by Elyse Fitzpatrick
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Romans 8:33

The Father looks at us and smiles upon us. Why? Is it because we got up early this morning and did our devotions? No. He likes that we did that, sure, but He’s smiling upon us because Jesus Christ lived perfectly in our place. We are loved at every moment of the day, regardless of our behavior. Not only that—we are justified. Do you know what this means? It’s amazing. It means we don’t have to justify ourselves to God, to ourselves, or to anyone else ever again.
The justification in Christ we receive by faith is an incredible double blessing. It means first that I am forgiven “just as if I’d never sinned.” This is great news! But justification is not simply about having a blank slate. No, there’s another great blessing. We have a clean record, yes, but justification also means “just as if I’d always obeyed.” God takes our newly blank slate and writes on it the perfect obedience of Jesus! So when God the Father looks at me, He says, “This is My beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased.”
Grace reminds us over and over again that when God looks upon us, He smiles because He no longer sees our sin. In fact, instead He sees the perfect record of His Son. Now we don’t need to protect ourselves or seek to justify ourselves anymore. God has promised to care for us so we don’t have to worry that we’ll mess up His plan or miss His will. We’ve been given everything in Christ, so in response to that, we can pursue godliness, knowing that although we need continual pardon, we already have it. It’s a done deal.
Here’s an example from my own life: I get up in the morning and I pray, “My Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Glorify Yourself. Let Your kingdom come, and let Your will be done by me today.” And then I get to the end of the day, and I look back and see all the ways I failed. At that point, I can choose to say, “I’m going to get up tomorrow and do better,” or I can throw myself on the mercy of Christ and flee to Him and thank Him for my justification.
One-way love brings that kind of freedom to us. Only God’s grace does that. It makes us honest about our failures and frees us from our self-justifying and self-condemning inclinations.

Thought to Remember for Today

As you think about your Christian experience, how much has the truth of justification by faith impacted your daily life? Perhaps for you this beautiful truth has had a great impact, or perhaps not. The really great news is that even if justification hasn’t been the pivot point of your faith, your Father still sees you as completely sinless and completely obedient.

Fitzpatrick, E. (2016). Grace untamed: a 60-day devotional. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.