As sinners, how are we justified before God?

Today Bible Study:

As sinners, how are we justified before God?

In Romans 3:24, the verb “justified” is a legal or forensic term that comes from the Greek word for “righteous” and means “to declare righteous.” This verdict includes pardon from the guilt and penalty of sin and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s account, which provides for the positive righteousness man needs to be accepted by God. God declares a sinner righteous solely on the basis of the merits of Christ’s righteousness. God imputed a believer’s sin to Christ’s account in His sacrificial death (Is. 53:4, 5; 1 Pet. 2:24), and He imputes Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s law to Christians (5:19; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9).The sinner receives this gift of God’s grace by faith alone (3:22, 25; 4:1–25). Sanctification, the work of God by which He makes righteous those whom He has already justified, is distinct from justification but without exception always follows it (8:30).

“Justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Justification is a gracious gift God extends to the repentant, believing sinner, wholly apart from human merit or work. The imagery behind the Greek word for “redemption” comes from the ancient slave market. It meant paying the necessary ransom to obtain the prisoner’s or slave’s release. The only adequate payment to redeem sinners from sin’s slavery and its deserved punishment was “in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19) and was paid to God to satisfy His justice.

“Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood” (v. 25).This great sacrifice was not accomplished in secret, but God publicly displayed His Son on Calvary for all to see. Crucial to the significance of Christ’s sacrifice, a propitiation carries the idea of appeasement or satisfaction—in this case Christ’s violent death satisfied the offended holiness and wrath of God against those for whom Christ died (Is. 53:11; Col. 2:11–14). The Hebrew equivalent of this word was used to describe the mercy seat—the cover to the ark of the covenant—where the high priest sprinkled the blood of the slaughtered animal on the Day of Atonement to make atonement for the sins of the people. In pagan religions, it is the worshiper—not the god—who is responsible to appease the wrath of the offended deity. But in reality, man is incapable of satisfying God’s justice apart from Christ, except by spending eternity in hell.

©BY PASTOR JUDAH OLATUNDE