Topic: Justification

The Acts 13:38-39 > 1 Corinthians 6:11 > 2 Nephi 25:24-27 > Romans 2:5-16 > Exodus 23:7 > Romans 3:19-Romans 8 > 2 Nephi 2:5-13 > Galatians 2:16-4:7 > Mosiah 15:12-13 > Moroni 7:19 > Titus 3:4-8 > James 2:14-26 > Doctrine and Covenants 88:34-39 > Jacob 2:12-21 > Mosiah 4: 21-30 > Alma 4:11-14 > Alma 5:26-36 > 3 Nephi 27: 13-22 > Doctrine and Covenants 20:29-31 > Moses 6:59-60

The Law of Justification, in simple terms, was put in place by God to ensure that no man received a blessing from heaven that he was not justified in receiving. This law is a close cousin to the Law of Sanctification that we have just studied. Remembering what we have just learned in the previous Scripture Train about Sanctification, we know that unless we are sanctified, we cannot enter the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can enter into His presence. (See Ephesians chapter 5 verse 5) Thus, unless I am sanctified, I cannot be justified in entering the kingdom of God.

In order to understand the Law of Justification we need to study the scriptures. In the New Testament, the writers often speak of “The Law”. Most of the time, when the term, “The Law” is used, it refers to The Law of Moses. This is an important matter to understand, for we learn in the writings of the New Testament that man cannot be justified by “The Law”. Turning to The Acts chapter 13 verses 38 and 39, we read that man could not be justified by the Law of Moses. Through the Law of Moses alone, salvation was not possible, thus salvation could not be justified no matter how perfect “The Law” was followed. But with Christ’s completed mission, salvation became justifiable through our faith in Him and through the keeping of The Law. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 11 teaches that we are washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus Christ. Thus, all those who steadfastly followed the Law of Moses were justified through Christ’s atonement, not due to the Law of Moses, but because they kept the Law of Moses. This is the Law that was given them to keep; its purpose was to lead mankind to Christ. Therefore, because Christ came to earth and accomplished His mission, all those who were led to Christ through keeping the Law of Moses were justified in receiving salvation. The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi makes this very clear in 2 Nephi chapter 25 verses 24 through 27. The important doctrine to learn is that justification, like so many other laws, has two parts; it requires effort on our part in keeping the law which we have received and the application of the atonement of our Savior. Without the Atonement of Christ, the keeping of any law would not justify us in gaining our salvation and eternal life.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, outlined very well the Law of Justification. In Romans chapter 2 verses 5 through 16, Paul teaches, as I have sited before, that God will render to every man according to his works and he teaches that those who bring forth good works are those who patiently continue in well doing seeking for their glory, their honor and their eternal life. A few verses later, he states that glory, honor and peace will come to those who bring forth good works. He then states, emphatically, that God is no respecter of persons, meaning that all those who do their best in seeking to keep the Lord’s commandments, will receive the reward promised, that of glory, honor, peace and eternal life. This, in essence, is the Law of Justification. To make his teachings even more clear he states, “Doers of the law shall be justified”. Previous to this verse Paul teaches us that God will not hold us accountable to laws we have not received, but those who have received the law will be held accountable. This does not mean we can simply refuse to learn what God expects of us and think that we can be justified because we didn’t know the law. Anyone who has the opportunity to learn, but refuses will not be justified in entering the kingdom of God. See Exodus chapter 23 verse 7.  The same principle is addressed by Paul in verse 13 of Romans chapter 2; we can’t sit in church and hear the wonderful sermons and then think our job is done. Justification includes the necessity of being a doer of the word and not just a hearer only; in other words, we need to do the works of the Law of Christ. We need to keep the commandments to be justified.

Keeping in mind what we have just learned we find no contradiction in the writings of Paul in chapter 3 of Romans verse 19 through chapter 8. In this reading, Paul addresses the topic of justification. When we read this, we need to keep in mind what we have learned and that Paul is addressing the works of the law, which could be any law. Let’s take a deeper look into these chapters.

