Justification
Questions for Review:
What is the meaning of the Old Testament words for faith? What is the meaning of the New Testament word? Of how many different kinds of faith does the Bible speak? What is characteristic of historical faith? What is the faith of miracles? Is there any warrant for it at the present time? How does temporal faith differ from true saving faith? What is the characteristic of true saving faith? What elements are included in faith? How much knowledge is needed in faith? How is the assent of faith related to its knowledge? What is the nature of the trust included in faith? What is the object of saving faith? What conception does the Roman Catholic Church have of faith? What different views are there respecting the assurance of faith? What is the true view? How can assurance be cultivated?
References for Further Study:
Gerkhof, Reformed Dogmatics, II, pp. 85–106; Hodge, Outlines of Theology, pp. 465–481; McPherson, Christian Dogmatics, pp. 388–
393; Candlish, The Work of the Holy Spirit, pp. 76–84; Machen.
What is Faith; Berkhof, The Assurance of Faith.
JUSTIFICATION
A. The Scriptural Terms for "to justify." The Old Testament employs two different forms of the same word (hidsdik and tsiddek) to express this idea. These words do not, except in a couple of passages, denote a moral change wrought by God in man, but regularly designate a divine declaration respecting man. They convey the idea that God in the capacity of Judge declares man righteous. Hence the thought which they express is often placed in opposition to that of condemnation, Deut. 25:1; Prov. 17:15; Isa. 5:23, and is represented as the equivalent of not entering into judgment with the sinner, Ps.
143:2, and of forgiving his sins, Ps. 32:1. The New Testament word (dikaio-o) has the same meaning, namely, to declare righteous, as appears from the following facts: (1) In many instances it can bear no other sense, Rom. 3:20–28; 4:5–7; 5:1; Gal. 2:16; 3:11; 5:4. (2) It is placed in opposition to condemnation, Rom. 8:33, 34. (3) Other terms which are sometimes used instead of it also convey a legal idea, John 3:18; 5:24; Rom. 4:6, 7; 2 Cor. 5:19. From the study of these words it is quite evident that in Scripture "to justify" does not mean to make but to declare righteous.
B. The Nature and Characteristics of Justification. Justification may be defined as that legal act of God by which He declares the sinner righteous on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is not an act or process of renewal, such as regeneration, conversion, and sanctification, and does not affect the condition but the state of the sinner. The following points of difference between justification and sanctification should be noted particularly:
1. Justification removes the guilt of sin and restores the sinner to all the rights of a child of God, including an eternal inheritance.
Sanctification removes the pollution of sin and renews the sinner in conformity with the image of God.
2. Justification takes place outside of the sinner in the tribunal of God, though it is appropriated by faith. Sanctification takes place in the inner life of man and gradually affects his whole being.
3. Justification takes place once for all: it is not repeated, nor is it a process; it is complete at once and for all time. Sanctification, on the other hand, is a continuous process which is not completed in the present life.
4. While both are fruits of the merits of Christ, the work of justification is ascribed more particularly to the Father, and that of sanctification to the Holy Spirit.
C. The Elements of Justification. There are especially two elements in justification, of which the one is negative, and the other positive.
1. THE NEGATIVE ELEMENT. The negative element of justification is the forgiveness of sins on the basis of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. The pardon granted in justification applies to all sins, past, present, and future, and therefore includes the removal of all guilt and of every penalty This follows from the fact that justification does not admit of repetition, and from such passages as Rom. 5:21;
8:1, 32–34; Heb. 10:14; Ps. 103:12; Isa. 44:22, and is also implied in the answer to the 60th question of the Heidelberg Catechism. It may seem to be contradicted by the fact that Christ taught His disciples to pray for the forgiveness of sins, and that Bible saints are often found pleading for pardon and obtaining it, Matt. 6:12; Ps. 32:5; 51:1–4;
130:3, 4. The explanation for this lies in the fact that the sins of believers in themselves still constitute guilt (though it is guilt already covered), and as such call for confession; that the consciousness of guilt still remains and naturally urges the believer to confess his sin and to seek the comforting assurance of forgiveness; and that the consciousness of pardon, which is repeatedly obscured by sin, is again quickened and strengthened by confession and prayer, and by a renewed exercise of faith.
2. THE POSITIVE ELEMENT. There is also a positive element in justification, in which two parts may be distinguished: a. The Adoption of Children. In justification God adopts the believer as His child, that is, places him in the position of a child and gives him all the rights of a child. This sonship by adoption must be
distinguished from the moral sonship of believers, which results from regeneration and sanctification. Believers are not only children of God by adoption and therefore in a legal sense, but also by virtue of the new birth and therefore in a spiritual sense. This twofold sonship is mentioned together in John 1:12, 13; Rom. 8:15, 16; Gal.
4:5, 6. b. The Title to Eternal Life. This privilege is virtually included in the preceding one. When sinners are adopted to be children of God, they are invested with all the legal rights of children, and become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, Rom. 8:17. They are constituted heirs of all the blessings of salvation in the present life, and in addition to that receive a title to "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away," reserved in heaven for them. 1 Pet. 1:4.
