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TEXT: Habakkuk 2:4
SUBJECT: Justification
The doctrine of "justification" is the heart of the Gospel. When it is understood, the Christian life maintains its balance. When it is misunderstood, however, the believer cannot but veer into legalism or license. He will either try to save himself by works or he will dismiss the law of God altogether. Thus it is essential that you come to a proper knowledge of "justification". I trust this sermon will help you on your way.
"Justification" is a legal term; it is used in a court. It refers to your standing before the law. Its exact nature must be appreciated.
1.To "justify" is not to command someone to keep the law.
2.To "justify" is not to teach or show someone how to keep the law.
3.To "justify" is not to make someone into a law-keeper.
4.To "justify", in fact, is to declare righteous; to pronounce that someone has kept the law.
The use of this word in the Bible supports my definition. In Deuteronomy 25:1, Moses commands the Hebrew magistrates to execute justice: "If there is a dispute among men, and they come to court that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the guilty". This would make no sense if "justify" meant anything but "to declare righteous". The innocent party, after all, needn't be told "Keep the law"--he already has. There is no reason to "show him how to keep the law"--he obviously knows how. And, of course, the judge needn't "make him into a law-keeper" because--he already is one. Thus, to "justify" means "to declare righteous".
A second verse throws more light on the subject, Proverbs 17:15: "He who justifies the wicked and condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD". Now, if "justify" meant to "command, to teach, or to help a man keep the law", then the best thing one could do is "justify the wicked". But, if "justify" means "to declare righteous", then pinning this label on the sinner is obviously wrong.
And so, to "justify" means "to declare righteous, to pronounce someone innocent before the law".
It retains this meaning when it is brought into the field of theology. When the Bible speaks of "God justifying the ungodly", it means that He declares them righteous, that He pronounces them innocent!
But that brings up a very prickly question, doesn't it? How can an all-knowing and perfectly honest God declare anyone just? "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God".
This brings us to the work of Christ.
Firstly, God punishes sin--and sinners. But He does so in one of two places; either in the sinner himself or in his Substitute. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief, when He made His soul an offering for sin...He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied: by His knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities" (Isaiah 53:6,10,11). This we call our Lord's "passive obedience".
Secondly, God accepts only perfect righteousness. This He demands from either the sinner himself or from His proxy. And here too Christ meets our glaring deficiency. He lived the life God demands of us. And happily, in making Christ our Substitute, God accepts His life as though we had lived it. "For (God) has made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him". We obtain, in short, "the righteousness of God" (i.e., the righteousness that He demands, perfect, complete, lifelong) in our Lord Jesus Christ. This we call His "active obedience".
Hence, we are justified, not because of what we are or do, but because of what Christ is and what He was done.
And so we have the general outline of "justification". But the details are a bit skimpy, aren't they? What is included in "justification"? Or, to put it more crassly, "What do we get out of it?"
Here the Bible could not be plainer. The primary blessings of justification are two: the forgiveness of sin and the imputation of Christ's righteousness to our account. These are benefits that ought to be duly savored.
1.Consider how the Scripture describes the forgiveness of sin:
a.Isaiah 43:25: "I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake". This refers to a creditor's ledger. He lends you money. You pay it back in monthly installments. When the dept is fully paid, he blots it out of his book.
b.Jeremiah 31:34: "...I will forgive their iniquity and remember it no more". This idea is only too well illustrated in family quarrels. Have you ever had a fuss with your wife, you apologize, she forgives you, things go along pretty smoothly for a while--but then months or years later, you get into another squabble, and BOOM! she brings up your past offense! This is what God does not do. He "remembers them no more" in the sense of that, once forgiven, He never charges us with them again.
c.Micah 7:19: "He will turn again, he will have compassion on us; He will subdue our iniquities; and He will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea". What could be more buried than "burial at sea" under millions of tons of water pressure? That burial can never be dug up. It is entombed forever.
d.Divine forgiveness, therefore, is not "in word or in tongue", but "in deed and in truth".
"My sins, O the bliss of that glorious thought,
My sins--not in part--but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear them no more,
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord,
O my soul."
2.But what about the other side of the equation? What does it mean to have the "righteousness of Christ" imputed to you?
a.It doesn't mean that you are morally perfect. For that awaits the resurrection.
b.But it does mean this: you are legally perfect. In Christ God has punished your sins; and by the Savior's life, the believer has become as legally untouchable as Jesus Christ Himself!
3.Therefore, in brief, the justified man could no more go to hell than Christ could go to hell; His place in heaven is as certain as our Lord's. Thus, in the One "who is made head of all principality and power, we are complete".
And so, for our justification, Christ gains all the glory.
"Mine, mine was the transgression;
but Thine the deadly pain".
But how does one become "justified"? Here, I must address two separate issues. And I think the best way to do it is to present them in the form of a court case.
1.Christianity v. Judaism.
a.Judaism taught that, through God's grace, a man made himself acceptable to God through keeping the Law. If he tried very hard in life, God would, in the end, justify him. (This is, by the way, identical to the Roman Catholic view.)
b.Paul took that doctrine to task.
