The Joy of Justification

*NOTE: On Wednesdays in 2025 we will celebrate “walking in the Word” through applying Biblical doctrine. Rightly understanding Biblical doctrine fuels doxology, delight in Jesus, and gospel centered discipleship. 
 
Key Verse: Romans 1:17 
"… the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith…'"
 
Meditation
Martin Luther’s spiritual journey from the jail of legalism to the joy of justification is worthy of brief investigation.
 
For much of his early life, Luther was consumed by a sense of unworthiness before God. Entering an Augustinian monastery in 1505, Luther was driven by a desperate desire to have peace with God. Luther threw himself into monastic life, fasting, praying, confessing, and performing acts of penance with persistent intensity. Despite his devotion, Luther found no peace. The more he tried to earn God's favor, the more he became aware of his sinfulness.
 
Central to Luther’s torment was his understanding of the "righteousness of God," a concept he viewed as a measure of divine justice that condemned sinners. In his studies, Luther grappled with the idea that God’s righteousness demanded perfection, leaving him in despair and depression. During preparation for a lecture at the University of Wittenberg, Romans 1:17 changed Luther’s trajectory:  "… the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith…'"

Luther later wrote, "Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me." 

​Luther moved from the jail of moral performance to the joy of the gospel through a Biblical understanding of justification.  Out of Luther’s profound joy came his passion for the Church to embrace true righteousness coming by grace alone, through faith alone, and in the work of Christ alone.
 
Crisply defined, “Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone” (Q. 33, WSC; also see Westminster Confession of Faith, chap. 11).
 
Reformers like Luther called this the “glorious exchange” where Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin so those of us in Him through faith might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Justification is an act, not a process- A single point in time where a guilty sinner is declared righteous by the just judge of all the earth (Romans 5:1).
 
In justification, the “active righteousness of Christ” (His perfect life) is imputed (or given) to believers as His “passive righteousness” (Jesus’ substitutionary suffering and death) takes our sin and satisfies God’s wrath. The result: Those justified in Christ become children of God (Galatians 2-4). The one-time act of justification is once and for all, securing believers until our eventual glorification (Romans 8:29-30). Faith is not the cause of justification, making faith another work to “get right with God.” Faith alone in the work of God alone justifies believers as taught in the Old Testament (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4) and the new (Philippians 3:9).
 
Justification is a forensic declaration- By Grace ALONE, in Christ ALONE  and through faith ALONE the believer is righteous before God and secure as a child of God.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from Luther’s story and this brief overview of justification?
 
-What are ways you seek to “get right with God”? How are those working for you?
 
-Through the finished work of Jesus, you are eternally secure in your righteous status. You are God’s child, forgiven and free to live in Joy. How can you (specifically) embrace this reality in your life and leadership?
 
Key Verse: Romans 1:17 
"… the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith…'"

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