What is Justification?

Both Mormons and Christians believe that in order to live with God forever, we must be worthy in His sight. The LDS Church teaches that to be worthy, our faith must be accompanied by obedience to certain laws and ordinances like baptism and temple works.

But the Bible says that we must be perfect to enter God’s Kingdom (Matthew 5:20, James 2:10, 1 Corinthians 6:9). There’s just one major problem: no one is perfect, and therefore no one is worthy to live with God forever (Romans 3:23)!

Yet God provided a way for us to be declared “worthy” or “righteous”, even though we’re sinful. This is called Justification. To be “justified” means “to be declared righteous”. It’s a legal term used when a person is declared “not guilty”. But how is it that a guilty person can be declared “not guilty”? 

All of us are unrighteous.

In Romans chapter 3, Paul writes:

…As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12).

We’re permanently stained by our sins (Ephesians 2:1), and the punishment for our unrighteousness is separation from God (Isaiah 59:2).

We cannot be justified by obeying laws and ordinances.

Scripture says that no amount of good works can remove our guilt. While the LDS Church teaches that no one can have eternal life apart from faith, it also teaches that faith accompanied by obedience to the laws and ordinances can make us worthy of eternal life. Yet the Bible says

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). 

If any works are a precondition for justification, then we will never be seen as righteous, because it is our works that condemn us! The Bible is crystal clear on this point: no human being, Jew or Gentile, Christian or Mormon, can ever be declared righteous by obeying a law. The Bible says

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose (Galatians 2:21).

So how can we—unworthy people—be justified???

We can trade our guilt for Jesus’ righteousness through faith

Paul continues in Romans 3,

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe… (Romans 3:21–22).

Paul is explaining that sinners can have God’s righteousness, and not by laws and ordinances (Romans 1:17)! It is “through faith in Jesus Christ”.

Our sins are like filthy stains on white robes. No matter how many good deeds we perform, we cannot remove the stains of our sin.  But Jesus lived a perfect life, not only did He not sin (1 Peter 2:22)—He “fulfilled all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). He is the only one who perfectly met all of God’s worthiness requirements.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus offers us a trade: our sin for His righteousness. This means that we can have Jesus’ perfect righteousness credited to us, while our sins are paid for by Jesus on the cross. So how can we have this amazing exchange?? Through belief in Jesus (John 3:16)! 

Righteousness is not something that we earn, but something we receive by faith alone. The Bible tells us to

…be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith (Philippians 3:9).

We can be justified on the basis of Jesus’ Righteousness.

Because we can have Jesus’s righteousness, we can be declared “not guilty”—justified! We are “justified by [God’s] grace as a gift…to be received by faith” (Romans 3:24-25)!

The problem with LDS Doctrine is that the person who has complete reliance on God in faith cannot be justified until they have done the required works. According to Mormonism—faith, then, is not enough! But this is exactly the opposite of what the Bible teaches.

Paul makes it abundantly clear that no works are required to be justified (Romans 3:27-30, Galatians 2:16), and in fact, if we do any works in an attempt to earn our own righteousness, we will never be justified.

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:4–5).

God declares ungodly, unworthy people righteous if they rely on faith alone.

Justification by faith alone is the heart of the Gospel

To be justified means that we have peace with God (Romans 5:1), there is no more condemnation for our sin (Romans 5:18), and we have eternal life (Romans 6:23). The person who is justified will live forever with God in His Kingdom. Jesus says

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24).