One simple truth changed that monk’s life and ignited what we call “The Reformation.” Here is that truth: By His grace, God’s righteousness could become the sinner’s righteousness, through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Luther had always seen the righteousness of God as an attribute by which God judged sinners. He did not see it as an attribute that a sinner could ever possess themselves. However, in this verse, we see that those who live by faith, take on the righteousness of God. Luther’s theological breakthrough put an end to the Dark Ages. Read with me his next comment about this text:

“Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that “the just shall live by his faith.” Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith.”

Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before the “justice of God” had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven …

In Luther’s day, many churches were teaching that if we have enough faith and we do enough good works, maybe we might someday earn our own way into heaven.

Luther brought the church back to what the text actually says. Faith in Jesus is the only channel by which we can receive salvation.

Salvation is not the result of works but the result of faith alone, by grace alone in Christ alone. BUT… once we are saved, the natural result of acknowledging Jesus as both Savior and Lord is a willing and enthusiastic obedience to His commands. Some modern writers put it this way: Good works are not the root of our salvation but the fruit of our salvation.

Since Christians are saved (or justified) by faith alone, their standing before God is in no way related to their good works or personal merit. That’s good news because according to the Bible, even a so-called good man is condemned by God for his sin. Good works and personal holiness do not provide the basis or grounds for God to accept us. God received as righteous those who really believe that Jesus is their King.

He does not receive them because of any good thing he found in them apart from Jesus. He received them solely on the basis of Christ’s righteousness applied to their account. Very simply, when a person places their faith in Jesus as Lord, they come with a whole record book of sins. This record book contains every sin they ever have committed and ever will commit.

The book is huge and every single entry is deserving of the full measure of God’s wrath. But Jesus takes that book of sin and by his blood, he covers every one. The record of sin is erased, not because of our good merit, but because of the redeeming power of Christ’s righteousness.   Christ’s righteousness is applied to my account so that every page that was formerly filled with the ugliness of my sin is now filled with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Our redemption comes as a work of God through the person of his son. Romans 4:5 states, “⁵ And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…” Those who place their faith in Jesus as Lord are declared by God as righteous.

Declared Righteous

Justification is the theological term used to describe how God declares an otherwise guilty person righteous through their faith in Jesus Christ. In order to remember the term, some people remember it this way: Justified is just-as-if-I’d never sinned before. I think that is a helpful way to differentiate the term from sanctification, but the concept of “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned doesn’t actually even go far enough. God’s grace is greater even than that incredible definition.

Justification by faith alone is a declaration by God that we are forever wrapped in the eternal, never-ending righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ:

• His perfect record of righteousness is now our record of righteousness.
• His flawless merit before the Father is our flawless merit before Him.

God treats us as righteous in spite of our unrighteousness because he willingly poured his wrath on His own son and treated His perfectly righteous Son as unrighteous for our sake. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

If God had simply wiped out our record of sin (made the pages blank), we would be morally neutral before God – starting over from scratch. That would seem pretty good in itself, but God’s grace extends beyond neutrality. God clothes us in the everlasting righteousness of Jesus. Not only has God taken away the debt of our sin, but through Christ, he has also written a new record of righteousness for us that we didn’t earn or deserve.

( “I didn’t do any of these things. Jesus did this. God says, “well, you’re getting credit for it.)

A Little Theology…

From a theological perspective, justification is a forensic or purely legal term. It describes what God declares to be true of a believer. It does not include what God is doing to actually change the believer. Justification is a declaration by God that legally, we are righteous and not guilty for our sins. His declaration changes our status and it carries with it the ramification that a truly justified person will show evidence of that shift in their behavior. (The ongoing shift in behavior is called sanctification. We’ll talk about that on a different day.) Forensic or legal decrees like this are fairly common in everyday life

Take marriage for example. On my wedding day, Lara and I gathered up our friends and family. We stood before the minister (my brother) and we recited our vows to one another. Our wedding was at 2pm on a Saturday. We said our vows at about 2:25. At about 2:30, my brother stated before that audience, “by the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel, I now pronounce you man and wife.” At 2:00 I was a single man. By 2:30, my position changed. I was no longer single (or “in singleness”). I was now “in marriage.”

Nothing inside of me had changed yet. I hadn’t acted upon that decision at all, but at 2:30 my position had changed. I was married. I changed positions and because of that change of position, there is an expectation that a change in pattern of behavior will likely follow.

A similar thing happens in a courtroom. Until the jury pronounces a verdict, the defendant is referred to as “the accused.” The moment when the jury pronounces him guilty or not-guilty is the point in time that, in the eyes of the law, his position before the law changes. (He was “in accusation.” He changes to be either “in guilt” or “in innocence.”

In Biblical terms, justification is a not only a divine verdict of “not guilty” placed upon Christ’s disciples, but it is a declaration that the Lord’s disciples are fully righteous. (They are not “in sin, but “in Christ.”) Justification is a reversal of God’s attitude toward a sinful person.