Paul teaches us that if there were no law there would be no sin, but because there is a law given and as Nephi teaches in 2 Nephi chapter 2 verses 5 through 13, because there is a punishment attached to the violation of the law, sin is real, it exists. Then as Paul teaches, we all have sinned; we all have fallen short of the glory of God. Therefore, we are justified only by the grace of God and our faith in the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ whom God sent to atone for our sins. Without God’s grace and our faith in Jesus Christ, justification would not be possible and if God could not justify us in receiving salvation, we would be doomed to death and hell for all eternity. Both grace and faith are required for our salvation.

Paul asks, “Where is boasting then?” There cannot be any boasting. We cannot be justified by our works of any law alone. We are justified apart from, or without intervention of any law. Paul, then, calls on the example of Abraham. Abraham was justified by His faith in God, demonstrated by his righteous obedience to His commandment. Verse 5 of chapter 4 is a little confusing, but we can come to understand that its intent is to say that to him that does not seek to be justified by the Law of Works, but believes in Him who does not justify the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. From what we have learned in previous scripture, we can be sure that God will not justify salvation for the ungodly, or the unrighteous, those who demonstrate no faith in Jesus Christ by believing and keeping His commandments. Rather, we are justified of faith and works, through the grace of Christ to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed of Abraham.

As we continue in the book of Romans Paul states that we who desire the grace of God must not continue in sin, for if we are dead to sin, then we will no longer live in sin. When we were baptized we laid down the old man of sin and coming up out of the water we arose a new man; similar to one laying down the old, spiritually dead, sinful man in the grave and rising up out of the grave a new man in Christ. The expectation now is that we will live unto God, as instruments of righteousness, or live the lives He would want us to live and yield ourselves no longer to sin. We are the servants of him whom we enlist to obey. If we yield ourselves to the devil and obey him, then we are his servants. If we yield ourselves to God and obey Him, then we are His servants. One leads to spiritual death, the other to spiritual life.

In chapter seven, Paul reminds us that as long as we are alive, we live under the Law of God. If we do not abide the Law of God, but sin, then that sin will work death in us. The Law of God is the law ordained to bring men unto life, eternal life, the quality of life that God enjoys. Yet, we are beings of flesh and as such, we are at a constant war, the spirit against the flesh, good against evil, right against wrong and so forth. If we allow ourselves to yield to the temptations of the flesh, then we do so at the peril of our spiritual lives. In chapter eight Paul reminds us that as long as we walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, we will be justified.

Returning back to 2 Nephi chapter 2 verses 5 through 8 for a moment, Nephi is very clear on these same teachings. The Book of Mormon speaks of requirements that must be satisfied. It teaches that we are instructed sufficiently that we may know good from evil. We are taught that the law is given to all men, but the law does not justify us. Rather due to the requirements of the law, we are cut off from God and become miserable forever; for none of us can perfectly keep the law. Then we learn of the Holy Messiah who will come and satisfy the requirements of the law for all who are broken hearted and who are contrite in spirit. In other words, the laws’ requirements are satisfied toward those who are penitent, repentant, humble and meek. It is these who are justified. These are they who keep the commandments of God; these are they who delight in obeying their Savior and Redeemer.

For further evidence and testimony of Paul’s understanding of the Law of Justification, we will turn to the book of Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 through chapter 4 verse 7. Let examine these chapters as we did the Romans chapters above.

