Justifying Justification

It occurred to me this week one reason why we have so much trouble understanding justification, and that’s the fact that the word “justify” has multiple meanings that are almost contradictory. Consider these common examples from everyday life and media: “I can justify having dessert tonight because I only had a salad for lunch.” “The jury agreed that self-defense was justifiable homicide in this case.” “I put this down as a business lunch in order to justify my travel voucher.” In these examples, justification is used as an excuse or an acceptable reason for doing something.

The biblical use of justification is entirely different. One definition from Wiktionary is “To absolve, and declare to be free of blame or sin.” God doesn’t excuse our sin, or declare that we had an acceptable reason for sinning. We can’t justify our sin by saying, “The devil made me do it,” or “I’m just weak in that area.” Our excuses don’t fly with God. Instead, God actually removes our sin from us through the ultimate punishment of Jesus’ death on the cross on our behalf. We’re free from blame only because Jesus took our sin upon Himself.

Romans 3:24 says that we “are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 4 goes on to talk about Abraham being declared righteous because he believed God. James does link faith with works, but points out that Abraham’s faith was “completed” or made evident by his actions. He trusted God, therefore he took the action of offering Isaac upon the altar.

An illustration came to mind this weekend while I was in the mountains. Perhaps you’ve seen fire towers in areas where forest fires are a danger. During fire season someone is posted in the tower to watch the surrounding land. But of course, they aren’t actually looking for flames. The first sign they will spot is the smoke coming up. By the time they see flames it’s too late. It’s similar with faith and works. Faith is the fire and works are the smoke. Smoke doesn’t do anything to make the fire hotter or bigger, it is simply the visible evidence of the fire. Just as it is virtually impossible to have a wood fire without smoke, so faith without works is impossible. It is possible to create smoke without having fire. (Just ask my smoke detector when I’m making toast!) So also it is possible to do good works without having real faith in God.

What creates fire? You need to have fuel, such as wood, an ignition source, and oxygen. Fire cannot create itself, and neither can faith. Faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). God provides the igniting spark and the breath of the Holy Spirit. And He’s given us sources of fuel such as Scripture, prayer, teaching & preaching, and fellowship. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6). God gives us all that we need to build the fire of faith. And as that fire grows, good works will come billowing forth (Ephesians 2:10). If we have no desire to do the good works God has prepared for us, we need to ask whether we actually have faith or just a nice pile of firewood. If that’s the case, we should seek God through Scripture and prayer and ask Him to ignite that faith within us.

True faith is saving faith (James 2:14). True faith is justifying faith (Romans 3:24). I think we tend to get confused about faith and works because we’re using the wrong definition of justification. My family has this strange habit of asking people “How do you justify your existence?” By which is meant, what work do you do that gives your life meaning and purpose? So in that sense, yes, our works do justify and give purpose to our life. But if we think that our works somehow add to our faith or improve our standing before God, we aren’t using God’s definition of justification. He has declared us free from guilt and sin. Our works can’t add anything to what He’s already done for us in and through Christ. The person who has a deathbed conversion is as justified before God as the pastor who came to faith as a child.

Faith and justification are gifts from God and are the source from which our works must flow. Otherwise we’re just blowing smoke! Does a fire choose whether to make smoke? No, it just comes naturally through the chemical process of combustion. Neither do we really choose whether to do good works. We can try to resist God for a time, but He will not allow the fire to die out completely. He is more than willing to turn up the heat on us if needed.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7).