Reference: Galatians 2:16
The difinition for the word justification,or justify, means to declare innocent or blameless. This means that we can bewithout blame in the sight of Almighty God, but we must realize that we cannotjustify ourselves. Our text above tells us that we are justified by the faithof Christ and not by the works of the law. Before we can be truly justified inthe sight of Almighty God we must know how he performs this operation on us.Justification involves the whole man which means that our entire being of ourbody, our soul, and our spirit, is put through the process of the work ofjustification. The apostle Paul makes mention of justification saying that onecannot be justified by the works of the law but rather it is by the faith ofChrist. It appears that false teachers were teaching that justification was bythe law but Paul makes it very plain that the law will not justify no flesh inthe sight of Almighty God. We must understand what it means to think one can bejustified by the works of the law because many are actually being misled byfalse teachers that are teaching justification by the law instead of by faith.We must understand what it means to think you may be justified by the works ofthe law or else you may be believing a false concept of what true justificationreally is. The works of the law that will not justify no flesh is trying toobey the laws of the Ten Commandments in your own power and ability thinkingyou have been justified in an instant by either repentance or by repentance andwater baptism.
It seems that just about everybody thinks that justification isan instant work performed on them at the time when they repent of sin andconfess to receive the Lord Jesus as their own personal Saviour. After peopleclaim to have accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour they then try to be obedientto the laws of the Ten Commandments. This belief is actually what Paul callstrying to be justified by the works of the law, but of course people do notthink so. This is exactly what is referred to as seeking justification by thelaw because of the fact that justification is positively not an instant workperformed on the believer at repentance. If you think that you have beenjustified when you repented of your sins, and then you try your best to be obedientto the laws of the Commandments, you are being deceived thinking you arejustified when actually you are not. You do not understand what truejustification is and how you are justified in the sight of Almighty God. Youare led to believe that you are not trying to be justified by the works of thelaw based on the fact that you confess belief on Christ claiming to have acceptedhim as your personal Lord and Saviour. The point I am trying to get you to seeand understand is that you are not justified at the time you claimed to haveaccepted Christ as your Saviour. To be justified by the faith of Christ is notdone by your belief on Christ accepting him as Lord and Saviour. We arejustified by the faith of Christ meaning that we must receive and obey therevealed truth that the gospel contains. Christ is the revealed living Word ofGod that the Holy Ghost teaches the believer from the gospel of Christ. Therevealed truth is what will justify you making you clean and blameless from allyour sins committed against Almighty God in your past life. Just to say youbelieve on Christ and you have accepted him as your Saviour is not the faiththat justifies you making you blameless in the sight of Almighty God. Youshould know and understand that the truth of the word of God, (which is Christ)will sanctify you, purging you from all your sin. Jesus said in John 17:17 to sanctifythem through thy truth, thy word is truth... Please notice that Christ said that we are sanctified THROUGH THEWORD OF GOD WHICH IS TRUTH ! Theword "Through" means that we must go into or come to the knowledge ofthe truth in order to be sanctified or justified. You must go through the truthmeaning you must receive and obey God's word revealed in the gospel of Christ.Thinking you justified on the fact that you claim to have repented and acceptedChrist as Saviour does not cleanse you from all your sin. The apostle Johntells us in I John 1:6-7 that we will be cleansed from our sin if we walk in thelight of truth. These verses of scripture says, "Ifwe say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and donot the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we havefellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth usfrom all sin." You are eitherwalking in darkness or light. To walk in darkness means you are not receivingand walking in truth. To walk in the light means that you are receiving andwalking in the truth of the gospel as it is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.Your walking in the light of truth is what will justify you from your sin. Yourtrying to keep the law thinking you are justified on the fact that you may haverepented of sin and accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour is exactly what theBible calls justification by the works of the law, but this will absolutely notjustify you in the sight of Almighty God. You must repent of sin believing thatChrist died and rose again confessing this as the Bible reveals, but then youmust continue on in the word and receive the revealed truth and this revealedword of truth will set you free as Christ has stated in John 8:30-32. If you willcontinue on in the word as Christ said, you will automatically keep thestandard of what the laws of the Ten Commandments reveal. The righteousness ofthe law is fulfilled within us as we are led by the Spirit of God. Faith inChrist does not make void the law but rather it establishes the law, meaningthe righteousness that the law describes will be perfectly fufilled in us as wewalk after the Spirit instead of the flesh. Modern day law keepers claim theyare not seeking justification by the works of the law based on the fact thatthey were justified at the time they repented of sin receiving Christ as theirSaviour. They say that their love for Almighty God is proven by their desire tokeep and obey the laws of the Ten Commandments of the Heavenly Father. There ismuch teaching in the land today that one does not have to keep the law and sothey break the laws yet thinking they are saved. These type of people alsobelieve in justification at repentance thinking they have been justified butnow the law has no place in this dispensation that we now live. The onlydifference in these type of people and the law keepers is that the law iseither kept or it is not. Either belief is not according to the revealed truthof the gospel. The law will be kept and obeyed by the true children of AlmightyGod but the law is not used as a basis of doctrinal teaching as the law keepersare using it for. God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel of Christ asstated in Romans 1:16-17. This revealed knowledge is given to them that obey God'sword as it is revealed to them. The Ten Commandments describes therighteousness of God and the gospel reveals it to those that believe and obeyit. Your struggling to keep the law will not justify you in the least....