To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:26
There is a legal procedure that Canadian judges can exercise in special cases where a person is convicted of a crime, but where the judge feels the charge was unfair or where the judge feels the person is highly unlikely to ever commit that crime again. The procedure is called an unconditional discharge. When the judge issues an unconditional discharge, the condemned person is deemed not to have any criminal record. The slate is wiped clean. On a much more grand and glorious scale, Paul is telling about a similar type of unconditional discharge for those of us who are guilty before God but who have come to the Lord Jesus Christ for cleansing.
Just as an unconditional discharge is only for those who have admitted their guilt, so too the righteousness of Christ is only available for those of us who have acknowledged to God that we are helpless and hopeless sinners. But while unconditional discharges are usually only for those who commit less serious crimes, the righteousness of Christ is available to all sinners without exception. By imputing Christ’s righteousness to us, God can give the guilty a perfect standing before Himself. But did you notice the lovely title that is included in this verse? The Saviour is the Justifier.
Those of us who have believed in Jesus have received our salvation from the Justifier. No one else can declare us just, regardless of what the Romish priest tells the conscience-ridden people who come to his confessional. The only man who can forgive sins is the Justifier. Nobody else paid the price for our sins. A priest might assign pennance to a confessor, but that will never pay for sins. Anyone who thinks otherwise has no understanding of God’s holiness and of sin’s awfulness. Only the blood of the Lord Jesus can take away sin. So only He can tell us we are just before God.
Do you appreciate your righteousness before God today? You owe it all to the Justifier! To Him be all the glory. -Jim MacIntosh