Declared Righteous Despite Our Sin

The Doctrine of Justification 

Jesus’s death on the cross accomplished more than our minds can conceive. Jesus paid sin’s price on behalf of all who look to Him for salvation. When Jesus died, He bore the sins of the world. Jesus opened the way for repentant sinners to be justified—declared right with God. 

A legal term, “justification” refers to God’s gracious act in forgiving and declaring righteous the sinner who believes in Jesus Christ.1 God does not overlook anyone’s debt of sin but accepts Christ’s payment for sin on behalf of the believer.2 God attributes Christ’s perfect righteousness to the forgiven sinner. When Jesus died, He paid in full every believer’s debt of guilt and sin. Clothed in Christ’s righteousness, believers enjoy right standing with God. Justified sinners also enter the process of sanctification by the indwelling Holy Spirit, who enables them to live a new life that increasingly reflects Christ.3 

Everyone sins because we are all born with a sinful nature that automatically rebels against God.4 Unless we turn to Christ for salvation, the penalty for our sin remains on us. No one can earn salvation because the best we can offer will never satisfy God’s standard of perfect righteousness. We cannot be justified before God without turning to Christ for salvation. 

How can we express the wonder of justification in Christ? The pain Jesus suffered on the cross represents the price He paid to justify sinners before a holy God. If you are a believer, when God looks at you, He does not see your sin. Instead He sees only the perfect righteousness of Jesus—who never sinned in word, thought, or deed. We do not deserve justification but receive this gracious gift because of what Christ accomplished on our behalf. Believers live in eternal gratitude for the Savior who suffered in their place and the God who has declared them righteous. Justification is God’s gift—not earned but bought. Jesus paid for our justification with His own blood—an amazing gift received by grace through faith in Christ. 

1. Justified: Romans 3:21-26; 4:25; 5:9 

2. Free from sin’s penalty: Romans 5:18-19; 8:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:6 

3. Sanctified: Romans 6:1-4; 8:12-13; 12:1-2; Galatians 5:16-26; Colossians 3:1-17 

4. Sin within: Romans 3:9-18

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 25, The Gospel of John