Justification
The Rev. Lou Tiscione, Pastor, Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
How that which is so simple can be so distorted is an amazing phenomenon. That which is simple and is called the article upon which the church stands or falls is justification. Justification is “an act of God’s free grace” by which He pardons all the sins of His people and accepts them as righteous in His sight. God does this by imputing (covering) the sinner with the perfect righteousness of Christ. He takes the sins of the elect and places them upon Christ on the cross. This definition is drawn from the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s Answer to Question #33.
Note that the definition of this fundamental article of the Christian faith plainly states that it is by an act of God’s grace alone that a sinner can stand before the Holy God. This is the very point at which confusion is planted. This fact strikes against man’s natural desire to do something to save himself.
Not only are men not acting per this doctrine; but there is nothing that men can do. All men and women are born dead in sin (Genesis 6:5; Ephesians 2:1-3), unable to save themselves. This truth is not a perspective of the gospel. It is the gospel! God instantaneously acts to save those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-4).
Two fallacies are crushed by this biblical truth. The first is that we can and must do something to be justified before God. The second is that God justifies a sinner after a life of obedience. Both errors are grievous and destroy the gospel.
When God justifies a person, He pardons their sins. Every human being stands guilty before God. God is the supreme judge, and sin is an offence against Him. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). John 1:8 states, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We are all guilty. We will all face God’s judgment, from which there is no escape.
The life of king David, the man after God’s heart, is revelatory, especially his great sin. David committed adultery and murder. He fully expected to receive God’s justice which would’ve been death. But, by God’s grace, David was given eyes to see God’s mercy, his only hope. David recorded his prayer in Psalm 51, in which he appealed to God’s mercy.
You may not be a murderer or an adulterer, but you are a sinner. We have no basis in seeking God for fairness. We are all guilty before God. We’re all born dead in sin. Like David, our lives rest upon the grace, favor of God. God who is rich in mercy must act.
Next, our understanding of righteous must be clear. It is to do what is right, what God requires. The Apostle Paul quoted the Old Testament in his letter to the church in Rome and said that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10). No one does what is right, what God requires. We can only look at actions, but the Apostle is considering the heart. Paul declared that no man is motivated to do what God requires from his heart. In understanding this inclusive statement, it is necessary to see what God has said concerning the heart of “natural” man. Genesis 6:5 declares, “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.” Natural man is incapable of being righteous before God. But justification is God’s act of free grace by which He pardons our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight.
The third word “imputation” describes the means God uses to justify a sinner. As every professing Christian knows, justification is by faith alone! We also know that faith is believing the truth, acknowledging it and trusting in it. This truth is the person and work of Jesus Christ the only Son of God. God covers those whom He justifies with the perfect righteousness of Christ. God’s word reveals that He does this only by faith. Note that faith is His gift (Ephesians 2:8). Since the faith that we profess is God’s gift by which He declares us right with Him, we affirm that this great action of God is all grace. No man has any room for boasting. “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16a).
