What Is Justification?

(This column first appeared in The Wheaton Record on October 21st, 2020).

The Westminster Confession defines justification as God “pardoning [a person’s] sins, and… accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone.” When we place our faith in Christ, God not only pardons us of our guilt but also covers us with the perfect righteousness of Christ, who fulfilled the law on the behalf of his people. Those who are justified receive the “righteousness of God that depends on faith,” (Philippians 3:9) and God counts righteousness to them “apart from works.” (Romans 4:6)

Consider these glorious words: “Remove the filthy garments from him… Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” (Zechariah 3:4) Like the prodigal son returning from the pig sty, we exchange our foul garments for the best robe in the house! How do we get rid of our garments of guilt and become clothed in this righteous robe? By faith alone in Christ alone. 

To fully grasp this doctrine we must understand that Christ not only died for his people, but he also lived for them, being born under the law through the incarnation and fulfilling the law perfectly through his active obedience. We must get his substitutionary death right, but we also cannot forget about his sinless life. Jesus told us that he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) He completely fulfilled every inch of God’s law for us. In Romans 8:3, we see that part of the reason God sent his Son was so that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” 

Believer, you can’t do a thing to make up for your sins. Thankfully, Christ has done it all for you, taking the punishment of your sin and fulfilling the law in your place! You cannot justify yourself by trying to be a good Christian. We should rather try to be good Christians out of gratitude, not in order to get justified or to escape being condemned. The law can now become a joy to obey, for you are now enabled to keep it by the Spirit in order to please your Father who sent His Son for you. If you are justified in Christ, you will never be condemned and you will always be counted as righteous. 

If you do not have saving faith, which is evidenced by a changed life, I encourage you to come to Christ and be redeemed. Confess that you are unrighteous, forsake your self-righteousness and trust in Christ! You will be legally declared righteous in your justification, you will be progressively made more righteous in your sanctification and you will eventually be totally righteous in your glorification. If you refuse, you will fall short of God’s righteousness on the last day, and the very justice of God will demand your condemnation.