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Do You Want to Be Free of Guilt and Condemnation?

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Freedom From Guilt and Condemnation

I had the opportunity recently to share the following with a friend.

The beauty of justification is that you are declared not guilty. It is the opposite of condemnation. It implies deliverance from the curse of God because the curse was placed in Christ. It means you are forgiven and free.

It is God’s gift, the fruit of sovereign grace, and not in any way the result of human “goodness” or “accomplishment.”

A right understanding of justification will bring peace to the soul, a peace that passes all understanding. It fills the heart with such thanksgiving that it produces in the life of the believer an abundant harvest of good works.

Our only righteousness is imputed righteousness. Imputation is our only hope for our sinful soul. Because it is the one who knows the stain of their sin, who knows that he or she must have righteousness, that is not their own.

God has given us an “alien” righteousness that comes only from God, only by faith, and only from Christ. Such a gift cannot be purchased, earned, or merited.

It is credited by grace. You were infinitely loved, totally accepted, and forever free.

Live in that grace. Inhale that grace. Exhale that grace.

Justification is the Answer to Our Guilt and Condemnation

Following are some fundamental principles of the doctrine of justification. Please, pause over each principle. Search and meditate on the Scripture passages. And pray to God and praise Him for all He has done to make you right with Him.

Our Problem:

  • Our Problem: Moral Corruption, Guilt, Condemnation and Alienation from God
  • Our Desperate Need: New Nature, Forgiveness, Acceptance and Reconciliation

( See Exodus 20:5–6; Galatians 6:7; Exodus 23:7; Nahum 1:3; Romans 1:18; 5:10; 8:7; Psalm 7:11; 5:5; James 2:10; Romans 3:9–18; Psalm 58:3; Ephesians 2:1, 3, 12; Ezra 9:6; John 8:34; Proverbs 17:15; 24:24)

God’s Solution: Justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone

  1. Justification is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners (Romans 3:22–25; 4:5)
  2. In justification, God not only pardons all of a person’s sins but also accepts that person as righteous in His sight (2 Corinthians 5:19–21; Romans 3:22–28)
  3. Justification is not based on the character or conduct of the justified person but is strictly “according to His mercy” and based on Christ’s righteousness and “redemption through His blood” (Titus 3:5–7; Ephesians 1:7)
  4. In justification, the merit of Christ’s righteousness and obedience is “imputed” or credited to the account of the person who is justified, who receives this imputed righteousness as a free gift of God (Romans 5:17–19; 4:6–8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
  5. Christ fully and completely satisfied the Justice of God on behalf of those who are justified (Romans 5:8–10, 19; 1 Timothy 2:5–6; Hebrews 10:10; Matthew 28:20; Daniel 9:24–26; Isaiah 53:4–6; 10–12; Hebrews 7:22; Romans 8:32; 1 Peter 1:18–19)
  6. The only condition of justification is faith in Christ alone (Romans 3:24–25). Faith in Christ is itself a gift of God to the believer (Ephesians 2:8)
  7. Redemption and forgiveness are matters of God’s free grace. It is an unmerited gift of God’s love (Ephesians 1:7)

Our Response: Bringing It Home

  1. Justification is a legal declaration by God (NOT GUILTY!)
  2. God declares us to be just in His sight
    1. We have no penalty to pay for any of our sins (past, present or future)
    2. We are not merely neutral in His sight, but actually righteous in His sight
  3. God declares us righteous because He credits Christ’s righteousness to us
  4. Justification is ours solely because of the grace of God, not because of any merit in us
  5. God justifies us through faith in Christ
  6. We must:
    1. Renounce any trust in our “good works” as meriting anything with God
    2. Rely entirely on the Person and Work of Christ

Adapted from White, James, “The God Who Justifies” and Westminster Larger Catechism

Questions to Consider:

  • Are there sins in your life and sins from your past that you believe cannot be forgiven?
  • Are you trying to work to make God happy with you, all the while feeling like you are on a never-ending treadmill?
  • How can believing the truths shared in this post help you to live in peace, hope, and joy?

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