Did you know that there is a difference between being forgiven and being justified? Being forgiven means that you were guilty of committing a crime, but you are “pardoned.” It doesn’t erase what you did, but there is now no punishment for it. It has been “canceled out,” as one being pardoned on death row. That person is then free to go – however, that person will not be able to fit into society. Think of this: pretend that you, as a friend and business partner, owe me an amount in excess of $1 million, and there was no way for you to be able to repay me. I take you to court and the judge orders you to pay. You, of course, explain that you don’t have the means to pay me back. So, after some going back and forth, the judge verifies your statement by checking on your income and expenses. He then asks me if it would be acceptable if the debt is canceled out. I, of course, protest at first, but then relent and begrudgingly agree. Does this reconcile me to you? No. Because from now on, our relationship is going to be strained, not being able to trust you as a business partner, and may even lead to us not even being friends, anymore.
Compare that with being justified, which is as if NO crime was even committed. Jesus justifies His followers, not merely forgives their sins. As Paul says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1, NASB, italics and underline mine). Again, he writes, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. 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 boast in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 4:25-5:2, NIV, italics and underline mine). So, now, instead of you owing me $1 million, you don’t owe me anything! Jesus paid it all! In fact, He was so generous, your account is actually overpaid by $1 million, and I couldn’t be happier with you! Now, you and I could head into a happy tomorrow. See the difference?
According to a website,
“The definition of justification is: someone who is declared or made righteous. A helpful way to explain justification is that God looks at you and me ‘just if I’d never sinned.’ Justification is what brings us close to God.
Forgiveness in Christ means we are no longer under the punishment of death, but our hearts are still bent toward sin. Justification in Christ means we are now Children through the resurrection of Jesus, and we are being purified from sin…
In Matthew 22, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a King who prepares a wedding feast for His Son. Everyone was invited into the banquet but some chose not to come in, others tried to come in but weren’t wearing the right clothes (so they were kicked out), and others were wearing wedding clothes and were able to stay.
In ancient culture, the king would provide clothing for his events, in this case he would have provided wedding clothes. In this parable the wedding clothes represent Christ’s righteousness. If someone wasn’t wearing the right clothes they were either a wedding crasher or they thought their clothes were better (they worked hard to be righteous) and therefore would have been kicked out. If they were wearing the clothing provided by the King that means they would have been justified to be there (made righteous).”
(Source: https://sethlezon.com/2020/01/17/the-difference-between-forgiveness-and-justification/)
Another website says that,
“This is the big difference between forgiveness and justification. Forgiveness leaves justice on the table, it leaves sin unpunished but unjustified. Among the brethren, we have something greater than forgiveness with one another. We have the understanding that their sin against us has been declared unjust and wrong with vengeance and violence. It has been abundantly addressed. I don’t have to think that I am just trying to forget what they have done to me or that they are trying to forget what I have done to them. Forgetting is not the issue or the power of attorney here. The blood of Jesus Christ is the power, and it is most certainly sufficient.”
(Source: https://thereforenow.com/2012/04/justification-is-greater-than-forgiveness/)
Yet another website says this,
“In the seventh chapter of Luke, Jesus told a parable of two debtors. While one of them owed the creditor ten times the amount of the other, they were both in the same condition of being bankrupt and unable to pay. The creditor frankly forgave their debt and any penalty associated with it. This gracious and free forgiveness removed all fear of judgment and resulted in peace (Lk. 7:50). This is a very vivid picture of God graciously and freely forgiving the sinner his debt to Him.
While the forgiveness of sins is gracious and free, it is not at the expense of God’s righteousness. His righteousness requires that justice be carried out and the penalty paid. Thus the forgiveness we enjoy is not only that of God acting as the offended party, but also the pardon which comes from a righteous Judge. This is only possible because of the propitiatory work of Christ. Atonement is an Old Testament truth which expresses the fact that sins were covered. Propitiation expresses the truth of satisfaction. Our sins are not just covered over, but God has been fully satisfied in regards to them (1 Jn. 4:10). As a result, Christ has been publicly declared to be the mercy seat, or the place at which God and man can meet. God can now pardon us of all our sins while still remaining righteous (Rom. 3:24-26). The more we enter into God’s appreciation of the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, the greater will be our peace.
