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
There is no condemnation for the believer. We live righteously by His power. Faith without works is dead, so once we’re saved, we do have to live holy, but that holiness is always His holiness.
Ephesians 2:8 says,
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
No good thing we ever do will affect our justification. We are justified by His blood, and His blood alone.
When we stand in the courtroom of heaven, God isn’t going to bring up sins that are under the blood of Jesus. The enemy will bring accusations and I believe Jesus will step forward and say “I know that one. That one is mine.”
This week, I encourage you to embrace the power of justification. The authority and freedom we walk in as believers must be rooted in understanding our justification. We are legally declared free and holy because of His sacrifice, alone. He has done for us what we could never have done for ourselves. We keep God’s word, in obedience, out of love. We have a responsibility to be “unstained by the world” (James 1:27). However, when we stand before the Father, we are found guiltless only because of the pure blood of the Lamb. Be free, today, as you walk in that truth. We are not condemned; we are justified.
Romans 4:24-25 says,
“It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”
Romans 5:1 says,
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:16 says,
“The free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.”
Romans 10:9-10 says,
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
I encourage you to take time to read those scriptures slowly. He was raised for our justification. We have been justified by faith. With the heart, one believes and is justified.
So, what exactly does that mean?
I’ll be honest, when I thought of the word justification, I wasn’t thinking about it Biblically. See, the secular definition of justified according to Oxford’s English dictionary is “having, done for, or marked by a good or legitimate reason.” A couple of examples of justified being used in that context would be: “I was justified in my decision because of the circumstances” or “The end doesn’t justify the means.”
Now, this understanding of justification is obviously tied to the Biblical concept, however, if we understand it only from that secular perspective, we’ll miss it entirely.
Biblically, the word used for justified means “to show to be righteous” and “approved, in a legal authorization sense.” The word for justification which is tied to that word is defined as “an ordinance, a sentence of acquittal or condemnation, a righteous deed.” In every scriptural variation, the word carries a legal connotation, regarding an individual’s guilt.
We may think we understand how salvation works and we may have said the sinner’s prayer to accept Jesus’ sacrifice. Do we really understand what that does, though? Many struggle with guilt, even as believers, because they walk with the memory of who they were and what they did. If you live that way, it’s because on some level, you think that your actions justify or condemn you before God. Galatians 3:11 says,
“It is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:24 says,
“So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
Titus 3:7 says,
“Being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This means we can never be justified or found righteous, legally, before God, by our actions. The Bible tells us that the “law is good, righteous and holy” (Romans 7:12), however, if we were to stand before God based on whether or not we kept the law, we would all be condemned. James 2:10 says,
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”
We are all transgressors, so it will never be our righteous deeds that justify us before Him. As we saw in Romans 5:1, we are justified by faith in Him. Romans 5:9 reiterates this saying,
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”
God would be right to condemn us if we stood before Him on our own merit. We deserve condemnation if we weigh what we’ve done in the past on the scale of His holiness. We can never discount the weight of sin. Its wages are death (Romans 6:23).
That’s why Jesus did what we could not. The converse of condemnation is justification. Romans 5:18 says,
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
This is an elementary principle of our faith, but it’s critical, because so many believers live in condemnation. Condemnation will steal your boldness, your joy, and your witness, and it’s rooted in a misunderstanding of what Jesus has done. If you’re living in condemnation over past sins for which you’ve already repented, you’re listening to the accusations of the enemy.
Revelation 12:10 says,
“I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”
Romans 8:1 says,
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
There is no condemnation for the believer. We live righteously by His power. Faith without works is dead, so once we’re saved, we do have to live holy, but that holiness is always His holiness.
Ephesians 2:8 says,
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
No good thing we ever do will affect our justification. We are justified by His blood, and His blood alone.
When we stand in the courtroom of heaven, God isn’t going to bring up sins that are under the blood of Jesus. The enemy will bring accusations and I believe Jesus will step forward and say “I know that one. That one is mine.”
This week, I encourage you to embrace the power of justification. The authority and freedom we walk in as believers must be rooted in understanding our justification. We are legally declared free and holy because of His sacrifice, alone. He has done for us what we could never have done for ourselves. We keep God’s word, in obedience, out of love. We have a responsibility to be “unstained by the world” (James 1:27). However, when we stand before the Father, we are found guiltless only because of the pure blood of the Lamb. Be free, today, as you walk in that truth. We are not condemned; we are justified.
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