D. The Sphere in Which Justification Takes Place. In answering the question as to the sphere in which justification takes place, we must distinguish between active and passive justification.
1. ACTIVE JUSTIFICATION. Active justification takes place in the tribunal of God, Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:11. In the sphere of heaven God, appearing as a righteous Judge, declares the sinner righteous, not in himself, but in view of the fact that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. The Judge is also the gracious Father freely forgiving and accepting the sinner.
2. PASSIVE JUSTIFICATION. Passive justification takes place in the heart or conscience of the sinner. A justification that is not brought home to the sinner would not answer the purpose. Pardon means nothing to a prisoner unless the glad tidings are communicated to him and the doors of the prison are opened. The sentence of acquittal, pronounced in the tribunal of God; is communicated to the
sinner and accepted by faith. When the Bible speaks of justification by faith, it usually refers to this aspect of it.
E. The Time of Justification. Opinions differ somewhat as to the time of justification. In some cases, however, the differences are due to the fact that the term "justification" is not always used in the same sense. In such cases the different opinions are not necessarily mutally exclusive, but may exist alongside of each other.
1. JUSTIFICATION FROM ETERNITY. Many Antinomians confuse the divine decree respecting the redemption of men with the application of the work of redemption by the Holy Spirit. They believe that the grace of God to sinners in the eternal decree is all that is necessary for the redemption of man. There is no further need that Christ should merit this grace, nor that the Holy Spirit should apply it. Everything is accomplished in the decree; this means among other things that man is justified from eternity. But there are also others who believe in justification from eternity. Some Reformed theologians advocate this doctrine, though without subscribing to the peculiar tenets of the Antinomians. They are of the opinion that the elect were justified in the counsel of redemption, when the righteousness of Christ was imputed to them; but they believe at the same time that this justification from eternity is followed in time by another justification. Some even speak of a four-fold justification: a justification from eternity, a justification in the resurrection of Christ, a justification by faith, and a public justification in the final judgment. Now there is no doubt about it that there was a certain imputation of the righteousness of Christ to the elect in the counsel of redemption, but it may well be doubted that this is what the Bible means, when it speaks of the justification of the sinner. We must distinguish between what was merely ideal in the counsel of God, and what is realized in the course of history.
2. JUSTIFICATION IN THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. Some
Antinomians do not go to the extent of maintaining that everything was accomplished in the decree, and that even the work of Christ was, strictly speaking, unnecessary; but they do hold that, after Christ has accomplished His work, nothing further is required, and thus ignore the application of the work of redemption by the Holy
Spirit. The elect were justified in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Those Reformed scholars who also speak of a justification in the resurrection of Christ, naturally do not regard this as the whole of the justification of the sinner. They also believe in justification by faith.
It may be said that, while we can speak of a justification of the body of Christ as a whole in the resurrection of Christ, this is something purely objective and should not be confused with the personal justification of the sinner.
3. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. When the Bible speaks of the justification of the sinner, it usually refers to the subjective application and appropriation of the justifying grace of God. It speaks of this as justification by faith, because it is by faith that we appropriate the merits of Christ as the basis of our justification and thus come into possession of the justifying grace of God. The relation of faith to justification is not always represented in the same way.
There are especially two significant representations of it. (a) In the Protestant Confessions it is usually called the instrument or the instrumental cause of justification. Faith is on the one hand the gift of God wrought in the sinner unto justification, the means by which He carries the declaration of pardon into the heart. But it is also on the other hand the instrument by which man appropriates Christ and all His precious gifts, Rom. 4:5; Gal. 2:16. (b) It is also frequently called the appropriating organ. This name expresses the idea that by faith the sinner appropriates the righteousness of Christ, on the basis
of which he is justified before God. Faith justifies in so far as it takes possession of Christ.
F. The Ground of Justification. There was a very important difference of opinion between the Church of Rome and the Reformer's respecting the ground of justification. The Roman
Catholic Church teaches that the sinner is justified on the basis of his own inherent righteousness, which is infused into his heart in regeneration. But it is impossible that the intrinsic righteousness of the believer or his good works should ever constitute the ground of his justification, since it is itself the fruit of the renewing grace of God, and always remains imperfect in the present life. Moreover,
Scripture teaches that man is justified freely by the grace of God, Rom. 3:24, and cannot possibly be justified by the works of the law,
Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16; 3:11. The real ground of justification can be found only in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to the sinner in justification. This is plainly taught in several passages of Scripture, Rom. 3:24; 5:9, 19; 8:1; 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; 6:11;
2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9.
G. Objections to the Doctrine of Justification. Three objections are frequently raised against the doctrine of justification:
1. It is said that justification is a legal transaction, and therefore excludes grace, while Scripture teaches that the sinner is saved by grace. But justification, with all that it includes, is a gracious work of God. The gift of Christ, the imputation of His righteousness, and God's dealing with believers as righteous,—it is all grace from start to finish.
2. Some speak of justification as a procedure unworthy of God, because it declares sinners righteous, while as a matter of fact they are not righteous. The objection does not hold, however, because it