In verse 16 we are taught, as we have studied before, that man is not justified by the works of “The Law”, whether it be the Law of Moses, or the Law of Christ alone, but rather by our faith in Jesus Christ. Then in the next several verses to include the following chapters, Paul addressed the need we have to live in Christ, or that through our obedience to Him and His law, which He gave, He then lives in us. Paul then reinforces the purpose of the Law of Moses, how its purpose was to bring His people to Christ and as they followed “The Law” they were justified by their faithful obedience. He then observes that all those who were baptized unto Christ has put on Christ; or in other words we have entered into a covenant relationship with Him, we have taken upon ourselves His name and become His children. The Book of Mormon confirms this relationship in Mosiah chapter 15 verses 12 through 13 and Moroni chapter 7 verse 19. Paul states this relationship very beautifully when He says that as His children we are heirs of God through Christ. Then Paul, when writing Titus, restates this beautiful doctrine, stating that Christ came into the world by the mercy, love and kindness of God not due to our worthiness or our works of righteousness. He states that we have done the works of righteousness by being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was shed on them abundantly and then through His grace they were justified and made an heir of eternal life. He then commands Titus to be careful to maintain good works, which are good and profitable. He would not tell Titus to maintain them if they had not already been doing them. As we have discussed previously, good works are the demonstration of our faith, that without them faith is dead, or there is no faith. James chapter 2 verses 14 through 26 are very clear in this matter.

With these verses in James in mind, let us examine the Law of Justification from the viewpoint of the unjustified. The principle to learn here is that the Law of Christ not only justifies those who keep the law, but also condemns those who do not. In the book of Doctrine and Covenants section 88 verses 34 through 39, we learn that the Law will preserve those of God’s children who are governed by the Law; not only will they be preserved, but perfected and sanctified.  It is important to remember that it is the Law of Christ that establishes the way for us to achieve salvation and if we are not obedient to that Law, we cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; it is Christ who established the Law and Christ who will judge us by the Law. Continuing on, in verse 35 we learn that those who break the Law, those who do not live by the Law, but rather seek to become a law unto themselves cannot be sanctified, neither can they be eligible for God’s mercy, thus they cannot be justified in entering His kingdom.

All kingdoms have laws, conditions and bounds given and if we do not keep these then we cannot be justified in receiving those kingdoms. In Jacob chapter 2 verses 12 through 21, Mosiah chapter 4 verses 21 through 30 and Alma 4:11-14, we read stories of people who were not living up to the laws, the conditions and the bounds the Lord had set. In Jacob, we read how men had begun to lift themselves up in pride due to their exceeding riches. It is not the riches, or the wealth that is condemned, but rather the pride that men had allowed to enter their hearts. Due to this pride, they were allowing the poor, the naked and the hungry to go unattended. We remember James chapter 1 verse 27; the pure and undefiled religion is to remember such people. In Mosiah, we learn that a man’s wealth will perish with him. King Benjamin not only warns the wealthy who do not take care of the needy, but the poor whose hearts are not right before God. Alma warns against such inequality, as well. Then in Alma chapter 5 verses 26 through 36 a very sound warning comes to those who have the Law, who had at one time been justified in receiving great blessings of the Lord, but who now may have lost their way. He asks if they have walked keeping themselves blameless before God. He asks if they were to die at this time would they be prepared to meet God. These are great questions that if we were to ask ourselves often, we would be in better spiritual shape, better prepared to meet God. Finally, to sum up these principles we turn to the word of Christ, Himself, as found in the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi chapter 27 verses 13 through 22. Christ teaches His disciples that He has given them His gospel, or in other words, His Law. He teaches that as mankind lifted Him up and crucified Him that God, in turn, would lift up man and cause them to come unto Christ and be judged by Him according to their works, or in other words, by how well they kept the Law of Christ. Christ then states the Law by which they will either be justified or condemned. “Whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless (justified) before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world”. Then Christ says, “And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire (condemned), from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father”.

Doctrine and Covenants section 20 verses 29 through 31 and Moses chapter 6 verses 59 through 60 sums up very well the Law of Justification and the Law of Sanctification. We know, that all men, must be sanctified by, 1. Repenting, 2. Come unto Christ in faith believing Him (by being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost), 3. Keep the commandments of the Father and 4. Endure to the end of their lives or they cannot be justified in entering the kingdom of God.