R5959 JUSTIFICATION – WHAT WHEN HOW

[R5959 : page 281]

JUSTIFICATION—WHAT? WHEN? HOW?

JUSTIFICATION really means only one thing, viz.: a making right, making just. [A]Justification may be either partial or complete. [B]In Abraham’s case it was partial. [C]He was justified to fellowship with God because of his faith and obedience, but was not justified to life, [D]because such a complete justification could not be accomplished, except by the redemptive work of Jesus, which had not been and could not be accomplished in Abraham’s day.

The justification of the Gospel Church is an instantaneous work. “It is God that justifieth.” [Rom. 8:33b] But the basis of this justification is the sacrifice accomplished by Jesus, finished at Calvary. [E]Before the Savior will impute to us the merit of His sacrifice, we must know of Him and trust Him and accept His terms of discipleship and consecrate ourselves fully as His disciples, even unto death. The moment He imputes the merit of His sacrifice to us, covering our blemishes, we are acceptable to the Father, received into His family by the begetting of the Holy Spirit, and thus, thereafter, members of the Church of the Firstborns, whose names are written in Heaven. [Heb. 12:23a]

The world’s justification will not be an instantaneous one, but will progress during the thousand years—the Millennium. [F]The world might then be said to be tentatively justified through the Mediator and His Kingdom, but their justification will be accomplished only in their absolute perfection at the close of the Millennium, when they will be presented to the Father and accepted by Him. “It is God that justifieth,” [Rom. 8:33b] and [G]He receives to everlasting life and to His family on any plane of existence only those who are perfect.

CLEANSING OF FLESH NOT JUSTIFICATION

A person desiring to turn to God during this Gospel Age finds Him gradually. First, he finds that God has made a provision whereby He can be just and yet be the Justifier of sinners. [Rom. 3:26; In Tamil Rom. 3:25] Next he finds that the death of Jesus is the way which God has provided. Next he finds his own weaknesses and sins—the defilements, and properly seeks to put these away. He may and should considerably cleanse himself from the filthiness of the flesh, but this does not justify him, does not make him perfect, because by heredity he is a sinner, imperfect, and can be cleansed only by the Divine application of the merit of the Sin Offering. [H]After washing at the Laver—putting away the filthiness of the flesh—the believer approaches close up to the door of the Tabernacle and “ties” himself there—obligates himself by consecration vows, devoting himself fully to the Lord and His service, whatever that may be.

All the foregoing steps of the person desiring fellowship with God are proper steps, as outlined in the Word. [I]We describe the person who has taken this course as being tentatively justified; that is to say, he is in the right course, doing what he is able to do to attain justification. While in this course, he would have blessings of mind and heart and the approval of his conscience, and would be favored of the Lord in the sense that Divine providence would open up before him a knowledge of the proper course to take for his justification—pointing out to him the necessity for the steps enumerated, including the devotion or [J]tying of himself at the door of the Tabernacle. [K]The sinner approaching God can do no more. It is now God’s time to act. God’s mercy toward the sinner is wholly through Jesus, who has been appointed the “great High Priest.” [Heb. 4:14] It is the part of Jesus to accept the devoted one (the goat) and to sacrifice him. And those whom Jesus, as God’s High Priest, accepts are accepted of the Father, [L]and such are begotten of the Father to the Divine nature, etc. [M]That moment when Jesus, and when Divine Justice, through Jesus, accepts the sinner is the moment of justification.

From the moment the sinner turned his back upon sin and began to seek the Lord and to walk as best he would be able in the ways of righteousness—putting away the filthiness of the flesh—from that moment this person has a new [or transforming] mind or will, different from the mind or will which he had when he loved and served sin. [N]This new [existing] mind is a new [or transforming] mind of the flesh, because he has not yet been begotten of the Holy Spirit. At the moment that the High Priest accepts him, imputes His merit, and the Father begets him of the Holy Spirit—[O]at that moment this one with the new mind is justified and begotten of the Spirit; he is then a New Creature. The New Creature is not to be justified, because the New Creature has done no sin and would have no sin to be justified from. [P]It was the new-minded old creature that was justified, and at the moment of justification it dies sacrificially. The New Creature might be spoken of as justified in the same sense that Jesus was spoken of—”justified in spirit,…received up into glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16.) In this use of the word justified, the thought is “proved right”—”proved perfect”; not made right.

