The story of justification is taken from the criminal courtroom. The accused, aware of her own guilt, walks into the imposing room that communicates condemnation. She is accused in a formal charge. Evidence and eyewitness testimony are presented that leave no room for doubt about the outcome. The penalty for the alleged crime is well known. She knows that she is guilty of the charges.
But, surprisingly, the trial ends with an acquittal, with all punishment fulfilled and all charges cleared. The accused is declared "not guilty." She is free to leave, not as an escapee who needs to hide from the authorities, but as a good citizen. She has paid her debt to society.
How could this be? Is this what we should call justice? How does the court know that this person will not quickly repeat the same offenses? How is society protected by this form of due process?
It turns out that the law on which the trial was held includes a provision that someone else is permitted to pay for the crime instead of the guilty party. The substitute who serves the sentence must be both innocent and willing. The accused is vindicated and set free by payment of penalty by someone else. Justice is done to the satisfaction of the law, in a way that reduces violations of the law.
How God Justifies
In the gospel, the picture of justification works in two ways. God's justice is meted out in a court of law to free the guilty. But even more significantly God’s righteousness is applied to change the guilty person.
In God's courtroom, it is the judge himself who pays the penalty. Jesus Christ is the sinless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. All the punishment we deserve was laid on him.
Isaiah 53:4-12 hammers this home with statement after statement: “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed by our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on hm the iniquity of us all.”
The work of justification through Jesus shows God’s righteousness, so that he might be just (fulfilling all the law’s requirement) and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (by declaring the believing sinner to be right). See Romans 3:26.
If my sin was also a crime against society, my punishment of jail time or fines may still be required. But God is satisfied through the death of Christ when I am united with him by faith.
Not only is the righteousness of Christ accounted as belonging to the one who believes, but it is actually applied to the believer’s life. It does not happen all at once, but over the rest of our lives we grow into true right living. So, justification is not only a legal reality, but a transformation where God’s righteousness is really laid on us.
Romans 5:17-18 promises the second part. “If, because of [Adam’s] trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. . . . One act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
This hope of real change is stated in Philippians 3:7-9, “[I want to] be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
We Are Set Free
The picture of justification means that I no longer need to fear being seen. All Wanted posters have been torn down. I am not a condemned criminal who has been paroled or who has broken out of prison. I do not need to hide or to look to see if someone is on my trail. There is no condemnation. I have nothing to hide. I have no fear of future punishments.
Neither am I a bad person who is cleared on a couple of indictments, but have warrants out for other crimes. Justification has freed me completely. It is kinda like all charges have been dropped.
Even if other people accuse me of wrong, I can live with a good conscience about my growing into holiness. Growth is now my primary focus in life. I can allow the changes God is making in my life to answer the slander that other people might try to shame me with. See 1 Peter 3:14-17.
Whatever We Were in the Past
This picture of salvation is often the most comforting and reassuring of all the aspects of the gospel. Our past lives are a source of shame and guilt. We still feel the sting of remembered sin. But justification changes us.
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? . . . And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Case dismissed. You are free to go.
Oh happy day, happy day,
When Jesus Washed, my Sins away.
He taught me how, to watch and pray,
And live rejoicing every day.
Oh happy day, happy day,
When Jesus Washed, my Sins away.