“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. Romans 3:23-24

Bishop Moule wrote

“The harlot, the liar, the murderer, are short of it but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of the Alps; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they are."

(referring to God’s Glory):

And yet to us, God DECLARES we are righteous.
The word righteous is justifies, which is a term used in court and it is one of the verdict that God will declare over every human being that has walked this world from Adam to the last child born at his appearing.
If justified is to be innocent, then condemnation would be the verdict of those that are guilty.
To be justified means so much more than just pardoned, it is a part of it, just as to be condemned is more than just being guilty. The verdict that God makes also contains the sentence. To be condemned is not just being found out, it is to live a life forever out of the presence of God. On the opposite extreme to be justified means to be pardoned, yes, but also forgiven, restored, and to inherit all that meeting God’s standard entails.

The hymn writer wrote

“Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!” Thomas O. Chisholm

This includes heaven the presence of God and all the blessings that go with that.
Justification is also a forensic term, which links this amazing truth to us that not only do we look righteous on the outside, but also on in the inside. Christ was the spotless Lamb, without wrinkle spot or blemish. Through faith we also are accepted and declared by God to be the same.
It is so easy to simplify words so that they become easy to understand but by over simplifying we lose the impact of our inheritance and what Christ has won for us at the cross.
It is because of Christ’s grace that we have received such divine intervention, we could spend a billion years improving and still never meet the lowest aspect of the glory of God. (if he has one)
If God has declared it, we may not look like it, live it or feel it, but there is one thing that remains true, on the day of God’s judgement we will be justified. We will stand with Christ in a life time that never ends

Labels: Accepted, Justify, Legal, righteous