• Where formerly the sinful person was fully condemned, now he is fully vindicated.
• Where formerly he was under God’s wrath, now he is under God’s blessing

More than a simple pardon, God justifies and it is said that he imputes (or credits) Christ’s righteousness over that person’s sinfulness. Romans 4:24-25 says, “…It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Christ’s own infinite merit becomes the ground by which the believer stands before God. (A believer stands before God “in Christ.”) Romans 5:19 says that we were heirs of God’s judgement because of Adam’s original disobedience against God but by Jesus’ perfect righteousness and obedience to God, believers are able to be declared righteous through Christ. Justification elevates a believer into a realm of full acceptance by God… AND… it grants the believer a portion of a divine inheritance that Jesus alone earned and truly deserves.

1. A justified believer is perfectly free from the eternal consequences from sin. Romans 8:33 says, “³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”
2. A believer experiences a supernatural transaction. Not only is the sin-debt erased but the full merit of Christ is deposited to the believer’s personal account. Romans 5:17 says, “¹⁷ For if, because of one man’s trespass [talking about Adam again], 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.”
3. At the moment of justification, a man or woman is plucked out of the household of Satan. Satan is no longer their father. They are adopted by the Most High God as a son or a daughter. Romans 8:15 says, “¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””
4. As sons and daughters of God, every believer becomes a co-heir with Christ. Romans 8:17 says, “if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
5. Paul explains that Believers are no longer slaves to this world, but they enjoy a new unity with Christ himself. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “…he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” As a result, we can say that before we were “in the world,” but after justification we are “in Christ.” Galatians 3:27 says, “²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
6. That not only are we in Christ, but Christ is in us. Romans 8 will speak often of the Spirit of God dwelling within the believer. Colossians 1:27 say that Christ in you is your hope of glory!

All of these truths flow out of justification. The doctrine of Justification is a celebration of all of these new realities – now that our position has changed from “in the world” to “in Christ Jesus.” My hope is that this morning’s study on justification will help us to gain a deeper, richer and altogether new appreciation for the meaning of Romans 8:1 that says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Life Application

There are two problems that can occur if we lose sight of the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are justified in Christ.

On one hand, we could lose sight that we are now “in Christ” and clothed with His righteousness. We could feel far more guilt, unworthiness and pain than we should as believers. I’ve met people who think that their struggle with sin absolutely disqualifies them for any kind of service to the King. (I once lied to my mom or drank a little too much or cussed out someone. I can’t serve the Lord…)

They don’t realize that Satan would love nothing better than to make God’s people feel crippled. Sin in a believers past can sometimes rob a believer of their joy and plunge them into a sense of guilt and unworthiness.

In Christ, we are declared righteous. Our new identity is wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ. If we allow the Spirit of Christ in us to move and work, we can be used mightily of God for significant work in the Kingdom of God – even if we have a past.

On the other hand, other people read that there is “no condemnation in Jesus Christ” and they think of that as a license to sin. They wrongly conclude that if there is no condemnation in Jesus Christ, then they can act as sinfully as they want to. But is that the proper response from someone who has been set free from “the law of sin and death?” Someone who wants to use their freedom in Christ to pursue more sin might not be set free from sin after all! If sin produces misery and pain and if sin drives a wedge between us and God, wouldn’t we want to do everything in our power to avoid it?

The great 20^th century Welsh preacher Martin Lloyd Jones summed up this doctrine with the following illustration:

“The difference between an unbeliever sinning and a Christian sinning is the difference between a man transgressing one of the laws of England or any other State, and a member of a family doing something that is displeasing to another member of the family.

In the one case a man commits an offence against the State; in the other a husband, say, has done something that he should not do in his relationship with his wife. He is not breaking a law, he is wounding the heart of his wife.

That is the difference. It is no longer a legal matter, it is a matter of personal relationship now, and that, a relationship of love. The man does not cease to be the husband of the woman, nor the woman to be the wife of the husband.

Law does not come into the matter at all; it lies outside that realm. In a sense it is now something much worse than a legal condemnation. I would rather offend against a law of the land objectively outside me, then hurt someone I love…

{so} You may feel ashamed [when you sin], but you should feel no condemnation, because to do so is to put yourself back ‘under the law.’”

To put it ever more simply, “In Christ you’re not a sinner, but you are declared totally righteous. So, act like who you are.”

Teaching Outline

The Condemnation of Sin – Psalm 51:5, Roman 3:23

1.     Sin is universal and completely overpowering

2.     Sin subjects us to Satan’s control – John12:31, 8:44, 1 John 3:83.

 3.    Sin rightly subjects us to God’s judgement – Hebrews 10:27, Matthew 8:12

Declared Righteous – Romans 4:24-25, 5:19

1. A justified believer is perfectly free from the eternal consequences from sin.   – Romans 8:33
2. A believer experiences a supernatural transaction. – Romans 5:17
3. At the moment of justification, a man or woman is plucked out of the household of Satan. – Romans 8:17
4. Believers are no longer slaves to this world, but they enjoy a new unity with Christ himself. – 1 Corinthians 6:17, Galatians 3:27
5. That not only are we in Christ, but Christ is in us. – Romans 8, Colossians 1:27

Application

“In Christ you’re not a sinner, but you are declared totally righteous. So, act like who you are.”