The definition of "Justification"

[Wordkeeper]

Good question. I have a pulse but am I spiritually alive? mmm........

One symptom of regeneration is when you live like this is true:

Deuteronomy 8:3He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

 

[The Times]

Do you think it is important for the average Christian to know these things?

No for the average Christian.

But to defend the faith, it is pertinent, especially against those peddling Universalist salvation doctrine and Liberal Theology higher destructive criticism of the Holy Bible.

 

[Wordkeeper]

Do you think it is important for the average Christian to know these things?

Sure, everybody should know where they stand in terms of spiritual health.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

One symptom of regeneration is when you live like this is true:

Deuteronomy 8:3He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

I think at the moment food is winning over the Word of the Lord. I need to either go on a diet or fast or both.

 

[bling]

Is the following definition of "Justification" adequate?

In Christian theology, justification is God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice

I have taught Justification in hour long adult bible classes and not come close to covering the subject you can look over my power point and ask specific questions:

Justification, Justify and Justified

Old Testament (6)

Esther (1), Job (2), Psalm (1), Isaiah (1), Ezekiel (1)

New Testament (27)

Luke (3), Acts (1), Romans (15), 1 Cor. (1), Gal. (6), Titus (1)


Old: Ezekiel 16:52 you have furnished some justification for your sisters (Sodom). Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you.

New: Ro. 3: 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Why did Paul see the need for the Roman and Galatian Christians to be taught about “justification”?

The Old Testament never talks about anyone being “Justified”, so were heroes of the Old Testament justified?


What is included with justification?

Being justified is being “set free from every sin” (Acts 13 :39).

Being Justified means you have been raised to life (Ro. 4:25).

The “gift” brings justification. (Ro. 5:16).

“…one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people” (Ro. 5:18).

“…you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God….” (1 Cor. 6:11)

Luke 18:14 “those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ( justified before the Lord) so humility is part of it.

Justification comes through the redemption by Christ Jesus. (Ro. 3:24)

God is shown as being just and thus can justify. (Ro. 3:26)

We have been justified by his blood (Ro. 5:9)

those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Ro.8:30)

We believe by our heart and are thus justified. (Ro.10:10)

“…having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7)


Old Testament: Justified Individuals

Acts 13:39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Paul’s “Pisidian Antioch sermon in the synagogue”)

If you went back in time and stood before an Old Testament hero and asked them if they felt justified before God, what would you expect their answer to be?

Does saying: “I am justified before the Lord” sound like I am “deserving” of salvation?

Would being a Jew after the Law was given automatically exclude you from being justified?

Who in the Old Testament do you feel stood “justified” before the Lord and why?


Justification by Faith

The New Testament talks about being Justified by faith, but people under the law had faith also and could not be justified by the law, so describe this “faith” that justifies?

In the “Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the Temple” did the Pharisee have faith? (Faith in self, but was there also faith in God?)

Jesus talked about not being able to do miracles in his home town because of their lack of “faith”, but they knew a lot about Jesus and his miracles, so what “faith” are they lacking?

Luke 4: 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. …29 They got up, drove him out of the town…, in order to throw him off the cliff.

Matt. 13: 57 And they took offense at him….58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Mark 6: 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Is. 53:11 “…by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many…” Is this our knowledge of Christ or Christ’s knowledge of the many?

Isaiah suggests “knowledge” is the route to justification, so where is the “faith” and is it “faith and knowledge” and knowledge of what?


The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18: 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”


Questions about Tax Collector

If on leaving the temple you asked the tax collector: “do you now feel justified before God or how do you feel”, what would be his answer?

What is the relationship between being humble and being justified before God?

What “knowledge” was needed by the tax collector to be justified? (Sin, forgiveness, Christ, the huge debt of sin, pain and sorrow over sin)

Did the tax collector have to physically do anything to be justified?

Is Christ trying to show us a sincere, remorseful, repentant sinner, hurt by his sins and in pain? And is that what it takes to be justified?

Did Abraham experience some disciplining pain through his life that might have helped with his justification?

Isaiah 53:11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.


Are we trying to be “justified” in some super high court ruled by some all-powerful Judge, who really cannot empathize with man?

Are we trying to be justified before our Loving Father?

What did you go through to be and feel “justified” before your parents (satisfying their justice) or did they think: “it is too late” and disowned you ?

You have been rebelliously disobedient, so can you fairly/justly be lovingly disciplined or do you have to have the same severe punishment of the non-accepting person to be justified?

What do we need to really “know” about Christ to obtain justification?


Our being Justified

We all do not like the idea of being “self-justified”, being like the Pharisee who went to the temple, proud of his status before God, but how are we to respond to being asked: “Do you stand justified before God”?

We want to be justified before God, but how do we know we are justified before God?

Christ said we are justified, but Christ also said we could drink poison and live, so are we?

Do you feel justified before God and what “knowledge” of Christ allows you to feel justified?

When did you come to the realization of being justified before God?

 

[Wordkeeper]

I think at the moment food is winning over the Word of the Lord. I need to either go on a diet or fast or both.

