Loxley Ministries

Justification defined

• It is something God does, not man

• We are declared righteous, not made righteous

• It is instantaneous, not a process

• We need a righteousness from God because we don’t have it ourselves

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861623559

Romans 3:22-24
 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

This Justification occurs when after God applies forgiveness to us when we acknowledge we are sinners, we accept as truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and we Repent for our sins. To justify means to apply a pardon. Justification is the process of applying a pardon.

Because Christ Jesus died for our sins, we have opportunity to accept Him as Lord and Savior then justification will be appropriated to us. Essentially, Justification is forgiveness for sins.

“God freely grants holiness and salvation to those who ask for forgiveness and desire to obey him. Of course we will not obey him perfectly; hence the promise of ongoing forgiveness (1 John 1:9).”

Now. Does this mean that justification is a license to sin?     Certainly not.

"For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." Jude 1:4

" What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Rom 6:1-2

Once Justified by salvation, the lord imparts upon you His power to fight sin.  This is a process called Sanctification or to be made holy.

The Apostle Paul in writing his first letter to the church in Thessolinica says:

“Brethren, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God...For God did not call us to uncleanness but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God who has given us His Holy Spirit.” (1 Thess. 4:1-8)

A number of things are clear from these passages:

Holiness should be “pursued”.

• God is holy so we should be holy.
• Holiness is about “conduct” as well as character.
• Holiness involves spiritual and moral cleanness.
• As much as we reject holiness as a way of life, we are rejecting God.
• As much as we embrace holiness as way of life, we are embracing God

If someone is saved, then yes they are forgiven (justified) and a process of sanctification begins. We begin to be conformed to the image of Christ who is sinless.

“This then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 Jn. 1:5-7)

Are our future sins automatically forgiven when after we are saved we repeat sin? Yikes. There’s that license to sin issue again.

There are people that will tell you that it is by grace and grace alone that anyone is saved, and they will, as well, abuse this grace and seek to use it as a license for sin. They use God’s grace as a pardon for them to live comfortably in their sinful state and at the same time seek to enjoy the benefits of salvation. The New Testament ample warns of these people and the fact that they are destructive to the body of Christ. Even though they have been granted freedom, by their lifestyle and practice, promote bondage to sin. Their self indulgent state leaves them caring nothing about using their freedoms to hurt and damage the lives of those near to them. They will confess Jesus as a Savior but refuse to make him their Lord. What is missing in their lives is a genuine heart of repentance, through which exhibit indifference to the supreme price Jesus Christ paid for their freedom from sin.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" Gal 5:1

If we repent to be saved, should we never repent for any sins again? Hmmm. Well. I repent almost daily. Let’s examine the scripture and tie this together.

Paul the apostle said:

“I die daily.” 1 Corinthians 15:31

And also:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20

The above scriptures reveal how we can die to the flesh when after we are submissive to the Spirit of God, yielding to His will, allowing our wills and our flesh to be crucified with Christ. Is this a one time thing? We wish. It is a day by day, minute by minute thing. We have to yield to God.

How were we ever justified (forgiven for sins)?

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.   Titus 3:4-7

No works other than what Christ did at the cross can take the place of God’s covering and forgiveness for sins. Only what Christ did. When God sent Jesus to be the ultimate sin sacrifice that was God’s grace.   We’ve only to receive his abundant grace of which is available to all who will come.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.  Revelation 22:17

By Dave Wade and Jeremy Brown © 2003

Of him. . . Through him. . . Glory to Him. . .

----------------

NO MORE by Dc Talk

Now you were born right into a world of a sin
Short of God, the Lord of all men
From the jump on the sixth day
A breath life embarked a nu way
All the could want and so much more
Satan made a move to settle the score
Threw out a bait that still don't miss
A human want what cha can not have fix (fixation)

No More
Give in
No more givin' to this thang we call sin
I'm sayin'
No more
Givin' in
No more givin in ta sin

The fall of man cold lit the spark
And offspring gotta deal with a heart
Full of sin, all guilty at birth
Fight it like a habit for all your worth
Until ya find that cha cannot stand
Super-natch defeats a mere man
But, there's a way to get ahead of the sin game
Beat it down in the power of God's name

This givin' in's gotta come to an end
Through Christ, we can say no ta sin
More of God, much less of me
Is the key thought to a victory
But, it can't be done with an unsure vow
And, you'll fail till ya choose to bow your head
But, when ya finally do
You'll find the words of God to be true

NO MORE by DC Talk

--

Justification by Faith by John Wesley: http://wesley.nnu.edu/JohnWesley/sermons/005.htm