Justification – God Declares A Person Righteous

Feature 3 – March 2024 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Justification – God Declares A Person Righteous

It is a great privilege to be right with God and, as His children, to enjoy a relationship with Him. What a blessing it is to know that God declares believers to be “right” with Him, that is, righteous, or just, in His eyes. The term “justification” means “the declaration of being right with God,” something each person who has faith in God enjoys. The Bible confirms this in an unambiguous way, adding the beautiful result: “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1 ESV ).

Dear reader, do you have this kind of peace with God? We urge you to make sure about this matter, for it is critical and has eternal consequences! Where and how will you spend eternity? This is a question for every human being since Adam and Eve.

Genesis 6 describes the people who perished in the worldwide flood in the days of Noah. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to his heart. So the LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (vv.5-8).

In contrast to the people of his generation, verse 9 describes Noah as being “righteous,” which is repeated in Genesis 7:1. This is the first time that Scripture declares someone to be righteous, which implies that Noah was right with God. It introduces the biblical doctrine of justification – that is, how God declares someone as righteous before Him. The Hebrew word for “righteous” is also translated “just” – which is the term used in several translations of Genesis 6:9: “Noah was a just man” (JND, NKJV, KJV).

Besides the important statement that he was righteous or just before God, we are also told, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (v.8). This is the first mention of “grace” in the Bible. The first mentions of “faith” or “belief” are also associated with justification, for we read Abraham “believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Therefore, justification is by grace through faith, as recorded in the Old Testament and explained in the New. “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

God’s Perspective Sets Aside Human Ideas
Justification means that God sees and proclaims one who truly believes as “righteous,” in spite of past and present sins. Only our God, the Creator and Redeemer, can do so – “it is God who justifies” (Rom. 8:33 ESV). Furthermore, He can be both “just, and the Justifier of him who has faith in Jesus” (3:26) because the substitutionary death and bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death. The result for us is described as “being now justified by His blood” (5:9 KJV). In other words, to be declared righteous before and with God is only possible because the Lord Jesus Christ “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (4:25).

While it is true that we are justified by grace through faith, this justification also leads the believer to good works, for “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (Jas. 2:24). James does not speak of works to be saved but of works that result from the great blessing of being saved and declared righteous by God and knowing this by faith. Praise God!

The Epistle to the Romans gives us God’s views about these matters, as communicated through the apostle Paul. It presents to us God’s way of how to come to Him, which is an urgent matter to settle. If you haven’t done so, don’t delay; make sure today to be right with God! The apostle wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17 ESV).

Consider Romans
Because this topic is important for everyone, let’s consider a brief outline of The Epistle to the Romans. All believers since Pentecost (Acts 2) are called “beloved of God” as well as “saints” (Rom. 1:7 KJV). This will remain so until the rapture (1 Th. 4:14-18; 1 Cor. 15:52-57). After that incredible event, God will call other people to be saved, but they will belong to different families, not to the one body, the Church, as we do by God’s grace today.

Furthermore, no one can become righteous through his own effort, but only by the favor of God based on the accomplished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Without any resources in yourself to get right with God, by putting your trust in Him based on what God has done through Christ, a change is possible. Only in this way can one have peace with God – not based on one’s own efforts to improve oneself, but through what Christ has wrought and accomplished once for all. That is how God can declare righteous the one who puts his trust in Him, like Abraham did, the father of all believers (Rom. 4).

To be right with God is not the result of keeping the law. Instead, it is because of God’s declaration in grace for each one who confesses his sins and puts his trust in the Lord Jesus. There is no other way to get right with God (Rom. 5). This leads to the challenge of letting go and letting God, implying our giving full control to the Holy Spirit, so God can use us as He wants. He then will lead us to honor God, with happy and God-honoring lives (Rom. 6–8).

In the second part of Romans, chapters 9–11, we learn about God’s plans for His earthly people Israel and how He will fulfill His promises made long ago, despite seeming to be an impossibility. Ultimately, this will bring glory to God. He did not cast aside those plans when He introduced the period, or age, of grace to Jews and Gentiles, for He will fulfill them after the rapture.

In the third part of Romans the apostle concluded by urging all believers to fully commit to living for God’s glory (Rom. 12). He also instructed us to honor the various authorities under which we are placed in this world (Rom. 13). The apostle exhorted us to live in harmony with all believers, learning to be and function as useful instruments for the Master, following Paul’s example (Rom. 14–15). Finally, the message of the gospel implies that all believers should live for God’s glory as instruments to honor Him and with love for each other. Paul’s ministry leads us to a fuller understanding of God’s eternal plan, to serve and worship Him, and to be a blessing for the believers (Rom. 16).

A Story The Lord Told
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk. 18:9-14 ESV).

This parable helps us understand the right attitude that is needed for a relationship with God. To be justified, or declared right with God, we must humble and judge ourselves in God’s light, while accepting His instructions. There is no room for pride or self-righteousness in the matter of justification, for all praise is due to God alone.

By way of conclusion, we refer to and partly quote a few Scripture passages:

• “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all …” (please read Rom. 3:21–4:25).
• “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them [Israel] is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness …” (please read Rom. 10:1–13).
• “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law …” (please read Gal. 2:15–3:29).

By Alfred Bouter