Israel promised to trust the Lord and so do we.

Is it lip service or is it sincere?

We'll only know if we are tested won't we?

Moses was referring to the incident when Israel faced hunger and thirst in the desert and all the people panicked. They decided then that slavery was better.

Whether you are Joe Public or Bill Gates, everybody believes life is a losing proposition. Oppression from the world with poor returns. We all cry out for deliverance.

God hears and invites us to choose Him.

Many experience God's ways and are terrified.

Jesus showed us how to respond. Obviously this is possible only if you believe God is able. If you are regenerated.

Sidebar
Do you think Israel was offered enough proof of God's ability?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Is the following definition of "Justification" adequate?

I think at the moment food is winning over the Word of the Lord. I need to either go on a diet or fast or both.

Romans 5:1 ►

New International Version
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

New Living Translation
Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Study Bible
Righteousness through Faith
…27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a
man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.(TORAH). 29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,…
Berean Study Bible · Download

Study Bible
God's Righteous Judgment
…12All who sin apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who sin under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the Law (TORAH) who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the Law (TORAH) who will be declared righteous 14 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, do by nature what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law,…
Berean Study Bible · Download

How do we know we are justified then? Can we prove it?

Most people are never justified. Proven by Scripture.

Its all Greek to me. Well most of it. ..

Yes, understood.

no Purgatory eh

Only in never-never-land. (fairy tales)...

 

[Tree of Life]

Is the following definition of "Justification" adequate?

In Christian theology, justification is God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice

Yeah that's a fine definition. But you should know that it doesn't square with what your church teaches!

 

[GingerBeer]

Is the following definition of "Justification" adequate?

In Christian theology, justification is God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice

no

 

[dqhall]

You may be justified if you do the will of your Father.

Matthew 21 (WEB)
28 But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. 30 He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he didn’t go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

Jesus has power to forgive sins. One who is just is justified already.

 

[RDKirk]

Justification is a legal term. To obey the law means you are just. To be justified means that a case has been given to the judge that proves you are not guilty. In the Christian sense, nothing can justify us, except the blood of Jesus which cleanses us and justifies us before God.

Scripturally, justification is a building term.

And the LORD asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" "A plumb line," I replied. Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. Amos 7

When a builder determines by plumb line that a wall is out of plumb, he must justify the wall, a usage that is even older than the legal usage.

The problem, though, is that a wall out of plumb cannot be made straight. It must be demolished, down to the foundation--and maybe even the foundation--and be rebuilt.

 

[redleghunter]

mm OK. Maybe he has postponed His anger with me then. I've had a pretty charmed life so far. Lucky I mean, Praise God for that!

Frankly, for me at least, I did most of my examining if I was in the faith when things were going smoothly in my life. Seriously I did.

 

[redleghunter]

A Reading from the Book of Wiki to the Aussies

Don't forget to also check the book of Hezekiah 6:14.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

#1. The word "justified" means to be declared righteous judicially (like in a court of law).
The word "sanctified" means "set apart" or to "make holy."

#2. "The process of Justification" (while the Bible does not specifically call it this) involves the saving work of the Lord by:

(a) Believing that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and was risen three days later on your behalf (the milk of the Word - or the 1st portion of the gospel).
(b) Asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins.
The process of Justification is how we first come to the Lord. It does not involve any works. A person can be saved right here and right now by calling out to Jesus to save them of their sins and believing He is the Savior (and that He died on the cross and was risen three days later on their behalf). Belief in Jesus as one's Savior continues through out their whole life (into the future of all of eternity). For Jesus lives forever intercede on our behalf.​

"The process of Sanctification" (while the Bible does not specifically call it this) involves the saving work of the Lord of Him doing good works through your life. For if a person is saved, the Lord abides in them and the Lord will work the process of Sanctification of making you more holy and righteous in this life. When I say more "holy" I am talking about how one will obey God's commands and do righteous deeds by the Lord working in them. Now, while some may clap their hands and say "Amen" to this, what they cannot do is also say, "we can sin and still be saved." A person cannot justify sin and also say they can live holy and or be more Christ like.

#3. I have discovered in my study of God's Word that the words "justified" and "sanctified" can be refer to either the "process of Justification" or the "process of Sanctification." The context determines the use of the word in which process it is talking about. Certain folks like to justify the idea they cannot die spiritually if they sin by pointing to a word without looking at the context in how it is used. But God's Word is hidden to those who are seeking to do evil or sin. They will see what they want to see. For if we say, Jesus saves and it is nothing in what we do, then by all means we can go out and murder, rape, hate until the cows come home. But of course they say they will strive not to sin and or they will be more holy. But at what level of holiness? As they say? What sins are acceptable? Do we just sin on occasion and it is okay with God? Most certainly not. Jesus is in the life changing business. Jesus came not only to save you from your past sins when you first came to Him, but Jesus came to save you from living a life of sin (on every level). Most people think you cannot stop sinning in this life. So they will reject this idea of course. But the wide gate path is a path that everyone is on. It is a path of sin and evil. The narrow way is a righteous one. Not in a means of living a hypocritical life like the pharisees but in truly being transformed by the Lord. It's why the Bible says work out your salvation with fear and trembling. There is no fear and trembling if we minimize sin and think we can just generally live a holy life as we see fit. Remember, the luke warm church was spewed out Christ's mouth.

