Reference: JUSTIFICIATION
American
The being regarded and treated as if innocent; or acquittal from the consequences of guilt before the tribunal of God. "Justification by faith" means that a person, on account of true and living faith in Christ as manifested by good works, will be delivered from condemnation on account of his sins; that is, his sins will be forgiven, and he be regarded and treated as if innocent and holy. Thus, besides the remission of sins and their penalty, it includes the restoration and everlasting enjoyment of the favor of God.
We obtain justification by faith in Christ. Yet neither this nor any other act of ours, as a work, is any ground of our justification. In acquitting us before his bar, God regards not our works, in whole or in part, but the atoning work and merits of Christ. He was treated as a sinner, that we might be treated as righteous. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus;" the moment we believe, our justification is as perfect as the infinite worthiness of our Redeemer. Its validity does not depend on the measure of our assurance of hope, nor on spotless holiness of life. Sanctification, indeed, or progressive growth in holiness, commences simultaneously with justification, and must in the end reach the same perfectness. Yet it is important to distinguish between the two, and to observe that, could the believer's holiness become as perfect as an angel's, it could not share with the atoning merits of Christ in entitling him to admission to heaven.
The best obedience of my hands
Dares not appear before thy throne;
But faith can answer thy demands,
By pleading what my Lord hath done."
True justification, by the gratuitous gift of the Savior, furnishes the most powerful motive to a holy life. It is followed by adoption, peace of conscience, and the fruits of the Spirit in this life; and by final sanctification, acquittal in the day of judgment, and admittance to heaven, Ro 3:20-31; 5; 8:1-4; 10:4-10; Ga 2:16-21; Eph 2:4-10.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
for by the observation of the law no one shall be justified in his sight, since it is the law that takes cognizance of sin. but the divine justification certified by the law and the prophets, is now clearly proposed independently of the law: read more. that divine justification, which by faith in Jesus Christ is extended to all, that believe; for there is no distinction: for all having sinned, all have forfeited eternal glory: being justified by his unmerited favour through the redemption that is by Jesus Christ: whom God had ordained, thro' faith, to be the propitiatory victim by his blood, for the manifestation of his goodness, by patiently passing over their past transgressions: to manifest, I say, his goodness at this time: that he might appear to be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. what reason then is there for boasting? it is excluded. what, by the ceremonial law? no: but by the law of faith. for we conclude, that a man is justified by faith, without observing the legal rites. is God the God of the Jews only, and not of the Gentiles? surely he is of the Gentiles too; since it is one God, who will justify both the Jews and the Gentiles, through faith. do we then make the law useless by our doctrine of faith? by no means; on the contrary, it is we that observe the law.
Sentence of death therefore shall not pass upon those christians who do not lead a vicious life. for the christian dispensation of a spiritual life has set me free from the legal state of sin and death. read more. God having sent his own son invested with a body like that of sinful men, as a sacrifice for sin, thereby destroyed its power; which the law could not effect, human nature being in such a corrupted state. so that the moral obligations of the law might be fulfilled by us, in living according to the spiritual, and not the carnal tenor thereof:
for the end of the law was to bring men to Christ, that every one who believeth, might be justified. For Moses describes the justice that was to be had by the law, thus : "the man who performeth the things here required, shall have life thereby." read more. but the justification which is by faith, speaks in this manner; "say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven, in order to bring Christ down from above? or, who shall descend into the deep, in order to bring up Christ again from the dead?" what does it say "more? the word is nigh thee, let it be in thy mouth and in thy heart:" that is the word of faith which we preach. for if you openly confess, that Jesus is the Lord, and sincerely believe, that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in him, and not by the works of the law, by which there is no justification. Now if it be a sin to seek for justification by Christ, then is Christ the minister of sin, which cannot be. read more. on the contrary, if I re-establish what I have demolish'd, I show myself a prevaricator. for by one law, I am dead to the other law, that I might live unto God: I am crucified with Christ, it is not I that now live, but Christ that liveth in me; the life I have in this body I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if justification be by the law, Christ died to no purpose.
then it was that God, who is rich in mercy, thro' his great love, wherewith he loved us, did raise us all, who were in that deadly state of sin, to life by Christ, for by grace ye are saved: read more. he hath raised us up together, and made us partakers of his heavenly kingdom. that in the ages to come, he might shew the immense riches of his gracious kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus. for by grace are ye saved, thro' faith (and that not from us: it is the gift of God) but not by works, so that no man can boast: for he hath made us a-new, and form'd us by Christ Jesus to do good works, for which God had before prepared us, that we might live in them.