Forgiveness is the negative aspect of justification. It is the removal of our guilt and the associated penalty. It is based on the death of Christ (Rom. 5:9; Eph. 1:7).
In Romans 4:25, we read that Christ “was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification.” While justification includes forgiveness, it is far more. Some have defined it as “just-as-if-I-never-sinned.” This definition falls far short of defining this blessed truth. This definition leaves one merely in the state of innocence, as Adam was before the Fall. It gives no security or permanent acceptance with God.
Justification is the “declarative act of God by which the believer is declared to be righteous.” This declaration is a result of a change of legal standing before the righteous Judge. It is objective truth. It is what God declares about the believer, not something subjective happening in him. Justification does not make one righteous. It is the declaration that one is righteous, or is constituted righteous. This truth presents the fact that not only has God forgiven the believer, but He has also declared that he is righteous in His sight.”
(Source: https://uplook.org/2006/01/justification-more-than-forgiveness/)
Finally, there is this analogy,
“A friend with whom you have
been long doing business falls into a condition of insolvency, and
you find that he is your debtor to a large amount. There is no
prospect of his ever being able to pay you back, and you have reason
to know that this condition of debt arises not merely from his
misfortune, but from his fault. Under these circumstances it would be
possible for you to liberate him from his debt by an act of
forgiveness. Let us suppose that you adopt this course; the man would
no longer be in fear of a debtor's prison, and would no doubt feel
himself under a great obligation to you. But would such a state of
things be likely to bring you into closer personal relations with
each other? Would it not necessarily produce on the contrary a
certain distance and constraint? On the other hand, the forgiven
debtor must needs, me thinks, feel ashamed to look his generous
creditor in the face, must feel ill at ease in his presence, and
would shrink from familiar social intercourse with the family of one
on whom his conduct has inflicted such serious losses. On the other
hand, the forgiving creditor could scarcely be expected to select
such a person for his friend, and to treat his past conduct as if it
were a thing easily to be forgotten. But to illustrate our position
further, let us now present another case. Let us suppose that the
creditor is so convinced of the sincerity of the regret which his
debtor professes, and has reason to believe that the severe lesson
has wrought in him so great a moral change that he feels himself free
to make an experiment which most of us would certainly regard as a
perilous one; let us suppose that, instead of remitting his debt, he
introduces him into partnership with his own son, with whose business
he is himself closely concerned. This his new connection with a
solvent and flourishing firm places him, we may say, in a position of
solvency, removes the stigma of bankruptcy, puts him in the way of
making a full return to his benefactor, to whom at the same time it
greatly enhances his obligation. Now it is easy to see how this man —
not merely forgiven, but in a certain sense justified — will be
brought by such an arrangement into the closest relations with his
benefactor. Friendly social intercourse will exist without restraint,
and he who under the former mode of treatment might have seemed
little better than an escaped convict will now be a recognised and
respected member of the social circle in which his creditor
moves.
(W. H. Aitken, M. A.)”
In Romans 3:21, the Apostle Paul writes,
“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (NASB).
The CLT renders verse 23 and 24 as “for all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God. Being justified gratuitously in His grace, through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus.” What is sin? Missing the mark. We fall short of God’s glory. Not only that we have in the past, but we do so in the present, and will continue to do so for so long as we are in these earthly bodies. We cannot fix ourselves because we cannot help but sin. Remember when Paul lamented later in the book of Romans,
“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Rom 7:14-24, NASB, italics and underline mine).
But, in the same thought, Paul gives us the solution. He says immediately afterwards, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” It is so with Rom 3. The problems of sin and continuously falling short are solved by justification. The term “being justified” is an active verb. It is a present participle1. This means that justification is not a “one-and-done” deal! The blood of our Lord Jesus is so powerful it follows us throughout our lives, and beyond! If you are a believer in Christ right now, rejoice!! God not only forgives you, but sees you as He sees Christ – completely sinless! It’s as if you had never sinned in the first place. When you become a believer, relying completely on faith, you are no longer a descendant of Adam, of sinful man. You are a new creature (2Cor 5:17), and are born of the Christ of God!
1 https://www.wordnik.com/words/present%20participle
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