Justification is one of the most important words in the Bible because it’s one of the most important aspects of humanity. The quest to find a reason for one’s existence - in other words, “to justify” oneself - is irresistible.

In a culture which separates the “secular” from the “sacred”, Christians sometimes reduce justification to be a religious or moral issue: we can not do enough good works to make God happy with us, so if we want to be saved we can’t rely on our good works but on Jesus alone. This truth is plainly taught by Scripture, but this view narrows down the scope of justification to the “religious” part of our lives. In this way it becomes easy to go to church, trust in Jesus to get us to heaven when we die, and thus feel justified, while simultaneously going to work on Monday morning and finding our reason for existence in our career success, earnings, number and quality of our relationships.

If justification by faith in Jesus means anything, it must be broad enough to allow me to find my identity in Christ in every aspect of my life. I can never make enough money, or have enough relational success, or be respectable enough, to tell myself I am worthy of existing - only Jesus can love and accept me enough for me to be able to say “I have value because Jesus says my existence is justified since he died and rose from the dead for me.” This concept is what we call justification by faith in Jesus.