Joao Manoel Toscan
Theology II
Professor Anizor
October 1 2012
Justification Paper
In Pauline’s writing, the apostles responses to one of the most frequently question of the human existence, which is how to be acceptable to God. Biblically, justification is described as a legal concept where believers are declared righteous. "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law" Romans 3:28. Justification is the act of declaring someone righteous. Justified is the individual who has been declared righteous, and, according to the Bible, the justified shall be considered exempt from sin. It is the act of God by which He, in his grace, declares the sinner righteous, exempting it from any condemnation.
As I was writing my paper, my roommate, who is a Bible major, explained something extremely curious about the meaning of the “justification” work. He said that from the English language, the word “justification”, means making fair, in the sense of producing justice to the justified. However, viewing from Greek, the original language of the Bible, the work “justification”, means a statement made by God. Since we have no righteousness and we are guilty before God, he declares us righteous based on the recompense of Christ’s suffering in the cross. "Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness" Romans 4:4-5.
The justification is the act of God by which he declares sinners righteous by grace, by faith, and through Christ. Faith is the channel through which the justification is given to the believing sinners, who takes possession of the blessings obtained by Christ to be justified. In Romans 4:25, Paul declares that Jesus, our Lord, “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification”. It was then necessary for Jesus to die and rise again for the transgressors in order that we are declared righteous. Having been justified through the sacrificed of Christ, I can now claim that I am in peace with God. I am only able to state it because the justice was granted through Jesus Christ, and God does not associate with sinners who were not declared righteous.
Before I came to Biola, my knowledge about Christianity was almost zero. I did not considered myself a follower of Christ. To be honest, when I applied to Biola, I had no idea that Biola was a Christian school and that such rules were forced to the students. My brother, who is the responsible for my application, hid all that information from me. I was living in Brazil before I arrived to Biola. When I was living in Brazil, there was not much responsibility felt by those in authority over me. As a cultural part of my country, parents generally did not care if you went to parties, or felt liable for how you lived your life. Parties involved making out with girls, drinking after I drank for a while, I would move to cigarettes, and cigarettes turned into drugs.
I would regularly question myself the reasons that I was attending Biola. In the beginning of the year, I felt that I did not belong to this place. I was decided that I would either transfer to a bigger school or just go back to my country at the end of that year. The teachings gained in my first bible classes were basically a chauffeur to escape this school as well. While I was talking my first bible class in my freshmen year, the concepts of salvation and justification, by faith instead by work, were first introduced to me. As I learned, no matter what I do in my life, God, with his mercy and grace, will declare me justified and saved.
Therefore, it did not come to my sense the reasons to continue attend Biola. In my mind, I should come back to my “party life”, explore everything the world has to offer to me and enjoy the life without consequences. However, later in the semester, my professor provided