PEACE PROPORTIONATE TO PROGRESS

[Q]To this class, fully consecrated, justified, accepted of the Father by the begetting of the Holy Spirit, [R]the Apostle’s words apply: “Therefore, being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1.) But this Scripture would not apply to any who have not come to the point of consecration and acceptance and who are merely approaching through the Court. These do, however, have a measure of peace, in proportion as they progress. A certain measure of peace and joy comes from finding that there is a way back to God through the endeavor to put away sin and to draw near to Him; [S]but the peace of the Church, mentioned by the Apostle in this text, can apply only to those who have come into the condition of Sons of God. God is not at peace with any others.

[T]It would not be possible for any one during this Gospel Age to have exactly the same experience given to Abraham, because of the difference of conditions. [U]Abraham fully believed God, and so far as he understood, apparently was fully consecrated to do God’s will, even unto death. In other words, if Abraham had been living during this Gospel Age, [V]he would have been one of the fully consecrated, fully justified, spirit-begotten ones; [W]but living before the Gospel Age, before Christ had died for our sins, his consecration could not bring him into the fulness of justification and its privileges.

Some confuse themselves by thinking of justification as of two parts—legal and actual. We know of nothing in the Bible to make any such division of justification. It is legal and it is actual at the same instant. It could not be actual and illegal; it could not be illegal and yet actual.

[X]Our justification, represented by the “Wedding Garment,” [Matt. 22:11] put on when we are accepted of the Lord, covers not the New Creature, but merely the flesh, which is legally reckoned dead, sacrificially. In other words, justification does not signify a process of being made right, but a right condition already attained. The putting on of the “Wedding Garment,” signifies our entrance into the family of God as members of the Church; the putting of it off would mean our rejection of the grace of God, and would imply Second Death.

Justification to the world, as already explained, will be attained differently. It might be said that the world’s justification, under the Great Mediator, will be a gradual one—a gradual making right as each individual will come into harmony more and more with the Divine requirements and receive more and more of restitution perfection. [Y]Nevertheless, it must be remembered that “It is God that justifies,” [Rom. 8:33b] and that the world will not be in God’s hands until the conclusion of the Millennial Age. [Z]Then all approved of the Father and accepted of Him to eternal life will be justified in the full sense. That will be an instantaneous act.

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Good subject.

