Justification in the context of the church has a very specific meaning. We don’t use words like justification in everyday speech, but we know it by other phrases that are common in the church: get saved, being saved, forgiven of sins, accepted by Christ, not guilty before God, peace with God, Christ’s righteousness credited to us, or saved by grace through faith. All of these phrases find their foundation in the church word justification.

Church Organizations’ Views of Justification

For the most part, evangelical churches like Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian define justification as an act of God that comes from faith alone.

Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. It brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God. SBC (Baptist Faith and Message 2000)

Justification is an act of God’s free grace in which He pardons sins and accepts persons as righteous solely by imputing Christ’s obedience and satisfaction, received by faith alone. Faith is the sole instrument of justification, though it is accompanied by other saving graces. PCA (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 11)

The Catholic Church does not have a faith-alone view. This it is one of the primary reasons for the Protestant Reformation that created the modern-day Protestant churches.

Justification is not only the remission of sins but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man. It is conferred in Baptism, conforms us to the righteousness of God by making us inwardly just through the grace of the Holy Spirit, and involves the infusion of faith, hope, and charity. Catholic (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1989–1992)

The Protestant confessions point to justification being God’s grace bringing righteousness to sinners through the work of Jesus Christ. This might sound like faith in the works of Christ on the Cross, not works of ourselves.

The Catholic Catechism links justification with the daily conformity of Christian life. For example baptism or the desire for the sacraments. This might sound like faith in Christ and works of the Church.

While we are defining justification as a church word here in this article, one cannot overlook the historical break from the Catholic Church over the mechanism of justification. The Latin phrase sola fide, which means faith alone, is a major concept that drove the Protestant Reformation. Salvation is accomplished by sola fide. Faith alone saves, not works.

Justify in Everyday Life vs. the Bible

Before we get to the church word justification, let’s look at the basic word justify and how it works in the real world. Justify means to render righteous. The idea in everyday conversation is to prove one is right when mistakes are being made. For example, someone might say, “He wanted to justify his decision to his boss,” or “She justified the expense by pointing to all the money that was saved.” Justify is about trying to make oneself right, and it requires a defense of some action.

In biblical terms, whatever defense we can mount to justify our actions will fail. We (all men and women) have failed to meet God’s standards. Paul writes it this way:

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Romans 3:19-20 ESV

Every mouth is stopped in any effort to justify oneself, and the entire world is accountable to God in exactly this same way. No works that we can do will ever justify or make up for our sins.

One act of Righteousness

While this problem exists, Paul goes on in Romans in the next few chapters to spell out the details on what God has done to overcome this issue. God himself will justify the helpless-before-the-law sinners. God does this through Jesus. The deep dive into the work of Jesus can be found in Romans chapters 4 and 5. These verses are about how faith works to justify men and make peace with God through the work of Jesus. Paul’s conclusion:

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. Romans 5:18 ESV

God Made Peace

And now we have a church word, justification, that all Christians should understand. We need to understand the mechanism that God uses to make us right with him, and this is not something we do on our own.

Justification then is God declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to him because of the perfect righteous work of Jesus Christ. The mechanism of justification is done in a legal sense by God. This is not righteousness due to any work we have done but only because of the work that Jesus has done on the Cross. His work on the Cross is taking the death sentence that was intended for my sins. Now we have peace with God and can begin a journey in peace with our Maker.