I hope this helps.
And may the Lord bless you all.


....

 

[All4Christ]

You do know that there are multiple definitions of justification, right?

Theology is all about speaking different languages using the same words with different meanings.

Agreeed. Justification in the East is very different than the West.

 

[Richard FC]

Is the following definition of "Justification" adequate?

In Christian theology, justification is God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice

The Latin words 'Justification' and 'justify' mean to make righteous in God's eyes. That is also true of the original Greek words. They are not specifically moral words, not do they specify how we are made righteous (which obviously involves the Cross). The phrase 'justified by His blood' explains justification and the method

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

The problem, though, is that a wall out of plumb cannot be made straight. It must be demolished, down to the foundation--and maybe even the foundation--and be rebuilt.

I don't want to be demolished.

 

[def]

There are so many definitions given, better call Paul and ask him what he meant by justification.

 

[RDKirk]

I don't want to be demolished.

But that's what it takes.

 

[The Times]

As a few posters have stated that justification is a legal term.

I would like to draw peoples attention to the great controversy between God, Man and Satan. Throughout history Satan is called man's great adversary. What does adversary mean?

one's opponent in a contest, conflict, or dispute.

Now, it is clear that Satan takes the role of the prosecutor, call him the high profile barrister who initiates a dispute with God over man and this is the great controversy.

We can see this being played out throughout scripture from Abel, Job to Joshua as an ongoing court battle between God and Satan. On one hand God wants to save man and to free him from a death sentence, yet on the other the prosecutor Satan contends that man should not be allowed to go free and this is where Satan keeps humanity as his hostages and God needed to set forth a legal path of justifying man, by pardoning him from the letter of the law. This is where scripture states that God ransomed us from the prosecutor aka Satan, who had power over death, by reason of his statement of facts, contentions and issues that the righteous God could not dismiss, just because he could, because that would reflect adversely against His Holy and righteous character.

Throughout the Old Testament we see this legal contention being played out back and forth between God and Satan over man's fate. We see the Angel of the Lord as the Defendants Barrister contending over man's fate, not to condemn Satan, but for God the rightful Judge to rebuke Him, meaning to silence his accussing arguments, as in an overruled scenario within a court proceeding. The Angel of the Lord acting as Defendant's Barrister appeals to overrule Satan's legal arguments, through a legally binding and winnable argument and not by force, because it is a court proceeding and God's Holy and righteous character is on the line, because of man.

1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:1-2)

We can immediately observe that this is a court proceeding, over man's fate and God who presides over the courtroom as the Angel of the Lord, who represents the Defendant, who is man, replies with a counter argument to highlight man's innocence, pointing in the future to the justifying AGENT Joshua, where the name in English is really Jesus. Joshua in Hebrew is Jesus in English.

So what does the Angel of the Lord say about Jesus the High Priest to come.....

6The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: 7“This is what the LordAlmighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

8“ ‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

That is the legal justification right there and then for the Christian faith. We were legally freed from the accusssations of our adversary and the Great Contraversy brought to a close.

Are we trying to be “justified” in some super high court ruled by some all-powerful Judge, who really cannot empathize with man?

Not we, but this court ruling has been done before your were born.

Are we trying to be justified before our Loving Father?

No, because this is a forgone conclusion that was done in one day on the cross at Calvary.

Did Abraham experience some disciplining pain through his life that might have helped with his justification?

Between him and God yes, but not in the sense that would entitle him to be legally justified and acquitted by the railing accusations of Satan.

What do we need to really “know” about Christ to obtain justification?

We don't obtain justification, we know through Christ that we have been justified legally by his blood.

We all do not like the idea of being “self-justified”, being like the Pharisee who went to the temple, proud of his status before God, but how are we to respond to being asked: “Do you stand justified before God”?

We cannot stand as our own defendants, because we will loose a legal argument against Satan.

We want to be justified before God, but how do we know we are justified before God?

To know that Jesus or Joshua as our High Priest is our justification, so long as we abide in him and follow his moral laws.

When did you come to the realization of being justified before God?

When we know that legally by blood we are justified when we come to the fullness of Christ and his law.

Most people are never justified. Proven by Scripture.

This is nonsense talk.

You may be justified if you do the will of your Father.

No, this is not justification.

#1. The word "justified" means to be declared righteous judicially (like in a court of law).

Yes.

#2. "The process of Justification" (while the Bible does not specifically call it this) involves the saving work of the Lord by:

Yes.

For if a person is saved, the Lord abides in them and the Lord will work the process of Sanctification of making you more holy and righteous in this life. When I say more "holy" I am talking about how one will obey God's commands and do righteous deeds by the Lord working in them

This is the John 3:5 in ongoing salvation of each individual.