IN three different New Testament books our attention is directed to this pivotal experience in the life of Abraham. In the simplicity of faith, he laid hold of the promise regarding the Seed through whom all the world was to be blessed. That Seed, as we are told in Galatians, was Christ. So, believing in Christ, the patriarch Abraham was justified. And in exactly the same way believers are justified today. To be justified is to be reckoned righteous. Justification is the sentence of the judge in favor of the prisoner. God justifies the ungodly—freeing them from every charge of guilt—when they put their trust in the Saviour He has provided, who was delivered up to death for our offenses and was raised again for, or because of, our complete justification. When God imputes righteousness, He blots out forever the record of sin and gives the believer a completely new standing before His face. This is true of all who are accepted in the Beloved.
“A rock that stands forever,
Is Christ my Righteousness;
And there I stand unfearing
In everlasting bliss.
No earthly thing Is needful
To this my life from heaven,
And naught of love is worthy
Save that which Christ has given.”
―Paul Gerhardt.