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Justification: Forgiveness from God

had never sinned, and He declares this person righteous in His sight.
However, justification is more than a declaration; it is also a position that
the justified person receives on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice.

Christ’s righteousness is actually applied or credited to the redeemed
person, and he or she is considered righteous. What a glorious thought!
Only in this way can a just God justify the ungodly. Since Christ has
become righteousness for the sinner (1 Corinthians 1:30), the redeemed
sinner is placed in the position of a righteous person. This is made
possible because Jesus took the offenses of the sinner upon himself at
Calvary, and these sins were transferred to Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Someone has said, “Justification is first subtraction—the cancellation of
sins; second, it is addition—the imputing of righteousness.”

Paul’s short letter to Philemon provides a practical illustration of
justification in the New Testament. In verse 18 Paul said that if Onesimus
owed Philemon anything, Philemon should charge it to Paul’s account.
Onesimus would then be free of any obligation to Philemon. Paul’s right
and warm relationship with Philemon would be credited to Onesimus.

Its Relation to the Law

Paul said that no one is put right in God’s sight (justified) by doing
what the Law requires (Romans 3:20). This is no reflection on the Law,
for it is holy, right, and good (Romans 7:12). It means that the Law was
not given for the purpose of making people righteous but to provide
a standard of righteousness. God gave the Law to Moses so that the
people of Israel would have a clear understanding of right and wrong
(Exodus 20). The Old Testament records the history of the Jewish nation
and its repeated disobedience to the Law.

Let’s consider three reasons why the Law cannot justify a person. First,
the Law cannot justify us because it has no power to change weak and sinful
human nature. The Law can detect sin and diagnose our sinful condition, but
it cannot provide a solution that will remove the cause of sin. The Law is like
a ruler that will measure the length of some material but cannot increase
its length: “Through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20).

Like a mirror, the Law can reveal our corruption and wickedness, but
it cannot cleanse us from our uncleanness. We can look intently into a

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