Basics Series. Justification, part 3.

The Doctrine of Soteriology
(Salvation)

The blood of Christ - His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross - provided redemption, expiation, propitiation, and reconciliation for every man.

THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION

Justification by faith is the heart of what separates Christianity from religion.

justification
righteousness
imputation
faith
[what they are….and what they are not!]

To justify means to declare righteous.

Justification is the legal act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous because He has imputed to the believer His (God’s) own perfect righteousness.

ROM 3:26
For the showing forth of His righteousness in the present time - unto the being Himself righteous, and the One declaring righteous the person having faith in Jesus.

DEFINITIONS

Justification is not God placing His Righteousness in us;

Justification is God placing us in His Righteousness!

Justification is a legal declaration.
It does not DO anything to us;
it SAYS something about our acceptance before God.

The Greek word for “justification” is the noun

‎δικαίωσις
dikaiosis

ROM 4:25, ROM 5:16; ROM 5:18.

In the New Testament, the word dikaiosis means
“the act of pronouncing righteous; justification”.

The Greek word for “justified” is the verb
δικαιόω
dikaioo
to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent:

It appears 39 times in the New Testament.
Of those, 27 times in Paul’s letters, predominantly in the passive voice, and 15 are found in the book of Romans.

the word dikaioo means
“to declare to be righteous, to pronounce righteous, and therefore acceptable.”

Especially is it so used, in the technical phraseology of Paul, respecting God who judges and declares such men as put faith in Christ to be righteous and acceptable to Him.

Every NT use of δικαιόω ‎has a legal or courtroom flavor:
"justification" being the legal and formal pronouncement by God as Judge of the sinner as righteous, who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
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