Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:1-11
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. – Romans 3:28
On June 21, 1947, my wife and I were married in the Presbyterian Church in Neola, Iowa. Population: 900.
Virginia and her bridesmaids were all decked out in their long flowing gowns, and I was at the front of the church with the best man and the attendants. We repeated our vows, the preacher preached a little sermon, and then he pronounced us man and wife. With that pronouncement, my legal standing was changed. Up until that declaration I had been a single man. But with that declaration, I was now legally married.
In a sense, that is a clear picture of what the apostle Paul said in Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word justification is not from the field of religion but from the field of law. Justification can best be defined as the legal act of God by which God declares the sinner righteous on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.
We are made righteous by a declaration of God. And with that declaration, our legal standing is changed. Before God declared me justified in His sight, and I became clothed in the righteousness of Christ, I was a sinner separated from God. But when I came to Christ, who had died on the cross to pay the penalty for all my sins, I was pronounced righteous in His sight.
Forgiveness is negative–the removal of condemnation. Justification is positive–the bestowing of righteousness based on our standing in Christ.
Prayer
Lord, I rejoice in Your declaration of my right standing with You through Jesus Christ. Amen.
To Ponder
Forgiveness and justification are like two sides of a coin. Forgiveness is the cancellation of sin; justification is the transmittal of righteousness.
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