What is Justification?
Justification is a deep theological truth that doesn't easily translate for the 21stcentury mind. The central scripture in this doctrine is Romans 3:28, "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." But today when the word "justified" is used it usually means that a person had a good reason to do whatever they did. For example, he was justified in taking money from his parents because they were going to leave it to him anyway. But that is not quite how the word is used in the New Testament.
The Greek word for justification is dikaioo (the last o is long), which comes from the Greek word dikaios, which is usually translated as righteous. Therefore justification means to be declared righteous. It almost sounds like having a good excuse to do something (God sees me as righteous anyway) but there is a big difference. From Romans 3:28 we learn that we are not justified because we have a good excuse but because of or through faith.
Faith turns the excuse idea on its head. In fact, if one tries to come up with excuses for why they did what they did they are not justified. Jesus tells a story about two men who went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee boldly told God all the good that he had accomplished in his life while the tax collector stood at a distance beating his chest and asking that God would be merciful to a sinner like him. Jesus then says, "I tell you, this man (i.e. the tax collector) went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).
People often come up with excuses for their sins. They blame their parents, they blame society, and they even blame God. Some counselors may even help them in the process of finding other scapegoats, which is not ultimately helpful. That's not to say that the sins of other people may not have added to their burden but they are not an excuse to justify themselves. Even Alcoholics Anonymous tells those in recovery that it is not helpful in the long run to blame others for their drinking problem.
Justification, therefore, is a divine act whereby God declares a sinner righteous not because he is innocent of sin but because he has been forgiven of sin. Justification is the result of the Gospel or the Good News. It happens when a sinner hears the words of John 3:16, for example, and believes them. Most of us are familiar with the words, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." This is the Gospel in a nutshell. That Gospel is expressed through simple words but it is also illustrated through Baptism and Holy Communion.
You would think that something so simple and so beautiful would be easily believed and accepted but alas that is not the case. Why? Because people are too busy trying to justify themselves. In fact, Jesus goes on in John 3 to say that very thing. We read a few verses later, verse 19, "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil." It is because people do not want to acknowledge their sins, without making excuses, that they fail to receive and experience what the tax collector experienced, or even the second thief on the cross (Luke 23:41-43), if you remember that story.
It is like a patient who goes to a doctor and refuses to accept the diagnosis. The doctor may actually have the cure but the patient is not helped by the cure because he doesn't want to believe the diagnosis. In fact, part of the cure may be a change of diet or quitting smoking, and this the patient does not want to accept.
Justification is a great gift from God but it is only received by the person who is humble enough to confess their sins. It is as we read in 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." That is justification.