Before the world was created, God chose us to be holy and without fault in His eyes, enabling Him to enjoy an intimate love relationship with us. Unfortunately, starting with Adam, sin entered the human race, and thus, we have sinned, separating us from a holy God. “Since the wages of sin is death”, every human has a death sentence in hell awaiting them, unless they accept Christ as their Savior. God, in His great love and mercy, despite the fact we daily sin, desired to justify us, so we can not only avoid hell but also become children of God. Justification happens only when we become a Christian, giving us a perfect standing with God, and giving us an inseparable identity in Christ. Every person has an eternal decision to make in regard to salvation.
“Justification is the main hinge on which salvation turns.” (John Calvin)
According to Theopedia, “Justification is the doctrine that God pardons, accepts, and declares a sinner to be “just” on the basis of Christ’s righteousness (Rom 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:15-21) which results in God’s peace (Rom 5:1), His Spirit (Rom 8:4), and salvation. Justification is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from all works and merit of the sinner (cf. Rom 1:18-3:28).”
Omniscient God knew before He created the world that man would sin. Also, being a god of perfect love and mercy, God wanted to pity mankind, forgiving them of all their sins so people could avoid hell; He also desired an intimate love relationship with them. Thus, our holy and just God implemented a justification idea involving Christ to pay the penalty for all of our sins, therefore giving every human the opportunity to be pardoned, accepted, and considered just by a perfect and holy God, despite the fact everyone sins. If human free will chooses to be justified by pursuing God’s path to become a Christian, not only will man be freed from hell, but will become children of God.
Our holy God is too pure to look at sin as He declared hell being the punishment of our sins, A perfect God is incapable of allowing justice go unserved. Thankfully, Christ became our substitute.
The Justification Process
2 Corinthians 5:21: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
Jesus Christ, Son of God, came to Earth as a man, lived a sinless life. Christ was to be a sin-offering, a sacrifice for sin, so that we could be made the righteousness of God, so believers could be justified freely by the grace of God, through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ. Dying on the cross, Christ paid the penalty for all of mankind’s sins, as Christ, who knew no sin was treated and regarded as sin by a holy God, satisfying the wrath of mankind’s sins. Three days later, Christ resurrected from the dead.
God chose Christ to be your substitute as Christ took all of your sins upon Himself, bearing the wrath of a holy God, for the punishment we deserve. “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved …” (Acts 16:31).
Those who become a Christ will become the righteousness of God, as God imputed our sin and guilt to Christ and imputed the “righteousness of Christ” to our account. This means God treats and regards us as having the legal status of righteousness, the same righteousness of Christ, although we are actually sinners. We have the same perfect standing with God, as Christ has with God:
“To be justified means more than to be declared “not guilty.” It actually means to be declared righteous before God. It means God has imputed or charged the guilt of our sin to His Son, Jesus Christ, and has imputed or credited Christ’s righteousness to us” (Jerry Bridges).
“Justification is away beyond anything that a human court of justice ever realizes. It is putting the sinner in the condition before God as if he had never sinned at all. It is giving him a standing in the merit of Jesus Christ of absolute innocency before God.” (A.C. Dixon).
Through the death of Christ on the cross-making atonement for sin, we get a perfect standing before God. That is justification, and it puts us, in God’s sight, back in Eden before sin entered. God looks upon us and treats us as if we had never sinned”. (A.C. Dixon)
Those who accept Christ as their Savior become justified forever and, therefore, become children of God. Because they have Christ’s perfect standing accrued to their account, every child of God will always be eternally loved, totally forgiven, and completely accepted, regardless of the frequency or nature of their sins. That is what justification gives, and once a child of God, a person receives that as their new identity in Christ.
“When your identity is found in Christ, your identity never changes. You are always a child of God”. (Tim Tebow)
“Your circumstances may change but who you truly are remains forever the same. Your identity is eternally secure in Christ.” (Holley Gerth)
“You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.” (Rick Warren)
We are justified, not by giving anything to God, – what we do, – but by receiving from God, what Christ hath done for us.” (William Gurnall)
Salvation and therefore justification aren’t earned through works or through performance but by receiving the love of God through faith. In spite of all of your sins, God still loves you very much. In John 4:9-10, it says: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
God purposed each of us to be holy and without fault in His eyes, and subsequently, to be His adopted children. Your sins became a barrier, blocking you from experiencing God’s love. He could of easily turned His back on you, and not chose Christ to die for you. Instead, the perfect love and mercy of God pitied you, giving you a second chance!
The life of His dearly beloved child was the enormous price He paid, with the intention of pardoning you and accepting you unconditionally, desiring to adopt you as His child. This shows a fraction of how much God dearly loves you, how valuable He deems you to be. Unfortunately, regardless of how Love may love a person, true love cannot force free will to choose the right path. The choice is up to you!
“Justification is the truly dramatic transition from the status of a condemned criminal awaiting a terrible sentence to that of an heir awaiting a fabulous inheritance.” (J. I. Packer). God desperately wants to free you from hell and give you an inheritance in heaven, but He doesn’t force free will! The choice is up to you!
Sources:
https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-key-bible-verses-on-justification/
https://www.azquotes.com/
https://www.christianquotes.info/quotes-by-topic/quotes-about-justification/
Theopedia
Bing.com