#98. Romans 3:24 – Gratuitously (Justification Series, Part XXI)

Part III: Our Justification, Confirmed

Being justified gratuitously in His grace…

We are still facing the shocking revelation of Paul’s claim: that righteousness is being reckoned to those who are believing. We have examined the superficiality of the major rebuttal, that this is “immoral.” We have seen merit for justification, far beyond a pardon, and far beyond an atonement, through the successful endurance on Christ’s part, facing sin on our behalf, serving as a “Correspondent Ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6,) that all may inevitably receive a measure of His own belief in His Father (Rom. 3:22.)

This is practical. Justification is judicial. It is employed in our unjust courts almost every day, as often as any other verdict. God is not confused as to the character(s) of the one(s) He is declaring just (remember that it is He Who inspired Rom. 1:18-3:20, and has certainly not lost the plot.) It is His character, and His righteousness in dispute. Else what gives Him the right to justify any? Our lack has already been made known. He is aware that He is justifying the irreverent (Rom. 1:18, 4:5.) Christ is aware that His sacrifice is for the same irreverent (Rom. 5:6.)

In other words, there is nothing meritorious on our end which should demand justification. If we were innocent in action, then “justification” would not be the conclusion, and we could not even be condemned. The beauty is in its simplicity: God is calling what is obviously not just as if it were just! We are not like Christ, yet God accounts Christ’s qualities to us anyway.

There is no discernable difference, regarding the flesh, between a believer and an unbeliever (this is how some in Christ fairly interpret “there is no distinction.”) We are all failures in the same ways. Vessels of “honor” and “dishonor” come from the same kneading (Rom. 9:21.) The only real difference, at present, is that of “faith.” Here is where God’s authority far transcends that of any government official. A judge cannot justify a criminal based on faith alone. An example was given me by Rodney Paris, of MZTV fame. “Let us assume a police officer is on the street, when he is fired upon by a criminal,” Rodney posed. “Say he discharges his service weapon, and ends up killing the criminal. Shortly thereafter, he is obligated to go to court. There will be two primary outcomes (though there are uncommon exceptions.) He will either be tried for involuntary manslaughter, or his case will be tossed out, with the criminal’s death being ruled a ‘justified killing.’”

This is a phenomenal example, since it shows how mankind must justify. They must look at the relative circumstance of a situation, to deem whether or not the kill was right in its context. And, for the time, keeping law and order in this way is a… working method (though corrupted officials reveal the lack of altruistic checks and balances in our present judicial system, buuuuuuuuut I digress.)

God, meanwhile, is not subject to this “relative” restriction. Unlike our courts, His is just, and He demonstrates this many times by highlighting His foresight of the efficacy of every perceived “wrong.” The judge cannot justify with a view to reconcile the police officer to the criminal, and rarely does the officer’s justification warrant glory.

The most important comparison is this: our courts seek to justify the officer. The court of God seeks to justify the criminal. God has the benefit of His absolute perspective, His supreme point of view. His purpose inspiring its intended result is inevitable in light of His declarations of justification (Rom. 5:18-19, 1 Tim. 2:4, 4:10.)

Both God’s court and man’s court would agree on one small, but important, factor. “Justification” is not given to deliver one from sin. Our deliverance from sin occurs in three large phases. Here I quote George Rogers, whom I quoted earlier in this study:

“‘Salvation’ comprehends the full result of acceptance of the gospel beginning with rescue from wrath, and issuing in conformity to Christ in glory… There is a past salvation from the penalty of sin dating from the time we first believed. Then there is the present deliverance from the power of sin by which we are saved from sinning and attain maturity. Finally, we shall be saved from the presence of sin altogether, at the advent of a Savior Whom we await out of heaven (13:11, Phil. 3:20-21.)”

Justification does not bring us life. That is not the task or job of justification. It is the job of our baptism into Christ’s death to divest us of sin’s power, as we learn to be at peace with God in all. This is discussed in Rom. 5:10, and 6:1-14. Justification is expressly said by Paul to save us from God’s indignation (Rom. 5:9.) We are saved from the condemnation and wrath which would be our lot, if we were not yet believing Rom. 3:21-26 (which would have to mean that we take issue with Paul’s proper argument in Rom. 1:18-3:20.)

