Justification has to do with a person being cleared from every charge of sin that has been laid against him by being set in a new position before God in Christ, whereby he is no longer viewed by God as a sinner. The person is “reckoned” or "constituted" righteous in God's mind, and thus his legal standing in heaven is changed (Rom. 4:4-5; 5:194Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:4‑5)
19For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)). The Concise Bible Dictionary states, “The word ‘justification’ may be said to be the estimation formed in God’s mind of the believer in view of that order of things of which Christ is the Head. Such estimation has its expression in Christ Himself, and its consequences are seen in Romans 5” (p. 465).
There are two parts to justification—a negative side and a positive side:
• The positive side has to do with the believer being placed in an new position before God (“justified in Christ” – Gal. 2:1717But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. (Galatians 2:17)) wherein no further charge can ever be brought against him. (“In Christ” is a technical term used in Paul's ministry to denote the believer being in Christ's place before God.) Thus, the believer is not only in a new position, but he is there in an entirely new condition, having a new life that is without sin. This is called “justification of life” (Rom. 5:1818Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:18)).
W. Kelly said, “The weighty theme of justification has been now fully treated, on the side both of Christ’s blood shed in expiation and of His resurrection as carried through death in the power of God; that is to say, both negatively and positively—bearing all the consequences of our sins and manifesting the new estate in which He stands before God” (Notes on the Epistle to the Romans, p. 56).
J. N. Darby said, “There are two parts of justification—‘from sins,’ and ‘of life;’ the first, the clearing me of my old state; and the second, the putting me into a new place before God” (Collected Writings, vol. 21, p. 193). He also said, “‘Justification of life;’ this was a new position of man, not indeed yet the glory or resurrection with Christ and union with Him, but a new position and standing; not merely the clearing away of the sins a man was guilty of in connection with his old standing, but a new standing in life, a justification of life” (Collected Writings, vol. 13, p. 206).
F. B. Hole said, “Justification, as set before us in Scripture, implies more than the negative blessing of our being completely and righteously extricated from the condemnation [judgment] under which we lay; it involves our standing before God in Christ, in a righteousness which is positive and divine (The Great Salvation, p. 14).
The great result of being justified is that God no longer sees us as we once were (as sinners), because we are now in a new position before Him. This is illustrated in type in Numbers 23. Balaam prophecied about God's people from God's viewpoint ("the top of the rocks"), thus typifying what Christ’s work on the cross would make Christians through justification (vs. 9). From that vantage point, God did not view Israel as they actually were in the wilderness, as far as their state was concerned—which was in all kinds of sins. Balaam said, "He [God] hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel" (vs. 21). The prophet was not implying that God was blind; he was speaking under the power of the Spirit as to what Israel was positionally before God, and typically of what we are positionally before God through Christ’s finished work. Thus, in Paul’s epistles, justification has to do with the believer’s standing before God, not his state. It is a declarative act of God in which an ungodly sinner is "reckoned" righteous (Rom. 4:55But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)).
There are eight different expressions regarding justification in Scripture, each denoting a different aspect. They are:
• Justified from sin—an honourable discharge from that master (Rom. 6:77For he that is dead is freed from sin. (Romans 6:7)).
Some say that justified means "just-as-if-I'd-never-sinned." However, this definition comes far short of the truth of justification. If it were correct, justification would place believers back on the ground of innocence, equal to that on which Adam was in the Garden of Eden before he sinned. Adam fell from that ground, and that means that if we were placed there, there is a very real possibility that we could fall from it too. Then we would be sinners under judgment all over again! Justification sets us in a far higher place than that of innocence. As mentioned, our position before God as justified is the very place of acceptance and favour that Christ is in before God, because we are “justified in Christ” (Gal. 2:1717But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. (Galatians 2:17)), and we are there with a life that cannot sin (“justification of life” – Rom. 5:1717For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:17)). The believer cannot possibly fall from this place.