SALVATION AND JUSTIFICATION

Kenneth Keathley

T he importance of a proper understanding of justification can hardly be overstated. Luther declared justification “the doctrine on which the church stands or falls,” while Calvin described justification as “the main hinge on which religion turns.” Justification is the legal act of God by which he declares the sinner righteous on the basis of his relationship to Jesus Christ and his finished work. Thus, the believer enjoys a new legal standing before God as a result of his union with Christ, and as such “there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Rm 8:1).

In Romans 3:19-4:9, Paul explained how God can be both “righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rm 3:26). The apostle made the provocative claim that God “declares the ungodly to be righteous” (Rm 4:5) and that Calvary enabled God to justify sinners while at the same time remaining true to his holy nature. The work of Christ accomplishes what otherwise would be impossible: it simultaneously upholds God’s righteousness and reveals his grace (Rm 3:25-26). Paul drove home the principle of justification by faith by using two Old Testament examples: Abraham and David (Rm 4:1-9). Abraham demonstrated that the best man still must be saved by grace (Rm 4:3) while David showed that grace can save even the one who has committed the worst of sins (Rm 4:5-8).

The biblical witness concerning justification presents three truths: justification is an objective declaration; this declaration is an acquittal; and this acquittal is based on the Savior’s righteousness being credited to the believing sinner’s account. The believer’s union with Christ by faith establishes a covenant relationship with him that has legal ramifications. Christ fulfilled the righteous demands of the law, and along with him we also are viewed as just. Our union with Christ is the basis of our justification.

First, justification is a forensic, or legal, declaration. This means justification deals with how God sees us in Christ, not with the transformation Christ is doing within us. It refers objectively to what Christ has done for us and to the position we enjoy in him, not to his work of sanctification we are subjectively experiencing.

Second, justification is an acquittal. This is the content of the legal declaration God makes about us. Two objections against the “declared righteous” position must be answered: God does not acquit the sinner simply by forgiving his sin, nor is objective justification a legal fiction. Some explain that to be justified means God views the sinner “just-if-I’d never sinned.” The saying is quaint but incorrect because we are not declared innocent but forgiven. And justification is not simply the ignoring of our transgressions. Though our sins are forgiven, they are not merely forgiven because Christ, our substitute, paid for them in full. God judged us in Christ so that positionally, when Christ died on the cross, God looked upon us as if we died with him (Rm 6; Gal 2:20; Col 3:3). When Jesus rose from the dead, from God’s perspective we rose with him (Eph 2:5-6). We are found righteous because in Christ we have already been judged for our sins.

The Scriptures warn that Calvary is the only safe place from the coming fiery judgment that will someday engulf the world (2Th 1:7-9; 2Pt 3:7) because it is the one place God’s judgment has already been. We are safe from the coming judgment because God already has dealt with us in Christ upon the cross. Justification is not predicated on God ignoring our sins but on his judging us in Christ.

Our union with Christ prevents justification from being merely a legal fiction. If a wealthy man or woman marries a poor spouse, then from that point on both are rich. So it is when the believing sinner is united with Christ; from that point forward, God deals with them collectively. As Erickson points out, “God always sees the believer in union with Christ and measures the two of them together. Thus, he does not say, ‘Jesus is righteous but that human is unrighteous.’ He sees the two as one and says in effect, ‘They are righteous.’” (Christian Theology, p. 965) Justification is not a legal fiction but a legal reality.

Third, justification is crediting, or imputing, to our account the righteousness of Christ. In Romans 4:4-5, Paul used a bookkeeping metaphor to describe how the debt of our sins was imputed to Christ while his righteousness was credited to us. The apostle repeatedly explained that our righteous standing before God is due entirely to the gracious exchange Christ made with us (Php 3:8-9). He declared in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Christ has taken the sinner’s sin—and paid for it at Calvary (“He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us”) while the sinner has received the riches of Christ’s righteousness (“so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”). It is a glorious exchange, and we are getting an infinitely better bargain.

In summary, the essence of justification is that God accepts, regards, and declares the believer as righteous. It is not a process but an act of God. Justification has two elements: negatively, the believer’s debt to the law is paid; positively, believers are reinstated into a position of divine favor and privilege. The basis of justification is Christ and his work (“They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Rm 3:24; see also Rm 5:9a). The condition for justification is faith (“But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness,” Rm 4:5). Faith is not the ground of justification, but it is the instrument by which we receive God’s justifying grace. The result of justification is peace with God (“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Rm 5:1).

(Content is adapted from Theology for the Church, B&H Academic.)