The doctrine of justification has been a problem doctrine for Christians and for lost people who don’t understand it. There is a tendency to believe that you must DO something to get saved and thus justify yourself by the deeds of the law. This is wrong and comes from a misunderstanding of the doctrine of justification.

Acts 13:39 shows us plainly that you cannot be justified by the law. The reason is twofold.

First, to be justified, you must appear before God and be judged innocent from any guilt and transgression of the law. God must declare your justification at a judgment. There has not yet been a judgment by God of men’s works under the law. There won’t be until Rev 20:11-15. Therefore, no man could legitimately point to the law and say he was justified unless he used the law to justify himself. And when a man justifies himself, that is not justification [Lk 18:9-14; Lk 16:15].

Men that would try to use the law to justify themselves are fools. But they try it all the time. You knock on a door and announce that you want to talk to this dear soul about Jesus. Early in the conversation, the poor sinner will profess his righteousness under the law in order to justify himself. He’ll say, "I never shot nobody, I never stole nothing, I never cheated on my wife." That happens more than half the time. The old man is trying to get saved on his "good" works, as he sees them. It won’t work!! He’s not the judge; God is [Rom 8:33]. If he wants to use the law then he ought to use it properly. That is the law should bring him to Christ [Gal 3:24] not to self-justification.

Second, the law cannot justify a man because the law can only point out a man’s sins and condemn him for them. Rom 3:20 says, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." You see, the law can only point out your sins; it cannot give you righteousness or declare you innocent. Thus, the intention of the law is that "all the world may become guilty before God," (Rom 3:19). The law asserts your guilt not your innocence.

Now David was a man after God’s own heart [Acts 13:22] and yet he could not be justified by the law. The law would condemn him for, at a minimum, adultery, murder, bearing false witness, coveting another man’s wife, numbering the people without a ransom, and so on. If a man after God’s own heart cannot be justified by the deeds of the law, don’t think for a minute that you can.

In order to be justified, you have to have God’s righteousness. Rom 3:26 says, "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Well, the righteousness of God is Jesus Christ according to Rom 10:4. So, you would have to have Jesus in order to be justified.

The reason for this is simple. Jesus lived here for 33 _ years and never sinned one time, not once. He was tempted to sin but he never did [Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22; 2 Cor 5:21]. Thus he established the law in righteousness as the only man to ever set foot on this planet and truly keep all of the law. God has already judged him completely righteous and innocent [even Pilate declared his innocence, Jn 18:38, 19:4, 19:6].

Thus when a man puts his faith in Jesus Christ, God imputes righteousness to him and declares him righteous [Rom 4:5]. Since God judged his Son righteous, then he can judge all who have the righteousness of Jesus Christ righteous and, therefore, justified now [Rom 5:9]. Like Paul said in Rom 3:28, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

As a type of our justification by faith without the deeds of the law, Paul refers to the righteousness that was imputed to Abraham. He clearly states that Abraham was NOT justified before God by works [Rom 4:2]. He received his righteousness by faith and faith only [Rom 4:3; Gen 15:5-6].

So complete is our justification by faith that if the law points out sin and transgression against us, the Lord and the Spirit of God point out our righteousness, instead. In 1 Cor 6:9-10, we find a list of horrible sins of which most of us have committed at least a few. Yet, in spite of these terrible transgressions for which the law would hold us guilty and condemn us, the Lord justifies us. 1 Cor 6:11 says, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

Do you want to be justified before God? Then you will have to forget justifying yourself. The only way to be justified is to trust Jesus Christ and his righteousness [Rom 3:24]. Then God will judge you to be righteous [2Cor 5:21], he will make you his son [Jn 1:12] and he will justify you immediately [Rom 5:8-9].

Hope this helps,

Pastor Welder