By Matt Haste
What do we believe?
Justification is the act whereby God declares a person innocent and righteous by counting the righteousness of Christ to his/her credit through faith in the completed work of Christ.
Why do we believe this?
Romans 5:1-5- Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Why does it matter?
Apart from Christ, we are guilty before God. In Christ, we are counted innocent and righteous. How is this change brought about? The biblical answer is, “We have been justified by faith.”
You have probably seen a criminal trial before. The entire process leads up to the climactic decision at the end. The evidence is weighed. The attorneys make their case. And then, the judge renders a verdict. The Scriptures teach that each one of us will someday face judgment before God after we die (Hebrews 9:27). The remarkable truth of the doctrine of justification is that Christians can actually look forward to this day because our verdict has already been rendered. We have been justified by faith.
Being justified means that you are declared to be both innocent and righteous. You are innocent because the guilt of your sin is no longer counted against you. It has been applied to Jesus instead when he died on the cross. You are righteous because the goodness of Christ has been credited to your account. This means that you are holy in the sight of God.
The result is phenomenal, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Take a few minutes today to praise God for the blessing of justification. Read through Romans 5:1-5 and consider the fruit that justification produces in your life.