JUSTIFICATION (Romans 3:21-26)

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith." (Romans 3:23-25)

William Heyns wrote:

“By participating in [Christ’s] righteousness [the Christian] has been made righteous, all [her] sin and impurity has been covered….Now it is ‘as if [she] had never had, nor committed any sin; yea, as if [she] had fully accomplished all that obedience that Christ accomplished for [her].’ He is now truly just, in his entire being, externally and internally, satisfying all the demands of the Law of God, and on this ground he is justified by God.” (Manual of Reformed Doctrine, 286)

If I believe in Jesus Christ, if I trust him and follow him…if the Holy Spirit lives within me, then I have been saved. I have been united with Christ, have shared in his death so that the penalty for my sin is paid and justice has been satisfied. I have been imputed with his righteousness…his obedience to the divine law…so that I may no longer be accused of any sinful act. I have been justified through my faith in Christ. I have been saved.

From the moment you first believe, whether you are seven or seventy, the cross of Christ becomes your cross.

From the moment you first believe, the righteousness of Christ becomes your righteousness.

From the moment I first believed, I have been saved.

Justification, for those who believe, is a past event. We were justified before God the moment we first believed, when the Holy Spirit united us with Christ, when we died in Christ, and when the righteousness of Christ that earns salvation in glory was imputed to us. Having been justified through Christ, no charge can stand against us.