TOPIC 12 OF 47
Justification
Made right with God by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.
THE MAIN TRUTH
God declared all sinners righteous in his presence—justified, restored to a right relationship, reunited with him—when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was bodily raised in victory from the dead.
The teaching
From the book · pages 35–37
God declared all sinners righteous in his presence—justified, restored to a right relationship, reunited with him—when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was bodily raised in victory from the dead. This universal justification of all humanity is objectively true in the person of Christ Jesus. Salvation is fully accomplished for everyone, and nothing more needs to be done or added.
What remains is that we sinners must receive this free gift of salvation—not by doing any good works but by trusting in Christ as the Holy Spirit works faith in us through the Gospel. Justification in Christ is given through the Good News of Jesus for us to receive by faith.
We are justified, forgiven, and saved through faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves right with God. It is a pure gift of God’s grace. All the glory belongs to him. When God declares us righteous in Christ, he puts us right by uniting us in faith to Christ, our righteousness. As a result, the Spirit gives us new life as he conforms us to the image of Christ and makes us righteous in how we live.
Scripture foundations
All Scripture excerpts from this topic are presented below in the book’s order. Ellipses and bracketed explanations follow the manuscript. Select a reference to read the surrounding passage in the EHV.
Reading these passages together
Notice the distinction between Christ’s accomplished work and our reception of its benefits through faith. God’s verdict of forgiveness rests on Christ, not on the quality of our performance.
13 Scripture excerpt groups
SCRIPTURE 01
Romans 3:23-25; 8:1 ↗
“. . . all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat through faith in his blood.” “. . . there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Book page 36
SCRIPTURE 02
Romans 4:25 ↗
“He was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification.”
Book page 36
SCRIPTURE 03
Romans 5:18 ↗
“So then, just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification for all people.”
Book page 36
SCRIPTURE 04
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 ↗
“And all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ . . . That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”
Book page 36
SCRIPTURE 05
Romans 5:9-11 ↗
“. . . we have now been justified by his blood . . . while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son . . . we have now received this reconciliation.”
Book page 36
SCRIPTURE 06
1 John 2:1-2 ↗
“. . . we have an Advocate before the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world.”
Book page 36
SCRIPTURE 07
1 Timothy 4:10 ↗
“. . . we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”
Book page 37
SCRIPTURE 08
1 Thessalonians 1:5 ↗
“. . . our gospel did not come to you with mere words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction.”
Book page 37
SCRIPTURE 09
Galatians 2:16 ↗
“We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.”
Book page 37
SCRIPTURE 10
Romans 5:1 ↗
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Book page 37
SCRIPTURE 11
Philippians 3:8-10 ↗
“For his sake, I have lost all things . . . that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, which comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. . .”
Book page 37
SCRIPTURE 12
Romans 7:4,6 ↗
“. . . so that you may be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead . . . so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit. . .”
Book page 37
SCRIPTURE 13
Romans 8:29; Philippians 1:11 ↗
“. . . conformed to the image of his Son . . .” “. . . filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ . . . ”
Book page 37
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages are from the Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV), copyright 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission, as noted in the manuscript.
PERSONAL REFLECTION OR GROUP DISCUSSION
Reflect and pray
On what foundation does God declare sinners righteous?
How does faith receive justification without becoming a meritorious work?
How does God’s verdict in Christ answer the accusations of your conscience?
A prayer
Gracious Father, thank you for making us right with you through Jesus. Keep our confidence in his righteousness and renew our lives through your Spirit. Amen.