JUSTIFIED!

“…justified by his blood…” —Romans 5:9

Justification is a legal term. It means to be declared righteous. For example, if a prisoner is brought before a court of law, there is only one way he could be justified—he must be found not guilty. If he is found guilty and sentenced to prison, he could be pardoned, but he would not be justified. He would still be guilty even if he were forgiven. In justification, it would be as if he were never guilty.

We have all been proven GUILTY of breaking God’s law and condemned. But we are JUSTIFIED by the blood of Christ (Rom. 5:9). Christ bore our guilt on the cross and suffered our punishment. When we believe on Christ as our Savior, His righteousness is imputed to us and He declares us justified—“Just-as-if-I-never-sinned.” During this dispensation of grace the basis for justification is faith alone (Rom. 4:5; Gal. 2:16).

Another understanding of the word “justification” comes from word processing.  After I enter text on my computer, I can click on the “justification” button and the program automatically adds enough spaces between the words so that the text aligns perfectly on the right margin and the left margin.  The text that previously had a jagged right edge is now made to perfectly align.

In justification, we too are made to align with the expectations of God.  God adds the spaces necessary from God’s righteousness so that we can meet the expectations of God.

That’s the meaning of justification. Glory!