Read Romans 4:16–25
Today’s Scripture: [Jesus our Lord] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Romans 4:25

Justification is the act of God whereby He declares believing sinners
righteous in Christ on the basis of the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Each part of this definition is important, so we must consider it carefully.
Justification is an act, not a process. There are no degrees of justification; each of us believers has the same right standing before God. Also, justification is something done by God, not by us. We cannot justify ourselves before God. Most important, justification does not mean that God makes us righteous, but that He declares us righteous. Justification is a legal matter. God puts the righteousness of Christ on our records in the place of our own sinfulness. And nobody can change these records.

We must not confuse justification and sanctification. Sanctification is the
process whereby God makes believers more and more like Christ.
Sanctification may change from day to day. Justification never changes.
When we trust Christ, God declares us righteous, and that declaration will never be repealed. God looks upon us and deals with us as though we had never sinned at all!

Something to Ponder
What does it mean to you that God has justified you? How is God’s
justification revealed in your life?