• Justification may be either partial or complete. – Justification is always complete. But it can be either reckoned or actual.
• In Abraham’s case it was partial. – In Abraham’s case too, the justification was complete, though it was reckoned. See Rom. 4:3.
• He was justified to fellowship with God because of his faith and obedience, but was not justified to life – Abraham was indeed justified to life and hence in his resurrection, he would come as a perfect human being. God did not impute the sins to Abraham. Read Rom. 4:6-8.
• because such a complete justification could not be accomplished, except by the redemptive work of Jesus, which had not been and could not be accomplished in Abraham’s day. – Such a complete justification was possible in a reckoned manner, since the scriptures foreknew the redemptive work of Jesus and thus declared the gospel to Abraham in his day. See Gal. 3:8.
• Before the Savior will impute to us the merit of His sacrifice, we must know of Him and trust Him and accept His terms of discipleship and consecrate ourselves fully as His disciples, even unto death. The moment He imputes the merit of His sacrifice to us, covering our blemishes, we are acceptable to the Father, received into His family by the begetting of the Holy Spirit – The correct sequence is that by faith we are justified and thus made acceptable to the Father. Then and then only can we consecrate ourselves fully as his disciples, even unto death. Without justification, consecration is not possible. Only then the Father is able to accept our sacrificial consecration.
• The world might then be said to be tentatively justified through the Mediator and His Kingdom – Justification for the world during the millennial age, is not tentative, but it is progressive.
• He receives to everlasting life and to His family on any plane of existence only those who are perfect. – Actually, the reverse would have been better. Such as “Only the perfect ones on any plane of existence are received to His family and to everlasting life.”
• After washing at the Laver—putting away the filthiness of the flesh—the believer approaches close up to the door of the Tabernacle and “ties” himself there—obligates himself by consecration vows, devoting himself fully to the Lord and His service, whatever that may be. – I think this tying of the oneself is not practised in the tabernacle of shadows. But I presume that this is taken from the Psalms 118:27. As we can see the consecration vows are tied to the altar in the shadow which is correct and not to the door as mentioned by the author.
• We describe the person who has taken this course as being tentatively justified; that is to say, he is in the right course – The steps mentioned in the paragraph preceding this text, indicates that the person is already reckoned justified and not tentatively justified.
• or tying of himself at the door of the Tabernacle – Similar explanation as above in Tabernacle of Shadows.
• The sinner approaching God can do no more. It is now God’s time to act. God’s mercy toward the sinner is wholly through Jesus, who has been appointed the “great High Priest.” – He is not a sinner after the justification process.
• and such are begotten of the Father to the Divine nature – Begotten to spirit nature should be the correct one, since we generally attribute Immortality to Divine nature.
• That moment when Jesus, and when Divine Justice, through Jesus, accepts the sinner is the moment of justification. – This is the moment of consecration or sacrifice. Justification or cleansing comes even before we are laid on the alter.
• This new mind is a new [or transforming] mind of the flesh, because he has not yet been begotten of the Holy Spirit. – The new will comes only after one is begotten of the Holy Spirit. The new will transforms the existing mind (that mind of flesh) into the mind of spirit.
• at that moment this one with the new mind is justified and begotten of the Spirit – The new mind is the transforming mind and is effected by the new will. Only when one is begotten the new will is activated.
• It was the new-minded old creature that was justified, and at the moment of justification it dies sacrificially. – Death of the old-creature or mind happens in our consecration unto death and not during justification. Further the old creature has been justified by faith in Jesus and hence it is an acceptable sacrifice.
• To this class, fully consecrated, justified, accepted of the Father by the begetting of the Holy Spirit – The correct sequence would be justified, fully consecrated, accepted of the Father by the begetting of the Holy Spirit.
• To this class, fully consecrated, justified, accepted of the Father by the begetting of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle’s words apply: “Therefore, being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1.) But this Scripture would not apply to any who have not come to the point of consecration and acceptance and who are merely approaching through the Court. – This verse indicates our justification through faith. The consecration and it glorious hope comes in the next verse, that is Rom. 5:2.
• but the peace of the Church, mentioned by the Apostle in this text – In this text (Rom. 5:1) the Apostle refers to peace with God. Sons of God have peace of God which he refers elsewhere in Phil. 4:7.
• It would not be possible for any one during this Gospel Age to have exactly the same experience given to Abraham, because of the difference of conditions. – It would be definitely possible and that is exactly mentioned by Apostle Paul in Rom. 4:23-24.
• Abraham fully believed God, and so far as he understood, apparently was fully consecrated to do God’s will, even unto death. – Abraham was not called for consecration to death. He was called for earthly blessings and long life. Without being called to do so, Abraham could not have done the consecration. He was however loyal to God even unto death.
• he would have been one of the fully consecrated, fully justified, spirit-begotten ones – Sequence should have been fully justified, fully consecrated, spirit-begotten ones.
• but living before the Gospel Age, before Christ had died for our sins, his consecration could not bring him into the fulness of justification and its privileges. – Abraham’s faith fully justified him and gave its privileges. However, he was not called for sacrificing his earthly blessings in lieu of heavenly ones.
• Our justification, represented by the “Wedding Garment,” [Matt. 22:11] put on when we are accepted of the Lord – The wedding garment not only represents our justification, but includes our consecration step as well in the parable spoken.
• Nevertheless, it must be remembered that “It is God that justifies,” [Rom. 8:33b] and that the world will not be in God’s hands until the conclusion of the Millennial Age. Then all approved of the Father and accepted of Him to eternal life will be justified in the full sense.  – The verse in reference (in context) applies to the Church class only. However, since the entire plan of salvation (including justification) is of the Father, in that sense this verse could fit in this context. Furthermore, we should note that the justification and eternal life are attained by mankind even before the “little season” and there is not need to justify again in “full sense” by the Father is not required (Father has left the judging and giving of life to the Son).
• Then all approved of the Father and accepted of Him to eternal life will be justified in the full sense. That will be an instantaneous act. – All would have been already justified, but when Jesus justifies a person, he is considered justified by God also.