Published by What is Justification = Signifies “to absolve”, “to declare just”, it opposed of “to condemn”. Justifying is the action of the Judge. Since the point of view of the litigant, consequently, “to be justified” signifies “to obtain the verdict” (Isaiah 43:9) “Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assemble: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth”, (Isaiah 40:18-20), “To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall no be moved”. That image you will compose him? Isaiah mocks of the human belief that can enclose the greatness of God in an stature image , the essence of the second commandment resides here. (Exodus 20:4-6). In the book of (Isaiah 41:5-7), “The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved”. The coasts trembled from fear before the sovereign power of God and they resorted in vain to their images melted. God reserves a new destiny for Israel. New thing is this town that arises of the historic process of the captivity and the return to its land. (Isaiah 43:25-28), “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches”. Your first father: Probably Jacob. Your teachers: Moses, Aarón and its successors. The princes were the head of the priesthood in Jerusalem. I profaned signifies that God would dispossess them of their priestly dignity.
In the scriptures God is “the Judge of all the land”, (Genesis 18:25), “That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall no the Judge of all the earth do right?”, And its deal with the men is described constantly in forensic terms. What God requires of the man is justice, that is to say conformity with its law, and He shows his own justice as the Judge upon taking revenge against the ones that do not comply it. (Psalm 7:11), “God Judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day”. (Acts 17:31), “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raise him from the dead”. (Romans 2:5), “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”. There is not hope for nobody if the verdict of God is him opponent.
As God is a King, the idea that the is who justifies can have an executive aspect besides the court. As ideal monarchical judge in Israel, not alone judged in favor of the defendant, but was in charge of executing actively the verdict, showing favor toward the and rehabilitating it publicly. The verb “to justify” can be oriented toward an or another of those actions of God. In Romans, Paul presents the gospel as something that reveals the “justice of God”. This phrase has a double reference:
- To the position of the just man, that God confers free through Christ to the sinners that believe.
- To the way in which the gospel reveals God as the one that does what is just, not only judging the transgressors like deserve themselves it, but also complying their promise of sending the salvation to Israel, and justified the sinners of such way that comply in them their own judicial demands.
Therefore, “the justice of God” is a predominantly forensic concept, that indicates the kind work of God to offer to the guilty sinners a justified justification, absolving them in the celestial court without damage for its own justice as the Judge of them.
The faith in Christ, says Pablo, is the middle by which the justice is received and the justification is offered. The sinners are justified “by” or “through” the faith. Pablo does not consider that the faith be the base of the justification. If asi was, would be a matter of a lying work, and the apostle would not be able to be referred the believer as that “that not work”. (Romans 4:5), “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness”; neither it would be able to say that the salvation by faith is based on the grace. (Romans 4:16), “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all”. Many human experiences, such as the love, joy, the patience, the courage and the mercy, they can be up to a point the fruit of our own effort. But the faith appears when we stop trying to achieve something by ourselves, and we trust in which someone achieve it in our place. The faith is an experience completely opposed to the self-sufficiency. Apparently, this it is the reason by which God decided that the faith were the disposition of the heart that the salvation brings us, so that be for grace, this is, so that will constitute a divine gift entirely free, independent of our merit. Because the grace excludes completely the works. (Romans 11:6), “And if by grace, them is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work”. Paul indicated himself as an example of the fact that there is a remainder of Israel that has been save. Paul also quotes the case of Abraham, “that believed God, and was counted him by justice”, to test that the man is justified through the faith, without the works. (Romans 4:3), “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness”.
It counted him = Numerically, to count, to compute, to calculate, to add. Metaphorically, to consider, to recognize, to reason, to judge, to evaluate, to value. It concludes with a thought, judges the matters, jumps to logical conclusions, decides result, and puts each action in a position of debit or credit. (Galatians 3:6), “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness”. The Jews considered Abraham as their father and the source of all the spiritual blessings they received. They believed that the grouper fact to be descendants of Abraham justified them before God. Paul exposes that Abraham pleased God by faith and not by the works of the Law, since this did not exist in times of Abraham. And insists on adding that the true children of Abraham, and therefore inheritors of their blessings, they are those that live on agreement at the beginning of the faith.
Justification is a judicial term. In God’s Divine court, mankind’s violation of his laws needed to be dealt with. And so, in a legal act God declares the sinner to be innocent of his or her sins. It is not that the sinner is now sinless, but that he is “declared” sinless. This declaration of righteousness is being made right before God. This justification is based on the shed blood of Jesus, “…having now been justified by His blood…”(Romans 5:9).God imputes (Deposits to our account) the righteousness of Christ. At the same time our sins were imputed to Christ when he was on the cross. That is why it says in (1Peter 2:24), “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” Also, (2Cor 5:21) says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Additionally, we are justified by faith (Rom 5:1) apart from works of the Law (Rom 3:28).
