JUSTIFICATION

and the

BLOOD OF CHRIST

JUSTIFICATION

“justification" being the legal and formal acquittal from guilt by God as Judge, the pronouncement of the sinner as righteous…”

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)

Strong’s defines this word as an “acquittal (for Christ’s sake).. “to render (i.e. show or regard as) innocent.”

Romans 4:25

25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 5:16

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

Romans 5:18

18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

Questions to Consider

How am I justified before God?

At what point am I counted as justified before God?

Can I know for sure that I am justified?

Romans 5:1-2

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

“JUSTIFIED BY FAITH”

• Faith in the Sacrifice of Christ

Romans 5:6-8

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:17

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

“JUSTIFIED BY FAITH”

• Faith in the Sacrifice of Christ

• Power of the Blood of Christ

John 1:29

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Look, The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Matthew 26:28

28 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Acts 20:28

28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

Romans 3:25

25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

Romans 5:9

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Ephesians 1:7

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

Ephesians 2:13

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Colossians 1:19-22

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

1 Peter 1:18-19

18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Revelation 1:5

5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.

"But whereas the essential of the type lay in the fact that blood was shed, the essential of the antitype lies in this, that the blood shed was that of Christ. Hence, in connection with Jewish sacrifices, ‘the blood' is mentioned without reference to the victim from which it flowed, but in connection with the great antitypical sacrifice of the NT the words ‘the blood' never stand alone; the One Who shed the blood is invariably specified, for it is the Person that gives value to the work; the saving efficacy of the Death depends entirely upon the fact that He Who died was the Son of God."

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)

“JUSTIFIED BY FAITH”

• Faith in the Sacrifice of Christ

• Power of the Blood of Christ

• Our Atoning Sacrifice for Sins

Romans 3:20-26

20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ….

24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--

26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus.

“In the OT the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies could be made a place of propitiation by sacrifice (Heb. 9:5). Now, however, the blood-sprinkled body of Christ on the cross has become the Mercy Seat for sinners once and for all. The Mercy Seat is thus a continual throne of grace. What otherwise would be an awful judgment throne becomes an altar of infinite mercy.”

- Merrill Unger

Romans 6:3,4

3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Have you been baptized into the death of Jesus?

1 Peter 3:21

Peter is referring to the water that was instrumental in saving Noah and his family, by floating the ark.

21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.