Luke 18:10–14. “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you; this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
God is the one who JUSTIFIES people. Only He can declare it so. The book of Romans clarifies this truth, yet right at the beginning, it says that claiming that I’m declared righteous is mockery unless my behavior shows that God has changed my life. Romans 2:13 says, “It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
Yet it is not in the doing that justification happens. The doing comes afterwards to prove it happened. My changed life is proof that God has justified me. Here are some phrases that describe what He does, all in Romans 3 and 4:
“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin . . . We are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . . For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law . . . and God is one — who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith . . . And to the one who does not work (to save himself) but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
Romans 5, 8 and 10 add these thoughts:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Since, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God . . . And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified . . . Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies . . . For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 explains that no sin is too awful or too great to prevent God from making a person His child and declaring them righteous:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
While verses like Galatians 2:16 are clear (it says, “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified) the Bible is also clear that justified people are changed people. James used several verses to explain that being justified or declared righteous had evidence; the person who is justified acts like it. Therefore James 2 says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” and “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Looking at my Savior who declares me righteous because I put my faith in Him is humbling. I want to rejoice yet also weep. I deserve not this wonderful grace and realize my life is nothing without Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who justifies the ungodly and gives us new life.
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