Through a pervasive synergistic evangelism, the doctrine of justification has become synonymous with self justification and thusly has fallen out of vogue in modern faith life. This proverbial throwing the baby out with the bath water is not only in error at the core of its content but equally as erroneous in its logical application to the modern theological landscape. Simply put, when evangelism asserts that salvation is in response to something the individual accomplishes, then obviously the logical conclusion would be that the person is “self justified.” Even those with little or no understanding of holy writ would be uncomfortable with this notion and so the response is to simply ignore the doctrine of justification than to amend the more popular anthropocentric version of the gospel. At the end of the day justification is forgotten and much of what it means to be a regenerated child of God is lost. In sharp contrast, justification is the forensic or legal declaration that the regenerated sinner has come into right standing with God. This declaration must be expressed in this way for without a formal expression of the atonement leading to right standing, the door is wide open for all persons to assert that they are justified; and truthfully there would be no objective means by which an erroneous claim could be refuted. Sadly, modern evangelistic philosophy seems to specifically incorporate this type thinking so that the gospel may be applied to virtually anyone regardless of one’s corruption, calling or repentance. Human pride works hard to convince the mind that salvation is offered to all persons and those who do not come into possession of salvation do so by their own choice. Without a formal declaration of right standing, this erroneous concept goes unchecked. However, if justification is understood as a legal declaration, plain reason requires that someone of authority must issue such a declaration for the claim to be validated. Additionally, plain reason disqualifies anyone who wishes to justify themselves holding that it is not morally proper for someone to be judge and jury on their own behalf; simply put, justice mandates a third party mediation in such matters. Accordingly, justification is in fact forensic in its administration and God is the sole authority qualified to make such declarations. Sinful man is not at liberty to assert who may or may not be justified and any system of thought put forth by human reason that would diminish God’s authority to make justification claims simply denies the sovereignty of God Himself no matter how well intentioned its proponents may be. In light of this truth, how is God able to declare the believer justified?
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