Accepted: I am Justified

Romans 5:1 - ESV
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Justification is an act of God whereby He pardons sinners and accepts them as righteous. This is done for Christ's sake, and by doing it God establishes an eternally right relationship with a person that replaces the previous enmity and estrangement.

The basis of this pardoning is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Christ, as the second Adam, is our representative head, acting on our behalf. He obeyed the law that bound us and endured the awful punishment for lawlessness that we deserved. By doing this he merited our justification. In our justification, Christ's righteousness is reckoned (placed) to our account.

Romans 5:18-19 ESV

18 Therefore, as one trespass [first Adam] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience [second Adam] the many will be made righteous.

This justification of the believer by the righteousness of Christ settles the judgment of the Last Day. It is a judgment on our eternal destiny, and God will never go back on it.

The necessary means of justification is personal faith in Jesus Christ as crucified Savior and risen Lord. Faith is necessary because the meritorious ground of our justification is entirely in Christ. We have no merit in ourselves. The beauty and guaranteed effectiveness of this justification is that it only depends on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Not even our faith can be considered a deserving act on our part, for it is a gift from God. If in any way, our justification depends on something we do, then we will not be able to rest in our salvation.

One of the key drivers in a Christian's life is gratitude for this justification. He chose me, and chose to justify me with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the guilt and punishment of my millions of sins and my horrible sin nature are pardoned.

As I consider this, I know there is nothing in me deserving of such grace - such marvelous grace. After all that He has given me, you think I would be more grateful and more fully committed to living every second for His glory. Obviously the power is not within me to do that. He must produce the fruit of His Holy Spirit within me. At the same time I must always strive to trust and obey.

When a person, even an angry person, has their score of sin settled with God the Eternal Judge, there is great peace and contentment available. How can anyone feel more accepted, than to know that God, knowing all of their sin, has chosen them to be His handiwork. When God looked at our angry heart and angry outbursts, He did not shun us; rather He embraced us.

Christian Rejoice! Non-Christian, you need such a Wonderful Savior as this!

God Bless You,
Dennis