We have believed into Christ Jesus to be justified with the righteousness of God. Justification is God’s action in approving us according to the standard of His righteousness. We may justify ourselves according to our standard of righteousness, but this does not enable us to be justified by God according to His standard. We need justification by faith. Justification by faith means that we are approved by God according to the standard of His righteousness. God can do this because our justification is based on the redemption of Christ. When Christ’s redemption is applied to us, we are justified. If there were no such redemption, it would not be possible for us to be justified by God. Redemption is the basis of justification.
Acts 13:39 says, “From all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses, in this One everyone who believes is justified.” Here “this One” is the Lord Jesus, the One who has been resurrected to be God’s firstborn Son and our Savior. Through Him we are justified from all the things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. Actually, the One by whom we are justified is Himself our justification. Today Christ in His resurrection is our justification. Hence, we should not regard justification as something apart from Christ.
Galatians 2:16 says, “Knowing that a man is not justified by works of law, but through the faith of Christ Jesus; we also have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by works of law, because by works of law no flesh shall be justified.” The word “flesh” here means fallen man who has become flesh (Gen. 6:3). No such man will be justified by works of law. Furthermore, in Galatians 3:11 Paul tells us, “Now that by law no one is justified before God is evident.” In these verses Paul tells us clearly that no one is justified by the works of law.
In God’s New Testament economy we are justified by faith in Christ. We may be so familiar with the expression “justified by faith in Christ” that we take it for granted. Faith in Christ denotes an organic union through believing. The proper preaching of the gospel is the preaching not of a doctrine but of Christ, the Son of God, the One who is the embodiment of the Father and who is realized as the Spirit. The faith in Christ by which believers are justified is related to their appreciation of the Son of God. Actually, this appreciation is their faith in Christ. Out of their appreciation for the Lord Jesus they desire to possess Him. The Christ who has been preached to them will become in them the faith by which they believe. Therefore, faith is Christ preached into us to become our capacity to believe through our appreciation of Him.
This faith creates an organic union in which we and Christ are one. The expression “by faith in Christ” actually denotes an organic union accomplished by believing in Christ. The term “in Christ” refers to this organic union. Before we believed in Christ there was a great separation between us and Christ. But through believing we have been joined to Christ and have become one with Him. Now we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. This is an organic union, a union in life.
It is by means of our organic union with Christ that God can reckon Christ as our righteousness. Because we and Christ are one, whatever belongs to Him is ours. This is the basis on which God counts Christ as our righteousness. Through the organic union with Christ, we share whatever Christ is and has. As soon as this union takes place, in the sight of God, Christ becomes us and we become one with Him. Only in this way can we be justified before God.
We should not have a mere doctrinal understanding of justification by faith. According to the concept of some Christians, Christ is the just One, the righteous One, on the throne in the presence of God, and God reckons Christ to be our righteousness when we believe in Christ. This understanding of justification is not adequate. In order to be justified by faith in Christ, we need to believe in Him out of an appreciation of Him. As the Lord Jesus is infused into us through the preaching of the gospel, we spontaneously appreciate Him and call on Him. This is genuine believing. Through such a believing we and Christ become one. As a result, God reckons Christ as our righteousness.
When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we had this kind of experience, although we did not have the terminology to explain it. First, we began to sense the Lord’s preciousness. This gave rise to the faith that joined us to Christ organically. From that time onward, Christ and we became one in life and in reality. Therefore, justification by faith is not merely a matter of position but also an organic matter, a matter in life. The organic union with Christ is accomplished spontaneously through the living faith produced by our appreciation of Him. This is to be justified by faith in Christ.
Romans 3:22 speaks of “the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe.” The righteousness of God is what God is with respect to justice and righteousness. God is just and right. Whatever God is in His justice and righteousness constitutes His righteousness. Furthermore, all that God is in His justice and righteousness is actually Himself. Therefore, the righteousness of God is not merely a divine attribute—it is God Himself.
Although we are justified with the righteousness of God, we, the justified ones, actually have Christ as our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). However, we may incorrectly think that we have the righteousness of Christ. Our righteousness is not the righteousness of Christ; it is Christ Himself. Christ Himself as a person, not His attribute of righteousness, has been made the righteousness of God to us. God has made Christ, who is the embodiment of God Himself, our righteousness.
In Romans 1:17 Paul, speaking of the gospel, says, “The righteousness of God is revealed in it out of faith to faith.” The gospel is powerful (v. 16) because the righteousness of God is revealed in it. According to John 3:16 salvation is out of God’s love, and according to Ephesians 2:8, salvation is by God’s grace. But in Romans 1:16 and 17 Paul does not say that salvation is out of the love of God or by the grace of God but says that it comes by the righteousness of God. We have been saved by God’s love and grace, but we have been saved especially by God’s righteousness. God’s love and grace may change in relation to us, but it is impossible for God’s righteousness to change. Because Christ has fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law, has died for our sins, and has been resurrected for our justification (Rom. 4:25), God is bound by His righteousness to save us. God cannot change His mind concerning this, for He is bound by His righteousness. Therefore, for our salvation we stand on God’s righteousness. With the righteousness of God we, the believers in Christ, have been justified through our believing into Christ.