1.He denied the Law any role in justification. "Therefore by the deeds of the law no man shall be justified in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20).
2.He cited himself as an example of one who tried--but could not--justify himself. "...touching the righteousness of the Law, I was blameless. But those things which were gain to me, I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things as but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, and count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith" (Philippians 3:6-9).
3.He drew the logical conclusion from this principle. "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law then Christ is dead in vain" (Galatians 2:21).
4.The case of Judaism, therefore, with its "justification by works" must be rejected.
2.Reformed Christianity v. Reformed Christianity.
a.One group of Reformed believers (the minority group) says that "Justification is an eternal act of God and that faith only brings us into the enjoyment of our justification".
b.The other group (who are in the majority) tells us that "Justification is a temporal act of God and that faith actually justifies the sinner".
c.Do you see the difference? Group 1 says that the Elect are justified from eternity. Group 2 says that the Elect are declared righteous only when they believe. Who's right?
d.I think that Group 2 is in the right. Justification is not an eternal act of God, but one He accomplishes in time. And here's why:
1.The Elect (before coming to faith in Christ) are condemned. "We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Ephesians 2:3). But "condemnation" and "justification" are opposites. If, therefore, these men were ever "condemned", they could not be eternally "justified".
2.The Scripture indicates a time sequence involved in justification: "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
3.The blessings of justification are the product--not of becoming aware of our justification--but of our justification itself. Romans 5:1ff. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom we also have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope does not make ashamed, for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us".
a.Question: Does the unbeliever "have peace with God? Does he "Rejoice in the hope of the glory of God? Does he "glory in tribulation? Is the "love of God shed abroad in his heart? Is the "Holy Ghost given to him?"
b.These are the necessary consequences of believing in "eternal justification". If these blessings flow from justification itself and if justification is eternal, then the Elect man enjoys all them while yet unconverted!
4.The belief in "eternal justification" leads to certain difficulties, not easily surmounted. Let me explain by way of anecdote: I was discussing this issue with a friend who believes in eternal justification. I posed two questions to her, which she could not answer without evasion:
a."Did Christ die for sinners?" Her answer: "Christ died for the Elect".
b."Is the unregenerate (but elect) man lost?" Her answer: "He is God's sheep".
c.Her answers are not stupid. I wish everyone would think as systematically as she does. But here's the problem: her belief in eternal justification.
1.If "to justify" means "to declare righteous"; and if justification is an eternal act, then the Elect are eternally justified, and therefore, cannot be rightly described as either:
a."Sinners"
b."Lost"
5.By accepting the Biblical data on the subject, however, the dilemma is solved.
a.The unbeliever is a sinner and the believer is a saint because "justification is by faith" (cf. Romans 5:1).
b.The unbeliever is lost and the believer is saved--for the same reason--"justification is by faith". (cf. John 3:18).
6.But this poses a question: "Does God change His mind?" Of course not! He threatens to damn the unbeliever and promises to save the believer. Thus, when a man is in unbelief he falls under the curse; when he believes, he receives the promise. God has not changed at all. Man has changed!
7.One final question: "If justification is by faith, then isn't believing a way of saving ourselves, isn't it a work of some kind?"
a.No, and for this simple reason. Faith too is a gift of God. Thus, God gives us the ability to believe, and in believing we are justified.
b.Thus, justification (like everything else) is:
"Of Him, and through Him,
and to Him;
To Whom be glory forever,
Amen."
The practical importance of "justification by faith" cannot be overstated. For the moment you begin to confuse "justification" with "sanctification", you lose your assurance. You need to remember that the "newest believer" (being justified by faith) is every bit as much "saved" as the most experienced saint. If, therefore, you truly believe in Christ, you are saved.
"Who is he that condemns?
It is Christ who died".
"Justification by faith" is sometimes abused. For a saving faith in Christ produces a life of obedience (Ephesians 2:8-10). Thus, like James, you ought to "show me your faith by your works".
"Justification by faith" ought to be stressed in all of our evangelism. The evangelistic efforts by some Calvinists are downright shameful! They fall into two categories:
1.One group is basically fatalist. I heard one woman give this advice to a young man anxious about his soul. "What should I do?" he asked. The response? "Nothing". The idea being "if God is going to save you, He'll save you without faith". This widely differed from the counsel of St. Paul. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? inquired the Philippian jailer. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved" was the ready answer.
2.The other group is basically legalist. I once heard a man preach a fervent evangelistic sermon in which, having convinced his hearers of their sin and the wrath of God upon sinners, closed with this advice: "Therefore, read the Bible". What's wrong with this counsel? Very simple. Justification is by faith, not by works, including Bible-reading, prayer, church-going, and so on.
"Justification by faith" must be understood, maintained, defended, and promulgated, for it is--in the words of Martin Luther--"The article of faith which decides whether the church is standing or falling".
"Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with truth".
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