Justification

The only access to the cat room for Duffy is through the cat opening, and the only access to justification from God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Thus we simply interpret justification, as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as if we were righteous; and we say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. (from John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion”) Since a sinner must be justified by God to enter into heaven, the key question is how does a sinner become justified by God? One of the wrong answers to this question involves a person citing his record of good works and deeds as the basis. “I have tried to obey God’s law and the ten commandments” or “I try to love and help my fellow man” are examples of this type of answer. Good works do not earn God’s justification, ….“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20). The correct answer involves the person receiving the gift of justification by trusting in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ alone as payment for his sins…. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). Also incorrect would be the belief that God’s acceptance is based on a faith in the atonement of Jesus plus the addition of good deeds or works. Such a view seriously devalues the atonement to the point of making it ineffective to save sinners…. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). Paul here makes the valid point that if obeying the law of God were possible for mankind, then Christ would not have needed to die for sins. The prophet Isaiah describes the value of works by pointing out that…. “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64-6)” The meaning here is that man’s best deeds are tainted with sin, worthless for justification and that man cannot save himself by his good deeds. Paul says….Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith (Galatians 3:11).” Justification requires that man’s sins be punished and that he receive the imputed perfect righteousness of Christ (Rom 5:17-19). Christ accomplished both of these requirements for sinners by his perfect life of righteousness and his atoning death. Justification is a free gift of God’s grace received by faith and not good works (Eph 2:8-9).