What is Justification?
In Luke 18, Jesus told a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector who went to
the Temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed, “God, thank You that I’m not like other men – unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector! I fast twice a week and give tithes of all I get.”
But the tax collector wouldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven. He beat his chest saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified. But the other will be condemned.”
What does it mean to be justified?
Justification is a legal declaration in which God pardons the sinner of all his sins and credits to his account the righteousness of Christ. So, the sinner is made innocent in the sight of God.
What is the basis of this verdict?
It’s based solely on the work of Jesus Christ: His perfect obedience, His atoning sacrifice, and His resurrection from the grave.
See, God doesn’t merely expunge our sins, He expiates them (the debt is paid in full!). We owed a debt for our sin and Jesus paid that price.
Colossians 2:14 says:
You who were dead in your trespasses and uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him.
God has forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.
The debt has been paid by Christ alone. He took our sin and we received His righteousness, and we are justified by His grace as a gift.
For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
How does someone receive this free gift?
By faith in Jesus.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3:23-25)
Confess your sin and ask His forgiveness, and you will be justified.
…when we understand the text.
(This video is by WWUTT. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central.)
