Justification is by Faith

“but now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known…

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace

through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” Rom 3:21, 23-24

God the Father sits in His courtroom behind the bench.  The bench is so elevated you cannot even see Him.  His credentials hang on the bench in front of you.  Nervously you begin reading: Perfect in Holiness (Lev 11:44; Ps 145:17; Mt 5:48; Rev 4:8, 15:4; 1 Pet 1:15-16; Isa 6:3), Righteous Judge (2 Tim 4:8; Ps 11:7, Jn 17:25, Isa 45:21; Jer 23:6), Just Judge (Ge 18:25; Isa 30:8; Job 34:12; Ps 103:6; 146:7), the Truth (Ex 34:6; Nu 23:19,\; Rev 16:7), Omniscient (Ps 147:5, 139:1-4; Heb 4:13, 11:36; 1 Jn 3:20), Omnipotent (Ps 115:3; 135:6; Lk 1:37; Jer 32:17), Omnipresent (Ps 139:7-8; Heb 13:5; Mt 28:20; Deut 31:6), Good (1 Chr 16:34; Nah 1:7; Ps 25:7, 34:8, 100:5, 145:9), Impartial ( 2 Chr 19:7; Dt 10:17; Acts 10:34-35; Rom 2:6, 2:11)  and on and on it goes.  Your eyes begin to blur and you cannot even begin to take it all in.

It slowly begins to dawn on you that you are seated in the presence of ABOSOLUTE PERFECTION.  There is a distinct sinking feeling from deep inside you.  Your own soul which seemed almost white to you before now is fading to a deep gray and then to utter blackness as you realize the incredible holiness in front of you.  Suddenly you remember your utter wretchedness; the deeds of your childhood come flooding in on you and then your adult life as well—and these were deeds for which you “knew better.”  The certainty of your sentence begins to weigh on you.  There is no way—no hope—that you could even begin to compare to His holiness.  You are, without-a-doubt, a law-breaker.  And you are very aware that it is His law you have broken. 

The Attorney’s door opens and in walks Jesus, alone (Rom 8:33-34; Isa 50:8-9).  Wait a minute, this cannot be right…isn’t Satan supposed to be the prosecutor?  Jesus walks over to your table and sits with you.  You rise to your feet as the bailiff announces the case, your case, he utters your name and then chimes in, a little too happy for your liking, “ vs. the Law of Almighty God.  Most Highly Exalted Father God, Creator of all that is, Sovereign Ruler over all, Omnipotent Potentate¸ and Righteous Judge presiding.” As Father God enters, your heart sinks as does your posture, in fact, you feel very week in the knees.  As you collapse into your seat and the trial starts, Jesus looks at you with a smile and then approaches the bench.  “Father this one is written in the book of life for this one has believed in me.” (Ex 32:32; Dt 29:20, Da 12:1; Mal 3:16; Lk 10:20: Rev 3:5, 20:12, 15)  The book is opened and your name is found.  You’ll never forget the Father’s next words as He makes pronouncement on the case—you have been justified by belief in Jesus Christ who has given you His own righteousness…You have been pronounced Righteous.  Praise the Lord!

In order to understand justification, we must first understand what is meant by the word “righteousness.”  “The NT [New Testament] uses righteousness in the sense of conformity to the demands and obligations of the will of God, the so-called ‘righteousness of the law.’”¹  “Righteousness is conceived as judged by the standard of God’s holy law, which is derived from His holy character…”²  So righteousness is the absolute conformity to God’s law and character (His holiness); it is to be faultless or guiltless.³

Interestingly, the Greek root word “dik” conveys “the essential idea of righteousness, or rightness.”⁴  Several Greek words use this same root. The Greek word for “righteousness” is “dikaiosyne” which means “the quality of rightness or justice”⁵  The Greek verb “dikaioo” means “to justify.”⁶  The Greek noun “dikaiosis” means “the act of making right, or justification.”⁷ So we seek the ideas of justification and righteousness are tied closely together.  The verb “dikaioo” is commonly used when speaking of justifying and it means “to acquit,” “to vindicate” or “to pronounce righteous.”⁸  In Romans, Paul evokes a scene from a courtroom in which God sits as judge on the judgment seat of God and makes the case for justification by faith. 

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  – Rom 3:21-26

The tenants of the case are as follows: (Please look up these Scriptures.)