Gratuitous

Indeed, this justification is “gratuitous.” This word is perhaps the greatest in the sentence, and fully asserts the unmerited aspect of justification on our end. The word is dorean. It appears only 9 times in the New Testament, 4 of which are used by Paul. It is translated “freely” in most versions.

Boy, these guys should get a degree in being wrong all the time. The word “freely” is far too weak to convey the meaning of the term. The KJV translators especially must have known this, for they translate dorean in John 15:25 as “without a cause.” Without a cause! This is better, sure, and accurately conveys the meaning of the word: “unmerited.” Indeed, justification is provided by the unforced, unwarranted favor, or “grace,” of God.

This is gratuitous. The elements of dorean are “GIVE+GUSH.” This tells us in what way we are justified. Literally, justification is “GIVE+GUSHed in His grace, through the ‘LOOSENING+FROM’ [indignation] which is in Christ Jesus.”

Man, what a beautiful, and powerful thought this is! Here is the power of Love. God is not only “justifying,” but is clearly ecstatic about the prospect! This is not God rolling His eyes, saying, “Well, I guess I have to,” whilst mumbling under His metaphysical breath. In the words of our brother Adlai Loudy, in God’s Eonian Purpose, chapter 10, “[God] pours forth, in an extravagant display of affection, all His transcendent riches of grace contained in the meaning of the wonderful word dikaioo.”

There could be no clearer affirmation that there is nothing which an individual has done to enable their justification. If belief were our obligation, then God could not call His justification “gratuitous,” for there would be a cause. Faith is not God’s currency. It is not used to purchase salvation. Neither could repentance, baptism, or any other physical or emotional action determine our justification. God is not reacting to those actions, but justifying us gratuitously.

We may see, then, how poor the translation “freely” is. Especially in our modern English, this sounds more like a formal transaction, and less like the disposition of the Heart of the universe. Even the “free gift” translation is cringe-inducing, for it paints justification as if it costs nothing. In truth, it is the most expensive gift in existence, for it cost God His own Son.

Some “free grace” folk have painted it as if the gift is “free-ly given,” which is how they interpret it. This is extremely good-natured, and I surely won’t pick a fight with good-natured folk. I insist, however, in a spirit of mutual favor, that this is an interpretation founded upon a translator’s interpretation, and not the original word itself, which most clearly means “unmerited,” and this meaning does not change in any context. I would add that justification is not given willy-nilly, or free of charge to you. God is extremely precise about who He is justifying and when. These moments appear uncoordinated. But appearance, in the words of the great Ace Theo, “is bull shit.” As we are learning, God is clearly very orderly. Why each individual’s justification occurs at these varying times is a mystery at present. It seems the solution is to be revealed when all believers in Paul’s message are gathered before Christ, when our individual plots converge.

(Another side note – I don’t believe the phrase “free grace” appears anywhere in the Bible. It is justification which is given “without a cause” to us – not grace.)

Moving On…

With this, the initial shock should, hopefully, wane, giving way to adoration, or, at the very least, some warmth toward the God of the universe. Sure, there is “indignation” and “judgment.” But how can we deny that, on a long enough timeline, God’s agenda is for the cross to reach all bound to it, through Christ? The sinner is destined to be justified – that is, they are accounted guiltless and blameless on God’s terms, because of His Son’s accomplishment. The sinner will be acquitted – and there will be no one to challenge their innocence, once all who were guilty are cleared. This will vindicate the sinner – while he, of his own limited perspective, is defenseless, God Himself will defend the sinner!

All of this is done gratuitously. This is, indeed, the proof of God’s love for us – that regardless of who we were, or who we are, Christ died for our sakes, and will stop at nothing until we realize the truth about God, and are subjected to His will (1 Cor. 15:22-28, 1 Tim. 2:4, 4:10.)

- GerudoKing