1. God is just.  (He always does what is right.)  – Rom 3:26
2. The law makes us conscious of our sin.  – Rom 3:20
3. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (no one conforms absolutely to God’s law and character—no one is faultless or guiltless).  – Rom 3:23
4. No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.  – Rom 3:20
5. God is righteous.  – Rom 3:21
6. Man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.  – Rom 3:28
7. God is the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  – Rom 3:26
8. God gives His righteousness to those who through faith in Jesus Christ trust in His atoning sacrifice as payment for their sins.  – Rom 3:22; 4:5; Phil 3:9

So justification is the process by which—through God’s redemption, freely by His grace—righteousness is imputed (or credited) to those who believe in Jesus Christ as a sacrifice of atonement for their sins.  – Rom 3:22,24-25; 4:21-25; 2 Cor 5:21

“Justification is the judicial aspect of the conversion experience in which the believer is viewed from God’s perspective.  God the Father, because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, imputes, or credits the righteousness of Christ to the believer. Paul says this “credited righteousness” is not really our own, but is Christ’s (Php 3:9).  God the Father sees believers wrapped in the perfect righteousness of Christ.  This is what allows God to accept mortals in his heaven—since no one can ever be good enough to merit heaven.  The term justification is best understood in the analogy of a courtroom.  Jesus Christ is our advocate, or attorney, who is able to present us before the Father as being credited with his righteousness.”⁹

Footnotes

¹ Milne, B. A. "Rigtheousness." The New Bible Dictionary. Second ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962. 1031. Print.

² Buswell, JR., James Oliver. "Rigtheousness." The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1967. 723. Print.

³ Leitch, A. H. "Righteousness." The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Vol. 5. Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, 1976. 104. Print.

⁴ Buswell, 723.

⁵ Buswell, 723.

⁶ Ryken, Leland, Jim Wilhoit, Tremper Longman, Colin Duriez, Douglas Penney, and Daniel G. Reid. "Romans, Letter to the." Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998. 735. Print.

⁷ Buswell, 723.

⁸ Richards, Larry. "Justify/Justification." Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1985. 373. Print.

⁹ Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. "Biblical Words for Salvation." Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. 1733. Print.

References

All Scriptures not otherwise specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

God is Good

“The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made”

Ps 145:9

Another moral attribute of God, which we can possess as well, is goodness.  Goodness defines right from wrong.  Without goodness, right could be wrong and wrong could be right.  Goodness makes moral judgments about the application truth.  To define Goodness is like trying to see the wind.  You cannot.  At best you see only the affects of the wind and not the wind itself.  Merriam-Webster defines goodness as: decent, ethical, honest, honorable, just, moral, right, righteous, right-minded, straight, upright, and virtuous.  They define the opposite of Good as:  bad, black, dishonest, dishonorable, evil, evil-minded, immoral, indecent, sinful, unethical, unrighteous, wicked, and wrong.¹

To describe someone as good is usually a judgment on their behavior.  Their behavior is seen as honest, moral, right, and virtuous.   We cannot fully know someone else and therefore the best judgments we can make about the person’s character are those we make because of their actions.  The same is true of God.  By His actions we can proclaim Him good, but with God it goes deeper than that.  His very nature is good.  And since it is part of His nature we know a few things about His goodness.  It is infinite, perfect, unchanging (never growing more or less good), dependable, and eternal.  Here is great comfort.  The goodness of God never changes, it is dependable and infinite. 

God is good to us because it is part of His nature, not because of some merit on our part or some compensation we deserve.  Salvation is a free gift because the good nature of God caused Him to provide it to all men at a tremendous personal cost to Himself.  It is available to all because He is good to all.  He blesses and causes blessing upon people because He is good.  He can only create good things.  He can only give good things.  “Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17.  He does not have bad things to give and He does not create bad things.  Last month we learned of the faithfulness of God as Psalm 145:13 says, “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.”  So the point is not only is He faithful, but He is faithfully good.  We can take great comfort in the fact that He is always good.  We can expect Him to always act good towards us.  “He is the same yesterday, today and forever” Heb 13:8. 

Since He is the truth, all things can be judged good or bad in their relationship to Him.  All things that are against the nature of God are bad or evil.  All things that agree with the nature of God are good.  Without goodness being an immovable, unshakeable attribute of God, we would have no basis to judge right from wrong.  Notions of right and wrong, good and evil, immoral and moral, just and unjust, ethical and unethical, indeed, every moral judgment has its roots in the goodness of God.  Without goodness being an immovable, unshakeable attribute of God, we would have no basis to expect good things from Him.  He has given us Himself and all He has as our inheritance (see John 16:13-15, 2 Pet 1:3-8; Eph 1:3; Rom 8:17, 32).  He has made all good things available to us.

Now remember that His goodness is in perfect harmony with His judgments and wrath.  When He pours out His wrath, He is still acting out of His goodness.  His compassion and grace flow out of His goodness and His judgments are mandated out of His goodness.  He cannot be good if He is not just.  Justice and goodness walk hand in hand.  When He spares the evil, it is because of His goodness and mercy and when He disciplines the evil it is because of His holiness, justice, and righteousness.  So whatever He does, it is always good.

“For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” Ps 100:5

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his is good; His love endures forever.”  1 Ch 16:34

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” Ps 34:8

“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.  He cares for them who trust in Him.” Nah 1:7

Footnotes

¹ "Goodness-Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dicitionary." Merriam-Webster. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2008. <www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goodness >.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. Print.

The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible New International Version The Old Testament and The New Testament Thompson's original and complete system of Bible study A complete numerical system of chain references, analyses of books, outline studies of characters and unique charts, with pictorial maps and archaeological discoveries. Ed. Frank Charles Thompson, et al. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1983. Print.